eBay addicts have helped turn around the fortunes of the Royal Mail with a huge increase in the volume of parcels now sent through the post each week.

The surge in eBay traffic in the past two years has led to a two-thirds increase in business at many post offices across the country.

Of 100 post offices contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, 76 attributed the rise in their custom to regular eBay sellers paying for packages to be sent across the country.

Sixty-seven of the managers surveyed said that more than half of the parcels sent were as a result of eBay. Another eight attributed three-quarters of their trade to the online auction website.

Over the same period, the Royal Mail has turned a loss of £1.5 million a day into an annual profit of £537 million.

Almost 70 per cent of the post offices surveyed said that they earned between £1,000 and £3,000 a week extra from eBay sellers.

At Prettygate Post Office, in Colchester, 10 regular eBay users send between 10 and 20 parcels and packages every week.

Research by the Post Office in January found that 74 per cent of people who sell goods on eBay send items via Royal Mail or its Parcelforce service. Richard Roche, the head of multi-channel retail at the Royal Mail, said: “We deliver six out of 10 of the goods ordered online and have first-hand experience of the growth and impact of online shopping; eBay has undoubtedly had a positive effect.

Posted: 10|30|05 at 8:54 am. Filed under: UK News.