Consulting firm Accenture and online auction site eBay announced a new service for retailers, manufacturers and distributors. "Connection to eBay" will help businesses sell excess or discontinued inventory on eBay. Accenture will own and operate the service, which will be located adjacent to eBay's offices in San Jose, California.

"Connection to eBay" will offer sellers tools and services, including sales strategies, high-volume listing capabilities, customer service and support, checkout, payment and fulfillment processes.

According to research conducted by Accenture, U.S. businesses process nearly $80 billion in excess or "end-of-life" inventory. But, according to the company, selling this inventory is inefficient, often involving multiple distribution points, intermediaries and numerous physical and transactional steps.

"Connection to eBay creates a new alternative to cumbersome and costly liquidation channels for companies to achieve a greater return by selling inventory through eBay's efficient marketplace," said Robert Frerichs, a managing partner in Accenture's Communications & High Tech group. "Our turnkey solutions are based upon scalable tools and services that help companies tightly integrate their business within the eBay platform allowing them to more quickly reach eBay's extensive online commerce community."

The two companies said they conducted extensive market research and field trials and found that merchants often earn up to twice as much, and sometimes more, on each transaction, by selling on eBay as compared to traditional liquidation channels. The two companies have been testing "Connection to eBay" on a limited basis by selling "end-of-life" computer equipment on the eBay site. They will expand testing this summer with a select number of clients. A full roll-out of the services are planned before year's end. Kevin Reedy, a partner in Accenture's Communications & High Tech group, will head the "Connection to eBay" service.

The move reflects the growing trend of businesses to try and capitalize on the success of the eBay marketplace. Steiner Associates, which publishes AuctionBytes Newsflash, released a report in March that outlined solutions from seven major auction-management solutions vendors targeting enterprise sellers. While the seven vendors offer solutions for multiple marketplaces, Accenture seems to be limiting its service to eBay exclusively.

Accenture is a leading management consulting and technology services organization. http://www.accenture.com