Norwich tops eBay UK league
Published February 20th, 2006
Nearly two thirds of residents (62%) in the Norfolk town are registered eBay traders – up from 44% last year.
The upsurge reflects the national rise in the number of people listed as users of the website.
This is due to the website`s growing popularity as a means of buying everyday goods, a spokesman said.
Today`s announcement follows eBay`s television advertising campaign and an overall increase in online retail in the UK.
Wigan had the biggest increase in registered users compared to last year at 57%, followed by Sunderland at 56% and Bolton at 54%.
The average number of registered eBay users in the site`s top 100 UK towns has risen by 44% in the last 12 months.
EBay spokesman Charlie Coney said the general upsurge in users reflected the broadening appeal of the site.
He said: “People no longer think of using eBay just for the collectable or alternative items. It is a great place to go for everything that you might want to buy or sell.
“It can be used for everyday items that people hadn`t previously thought of using the site for.”
Norwich also topped the league last year when the ranking was produced for the first time.
Fareham and Bracknell have slipped out of the eBay top 100 towns while Wrexham and Basildon are new entries in 82nd and 95th places respectively.
The website had 10 million users in the UK according to February 2005 figures. Updated figures have not yet been released by eBay.
The auction site was founded in 1999 and now has around three million items listed for sale at any one time.
EBay`s top ten towns were calculated by comparing the number of registered users from each place with population figures sourced from the Office for National Statistics.
The top ten eBay towns according to the percentage of registered users are as follows. All figures were provided by eBay.
Rank City 2006 2005 % increase
1 Norwich 62% 44% 40%
2 Ilford 55% 37% 49%
3 Cambridge 54% 42% 29%
4 Reading 54% 39% 38%
5 Lincoln 52% 36% 43%
6 Nottingham 49% 35% 40%
7 Manchester 48% 33% 46%
8 Preston 46% 32% 45%
9 Southampton 46% 32% 43%
10 Bristol 41% 29% 42%
The UK`s bottom ten eBay towns from the website`s top 100 league are as follows:
Rank City 2006 2005 % increase
90 Bradford 13% 9% 48%
91 London 13% 10% 31%
92 Oldham 13% 9% 45%
93 Wigan 13% 8% 57%
94 Sunderland 12% 8% 56%
95 Basildon 12% 0% –
96 Walsall 12% 8% 53%
97 Wakefield 11% 8% 41%
98 Rochdale 11% 7% 51%
99 Croydon 10% 7% 41%
100 Wirral 9% 6% 43%
