eBay, a world renowned online marketplace for the sale of goods and services, expects rapid growth in its business in Singapore, according to a report in Friday's Today, an English daily newspaper published in the city state.

It quoted a recent research by ACNielsen as showing that nearly 4,400 Singaporeans are depending solely on eBay as their primary or secondary source of income while another 9,729 Singaporeans are selling a variety of things on this website to supplement their regular salaries.

Expecting the number of sellers to surge in the city state, the American company has made a "significant investment" in upgrading its Singapore website, the report said.

New features of the website not only enable professional sellers to set up an eBay store, build their own brand and collect customers' feedback on the site, but also allow buyers to personalize their "My eBay" pages to centralize their buying activities.

In addition, buyers and sellers in Singapore will continue enjoying free online transactions as eBay hopes to create vibrancy in the market here, the report said.

Established in September 1995, eBay has penetrated 33 markets and has over 200 million registered members worldwide. Sales worth some 1 billion U.S. dollars were achieved in its fastest-growing Asian markets in the first quarter of this year.

Source: Xinhua