Businesses and individuals will now be able to sell their goods through a new online auction website.BidBermuda.com, which is the brainchild of young entrepreneur Jevon Foggo, enables users to sell, bid or buy modelled on eBay, but with a number of extra features including the ability to set up an online store.And if the website proves to be a hit on the Island, Mr Foggo plans to roll it out across the Caribbean and other parts of the world.Mr Foggo came up with the idea three years ago after being introduced to eBay by a friend and he decided to see if he could apply it to Bermuda.“I signed up and started bidding on things just to get a feel of it and fell in love with it,” he said.“I just thought to myself ‘Bermuda doesn’t have anything close to this’, so I contacted a few graphic web developers and really started from there.“I have been working on the website for about two years now and have just launched it this month.”Operating from a computer out of an office at his home in St David’s, Mr Foggo said that the concept was simple users can buy and sell items at a set price or at auction with a time limit for bidding.The website is free to sign up to and members each have an area where they have control over and can monitor their activities. Buyers can pay online through any of the Island’s three main retail banks and invoices are automatically generated.Businesses can establish their own online stores for one and two-monthly fees to list 10 items or more and they can also create their own newsletters. Each store has its own URL link. Retail stores opening an online store can take advantage of discounted advertising and listings of four items or less are free.“Everything can be done online,” said Mr Foggo. “I got the idea because I noticed that a lot of Bermudians have their own products such as crafts and paintings which they like to sell.“I am just trying to create a central online market place for everybody to sell and buy their items because I know how expensive it is to advertise locally and even to launch a new store location.”BidBermuda will get most of its revenue from auction fees, which will be introduced when the website is fully up and running, and advertising, but for the moment it is free to list items for sale as people become familiar with the site, said Mr Foggo.Despite the obvious parallels that will be drawn between eMoo and his site, he believes that his product is broader in its approach with the addition of online stores, the ability to upload media files such as video clips or ‘infomercials’ of goods for sale and customise your own auction page.“With the recession, I think this is an alternative way of selling with people having a lot of things in their homes and stores having a lot of back stock that they want to sell which they can just put on the website,” he said.“The website is very user friendly. With the online auction it is open 24/7, as it is for the online stores.”Having developed his own back office administration function which takes care of his operation, Mr Foggo has been focusing on advertising via mail drops and television and radio commercials and he is even considering rigging up banners across the island to get the word out there.He said that the response to his new venture had been very positive so far, with residents welcoming the newly available concept, particularly those who have prior experience of using eBay.Other features range from auction alerts set at specific times and home page preference listings and advertising, according to Mr Foggo.This is 32-year-old’s first business venture, but with a background in music production and studio engineering, he is confident that his creative side will enable it to flourish.“BidBermuda is just the beginning,” he said. “Once that gets up and running I’m thinking about hitting the Caribbean with an online auction website and maybe even going international.“But if you are going to start somewhere then what better place than Bermuda?”For more information contact 533-3345, e-mail info[AT]bidbermuda.com or visit the website at www.bidbermuda.com