Carphone Warehouse to auction mobile phones

Carphone Warehouse has launched a new auction website dedicated to the sale of mobile phones and accessories in an attempt to compete with eBay in this space.

The site, mymobileauction.com, offers buyers the chance to search and bid for mobiles as they would on eBay, and allows those looking for a mobile to narrow down their search.

The site is currently free to use, but will charge £1.25 to list a handset after 17th November. At this rate, it is more expensive than the average 30p listing fee on eBay.

The site does have one advantage over eBay though, as Carphone Warehouse will provide checks against a stolen phone database before each phone goes on sale. The cost of this check is included in the listing fee.

Research suggests that over a third of people hang on to old handsets, and CPW spokesman Tristia Clarke hopes some of these people will be using the site:

“Customers tend to change their phone every year so this offers the perfect opportunity to sell on old handsets".

A quick look on eBay.co.uk reveals that the site currently offers over 7,000 mobile handsets for sale. Phones are one of the most popular products sold via eBay.

CPW’s site will need to attract a lot of sellers to rival this figure, and will hope that users will be attracted by the added security measures, and not put off by the higher listing fees.

Still, a smart move we reckon...