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PASADENA - 01/22/06 - iSold It, the nation's leading eBay drop-off chain, has said it will accelerate its penetration of the European market with plans to open more than 200 locations in the UK and Ireland by 2010.

The entry into Ireland and the UK represents the company's first steps towards developing the important European market, and furthers the company's international expansion, which began with the opening of franchises in Canada in October 2005.

iSold It's first store in Ireland opened in Dublin in November 2005.

iSold It's Irish franchisee, which operates Rentastore, Ltd. (Ireland), as well as Trasteros Riviera (Spain), is now actively working with franchise candidates to develop the iSold It concept across Ireland.

The UK's master franchisee will reportedly be opening the company's first UK iSold It store in the Birmingham area in the spring of 2006.

Negotiations are already underway with a number of interested franchise candidates to join him in developing the UK market, with stores planned across the entire British Isles.

There are already some eBay drop-off stores in the UK, but the concept has not yet taken off as it has in the US, according to industry analysts.
 
iSold It's major UK-based competitor - Auctioning4U - takes in about 30% of the sales price of the goods it sells for customers and operates shops only in the London area.

Pasadena-headquartered iSold It offers its turn-key franchisees with a proprietary software system that allows independent stores to easily interface with e-commerce sites, manage their inventory, create management reports and efficiently pay customers through a bulk-rate check payment system.

In addition, iSold It helps franchisees secure store locations, orders and installs their turn-key "store-in-a-box" build-out, provides training and support, and leads overall national and local marketing efforts.

The concept for iSold It was created by entrepreneur Elise Wetzel as she was helping to fundraise for a new playground at her children's school.

iSold It is registered to sell franchises in 48 states and currently has 600 stores under contract.

San Jose-headquartered eBay launched in the UK in 1999 and has developed into the top brand name on the Internet.

Every third user of the net visits the eBay site at least once a month, and the site has over three million items for sale at any one time.

The online auction site was founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, partly so that his wife could further her collection of plastic "Pez" candy dispensers by trading with other collectors.

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