Rotherham businessman takes on eBay

Dave Balcon (43) is sales and marketing director for Castoff.net, which went live on Tuesday.

He said: “We’ve done a lot of research over the past nine to 12 months and it came to our attention that many eBay users were quite disgruntled about how buying and selling is done on the site.

“There’s an opening here in the marketplace because of their fees.

“eBay has the monopoly, they have become huge by their own right, but gone very mainstream at the same time.”

Castoff is a UK-only site and Dave said the idea was to keep things simple to attract small-scale sellers and those who might have been intimidated by the US-based market leader.

“We’ve gone back to basics because people felt ebay was too complicated and difficult to use,” said Dave, from Rawmarsh.

“We found that about 90 per cent of small local businesses think that the costs are crippling on-line selling but feel there’s nowhere else to go.

“Our site is simple and friendly, easy to use and we’ve got phone operatives to deal with queries rather than just emails.

“Our fees are 20 per cent cheaper, it’s free for charities and when users get to spending milestones we’ll give them cashback rewards.

“In a sense, yes, we are trying to compete but we’ll be offering an alternative. It’s good news, and we’ve already been able to take on people who were previously on the dole.”

Dave spent more than eight years working for tool firm Speedy Hire in Rotherham, where he was regional manager.

Among his clients was Graham Helm, who invited him to be part of Castoff.

As the website went live earlier this week, Dave said: “We know it’s a big ask, but we’ve done our research and I feel a real buzz about the challenge we’re taking on.

“It’s important we spread the work about what we’re trying to achieve, and show that there is choice in the world of e-commerce.

“Our operation to date represents a six-figure investment and thousands of hours’ planning.”

Managing director Mr Helm reckons the new site could be a real “shot in the arm” for the British public in difficult economic times.