Having already added a music store last week,
Amazon.co.uk this week added
two new services on Thursday — Auctions and zShops.
With the new services, customers will have access to
an additional half million items, together with the
oppportunity of selling their own goods via either channel
to a user base of 13 million shoppers worldwide.
The sites have already proved successful in the United States.
“Amazon.co.uk is no longer just the best place on the Internet
for U.K. shoppers to discover books and music but it’s now the
ultimate destination for whatever they need,” claimed Jeff Bezos,
founder and CEO of Amazon.
“This is a key development for our European business as U.K. and
overseas customers will now find whatever they want to buy —
whether they’re looking for new or rare books, music and memorabilia
and collectible classics — Amazon.co.uk is the store of choice.”
Among the items on offer on the Auctions channel is a 100-year-old
letter written and signed by Winston Churchill during the Boer War.
Another is a receipt dated 1675 and signed by Colonel Thomas Blood,
who once stole the crown jewels from the Tower of London. (Note:
the receipt is not for the crown jewels).
zShops lets individuals or companies sell items such as first edition
and signed books, car parts or golf clubs via Amazon. The service
says it welcomes everyone, “whether they are selling for a hobby or
as an inventor or entrepreneur with their own small business.”
Among the items in zShops are a 1902 original edition of Rudyard
Kipling’s “Just So Stories,” and the latest Psion 7 handheld computer
that is not yet available in the shops.