Auction site QXL UK to shut down on May 30

by Jacquie Bowser, Brand Republic 06-May-08, 15:55

LONDON - European auction website QXL is closing its UK division at the end of this month after 10 years in service.

QXL started life in London in 1997 and was worth £1.7bn at the height of the dot-com boom in 2000, but lost out to stronger rival eBay.

The closure of its UK site leaves the company with operations in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland and the Ukraine.

Trading in the UK will cease at 12pm on Friday May 30 and all accounts will be closed.

A newsletter sent out to QXL clients said: "We would like to inform you that we have decided to withdraw from the UK market and close the QXL.co.uk site.

"We request that those members who have an outstanding debit balance on their account to settle these as soon as possible.

"We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who joined the QXL auction community during the previous 10 years and thank you for your custom and loyalty."

The last day to list an item on the UK site will be May 9 and the final day to bid or buy items will be May 19.

EBay was named as a possible bidder for QXL in November last year and was believed to be preparing a takeover bid. QXL confirmed it had received a preliminary approach at the time but declined to identify the suitor.