Both websites owned by Jamaican companies are online marketplaces that enable the trade of practically anything by anyone who has an Internet connection.  Following in the success trail of the 10 year old American company eBay branded “the world’s online marketplace”, Yardsalejamaica.com was launched in January this year and reggaebay.com just under a month ago.

But companies and concepts like eBay thrive in environments such as the United States, where there is an internet culture that has millions of people online at affordable access rates, using affordable computers and where shopping online using a credit card, is second nature to mall roaming.

Here in the Jamaica, however, there is still a low percentage of people online -in Jamaica the estimate is just over 20,000 out of a population of 2.6 million, in Trinidad the official figure is 150,000.  What will create a change in those figures is telecom market liberalization that started in Jamaica 4 years ago, so now there are 16 ISPs offering dial up, DSL and wireless Internet access.  Additionally, the construction of fibre optic cable links from US to Jamaica before year-end, will give consumers and companies even more and cheaper choices of getting online.

Further, shopping and trading online in true eBay style is hampered in Jamaica, as there is still no ecommerce legislation in that enables Jamaicans to shop online for items in Jamaica using their Jamaican or USD credit cards, even though banks have been engaging in closed circuit trial ecommerce for blue chip clients or those who can afford the high set up rates and, companies offer online bill payments by credit card, there is limited online banking and payment of taxes online are on its way.

In the meantime, yardsalejamaica.com pitches the following message ( “Nowhere better than Yard” for quality used goods at excellent prices.  We offer you a way to beat the high cost of new goods with a wide range of used items at excellent prices”) and in lieu of Jamaicans not being able to use their credit cards to buy anything online in Jamaica as yet, YSJ YardsaleJamaica.com is at this time a facilitator of sales between parties.  Still YSJ leaves themselves open for monetizing the site later however by saying that “currently, all services are offered free of charge.”

Reggaebay.com on the other hand has monetized its site services from the start.  They sells themselves as “ is the new online marketplace for people to buy and sell items in Jamaica,” allowing sellers to list an item up for auction and have buyers bid on it or simply "Buy It Now".  With Reggaebay.com registration and listing is for free, but an “end of auction” fee is in place ranging from JA$150 to JA$1,800 depending on value of item.  They also have minimum fees for certain value added fees such as highlighted and bold features.

Who will become Jamaica's eBay remains to be seen, as more competitors will no doubt throw their hats into the ring in time.  Yardsalejamaica.com is run by Webfx who's general manager is Jamie Ranston and Reggaebay.com is run by Chad Cunningham of Caribexchange Ltd- both are Kingston-based companies.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is a tech and telecom industry trend analyst who has been covering Tech and Telecom in Jamaica and the Caribbean for the past seven years.  She also has 12 years experience in media, communications and publishing.