Simon Rothman, who previously headed eBay Motors, has launched a new website called Glyde.com, which is an online marketplace for books, CDs, DVDs and video games. Glyde pitches it as an easy site for sellers, but the trade-off may be profits.

Selling a "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" DVD in "good" condition nets a seller 33 cents after Glyde takes its 18-cent commission and its fee for the shipping mailer, which it provides to the seller pre-addressed and pre-stamped. It appears Glyde also profits on shipping fees, charging the buyer $4 for shipping a DVD.

The risk to the seller for earning that 33 cents is pricey. If the buyer reports the item Not As-Described, the seller loses the sales proceeds and pays for a mailer ($1.00-$1.75) and half of the return shipping ($2.50).

The site operates using an escrow model - Glyde collects the payment from the buyer, and releases it to the seller when the buyer has received the item. Sellers can withdraw earnings via bank wire transfer at no charge, or pay $2 to receive payment by check.

Glyde calls itself "the NASDAQ for physical goods." In addition to competing with larger marketplaces such as Amazon.com, eBay.com, Half.com and Overstock.com, Glyde will have to differentiate itself from established sites like Dawdle and Wigix.com, which called itself a "NASDAQ-Style Auction Site" when it launched last year. As BusinessWeek reporter Rob Hoff wrote in a blog post on Monday, "You wouldn't think the world would need another place for people to buy and sell used media such as DVDs, books, video games, and CDs."

Glyde says what sets it apart is that it "makes buying and selling an almost effortless process by taking on all of the work on the user's behalf. For sellers, it does the work of describing, pricing, merchandising, packaging, stamping and tracking the item. The seller only needs to place the item into the stamped, pre-addressed envelope and drop it in the mailbox. Glyde makes buying used goods safe and easy. Buyers get single-page single-click purchasing, payment protection and no-hassle returns."

Bill Tai, General Partner at Charles River Ventures which led a $6 million series A round in Glyde, said, "They are in a position to fundamentally change eCommerce for consumers. Glyde gives new meaning to the phrase "easy to use" and brings us closer to the promise of frictionless commerce."