Giveaway and Interview: Ezebee.com - A Free Online Selling Platform for Artisans and Small Business

I’ve been doing giveaways for the last two weeks now, but this one’s different and that has me all excited. I hope you like it too. :)
***Scroll to the bottom for the giveaway!!***


A few days back I heard of Ezebee.com for the first time. Curious cutlet that I am I headed straight to it and was left a little overwhelmed with the options. After a little lurking around, I realised it was a site that helps artisans sell their creations for people like you and me to buy. It’s a new online marketplace that is launching in India.

But there are other sites like that already, there’s ItsHandMade.com, CraftsVilla.com, and Afday.com that operate in India, so what makes ezebee.com different? Here’s Alice from ezebee.com answering that question and others.

[The ezebee.com guys are also giving away EZB’s worth $25 each to 5 lucky people. Check out the giveaway at the end to participate.] :)

Q. Hi Alice. Let’s start out with a little bit about ezebee.com.

Alice: Ezebee.com is an online platform where anyone in the world can sell anything they like, for free! It's really easy to sign up, create a shop and start selling on ezbeee.com. We are not just your online shop, but also a social network where you can meet like­-minded people and connect with local and international vendors.

Q. How and when did ezebee.com first get started?

Alice: The idea behind ezebee.com was created in the summer of 2012, when friends, Ossian and Frank, discovered that there are many small businesses really struggling in the economic crises and the only way to keep these companies going, is to go online. It can be a lot of hassle to design, market and run your own website, especially with little time and money, so that's where ezebee.com was formed! Ezebee.com is a place where small business owners can sell, network, blog, create events and keep their social media all in once place.
It was in February 2013 that ezebee.com was launched.


Q. Where is ezebee.com based out of?

Alice: The main office of ezebee.com is located on the sunny Mediterranean island Mallorca, in Spain. All our staff are very busy, but it is always nice to have good weather outside to enjoy after a hard days work! However the platform is of course, international!

Q. Which countries does ezebee.com work in?

Alice: We have showrooms in over 140 countries and counting, and the site functions in 9 different languages!
Our main markets at the moment are India, Germany and Spain.

Q. Why did you choose India for ezebee.com?

Alice: ezebee.com began in Europe but as we began to grow more and more, we decided to head outside of the continent. India is a country full of talented artisans and many of them struggle with setting up their company or doing things online. As ezebee.com is completely free of charge, we wanted to open into a market which could really see the benefits.



Q. Are there any special requirements for selling on ezebee.com?

Alice: You can really sell anything on the platform, as long as it's legal! We do not think creativity should be restricted so if you are a business or individual who wants to share their products or services, you can, with us!
It’s easy! You can sign up in just a few minutes – or faster if you connect via Facebook or Twitter. Get started now!

Q. Do sellers have to ship their own products or do you provide shipping?

Alice: Shipping is done by the sellers in the best way for their company. They ship the items straight to the buyer in order for shipping to be as easy and fast as possible.

Q. Can users buy products from anywhere in the world?

Alice: Yes, users can buy products from any country as long as the seller is willing to ship internationally, most of them are, but you should check first!

Q. There are many different types of currencies shown. How does a buyer go about buying in his/ her countries currency?

Alice: There are a lot of different currencies on ezebee.com because we want to make it possible for anyone to sell with us. If you want to buy in your own currency, you can make an international transfer online, without a problem. For international transfers, it is probably better to use our internal currency EZBs as these will avoid transaction fees or exchange rates.



Q. What are EZB's? How can users buy them? How much is one EZB worth?

Alice: EZB’s are the points we have on ezebee.com and can be used to swap and trade within the marketplace. One EZB is equal to about 1$ and translates to each currency accordingly. You can buy EZB's on the site here ezebee.com/credits. You also earn them for being active on ezebee.com!

Q. How is ezebee.com different from other online e-commerces?

Alice: We are completely free and do not take commissions and there are no fees for opening a showroom with us. We believe that anyone should be able to start their company and sell online, despite where they are in the world or how much money they have.
We also have an internal currency where users can buy and sell products without needing money, this also helps people in countries with weaker economies sell for fair prices.

Q. If ezebee.com does not charge a commission. How does it make money?

Alice: Just like other big online companies such as, Google, Youtube and Facebook, we make money from advertising on our website.

Q. Any tips for people who are thinking about selling on ezebee.com.

Alice: Growing a business is like bringing up a child, you have to care for it and maintain the attention! When you make a presence online, people will notice and it will help to build a trust with the public. Stay active on the platform, be genuine, and talk to people!



The interview answered my many questions about Ezebee.com [Thanks Alice :)]. I hope it helps you decide about using it to buy and sell too.

If you are an artisan or small business, please do try out Ezebee. I’d like to hear how it worked out for you. I’d also like to know which other online marketplaces you use and which ones you like best. (This information is just for my knowledge and interest and is in no way related to Ezebee.com.) ;)

Disclaimer:
I have not received any payments for this post from Ezebee.com or its associates.
But they have offered giveaways, so on to it now. :)
 

Giveaway

 
This giveaway is open to all countries and sponsored by ezebee.com. To participate please follow instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below.

Five winners will be chosen by a random drawing at the end of the giveaway. Each winner will receive 25 EZB’s worth $25 in their account at ezebee.com.

There are three ways to participate and each activity gets you one entry. The Twitter and Facebook activities can be done everyday to earn extra entries until close of contest. :)

Happy Shopping and All The Best! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway