[August 25, 2004] iSold It Signs Franchise Agreement for Its 200th eBay Drop Off Store Company Is On Track To Hit Goal Of 50 Stores Open By Year End PASADENA, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Aug. 25, 2004 -- iSold It, the nation's leading eBay drop off chain, announced today they now have franchise agreements in place to open 200 iSold It stores in 23 states. Franchisee #200, Harry Andrews, plans to open an iSold It store in Baltimore, MD later this year. "Since launching our franchise program six months ago, we have quickly become the fastest growing franchisor in this emerging eBay drop off category," says Elise Wetzel, Founder of iSold It. "The interest by franchise candidates speaks to the power of our concept. These franchisees recognize that there are a lot of folks who would love to sell on eBay, but they just don't know how." "We are now seeing the stores that we sold in the second quarter begin to open," says Ken Sully, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our focus is on our store-level execution. Store owners are trained not only to educate their customers about selling on eBay, but also to give them great service so they come back again and again." Six iSold It Stores have opened in California, Michigan, New York and Texas to date. The company will open an additional forty-five franchise stores over the next 120 days. Markets under development include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington. The company remains confidant that it will reach its target of opening 500 stores within three years and 1,000 stores in five years. Who is Selling Customers are selling their items with iSold It for a wide variety of reasons. Most are familiar with eBay, but have never known how to sell online. Some of iSold It's customers are experienced eBay sellers, who use the service to save them the time it takes to professionally photographing and list their item, manage the auction, and pack and ship it to the winning bidder. "They take all of the hassle out of the process. Plus, on eBay I got more for my items than I ever could have at a rummage sale. I'll never have a yard sale again," says Novi, Michigan customer Donna Campbell. What's Selling Almost anything you can imagine can be sold on eBay, and iSold It customers are bringing in a wide range of items to sell. "The stores have sold everything from vintage dolls to contractors' tools to plasma screen TVs. We even just sold the soft top roof to a Jeep," says San Antonio franchisee Rick Morris. Other notable items include the recent sale of the original Hannibal Lector mask worn by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, and Bruce Springsteen's hand-written lyrics to his song Street Queen. How iSold It Works Customers simply stop by the store to drop off items they want to sell, and iSold It takes care of the rest. The company professionally photographs each item, writes descriptive copy, posts the item on eBay, holds the item in inventory, processes payment from the winning bidder, and packs and ships the merchandise. After the item sells, iSold It sends the customer a check. Customers pay nothing upfront to list the merchandise with iSold It. Rather, the company charges a progressive commission based on an item's final sale price. If an item doesn't sell, the customer can choose to pick it up or donate it to charity. For more information or to view our current auctions, visit our website www.i-soldit.com. About iSold It The concept for iSold It was created by Elise Wetzel as she was helping to fundraise for a new playground at her children's school. Elise recognized that auctioning donated items on eBay could be a powerful fundraising tool, especially if there were a service that helped make it easy. From this small idea for a school benefit came the foundation for iSold It - providing an easy way for any person, business or organization to sell things on eBay. Today, iSold It is considered the leading franchise concept in the emerging eBay drop-off store category. iSold It is registered to sell franchises in 47 states and currently has over 200 stores under contract. For more information or to view our current auctions, visit our website www.i-soldit.com. iSold It, LLC is a privately held company funded in part by the founders of Wetzel's Pretzels, a chain of fresh baked pretzel stores with over 200 locations. iSold It is available for franchising nation-wide. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]