The first eBay user from Thailand registered in 1996, and now sellers here are among eBay's most active, focused largely on exporting to buyers worldwide, Sam McDonagh, the company's director for Southeast Asia, said last week.

The top categories that Thai sellers trade on eBay are clothing and accessories, jewellery, gems and watches, as well as sporting goods.

On any given day, a Thai eBay member sells an item of jewellery or a watch every 27 seconds and an article of clothing once every 56 seconds.

With millions of registered users around the globe, eBay provides boundless opportunity for Thai individuals and companies to buy from and sell to the world, McDonagh said.

eBay recently reported a 26-per-cent increase to 212 million registered users worldwide.

Earlier this year, eBay began activities to strengthen its community of registered users here.

It conducted seller summits in Bangkok in April and Chiang Mai in September to help sellers achieve greater sales.

It also introduced a Thai-language version of its Seller starter kit that provides step-by-step instructions on how to sell on the eBaywebsite.

The US-based company aims to increase awareness among local Internet users of the infinite opportunities for doing business on eBay.

The company will continue to invest in initiatives that will help sellers grow their export sales.

 "We believe that Thai people and companies will recognise the tremendous potential eBay offers as the leading global online market-place, and we expect our registered user base here to continue to grow," McDonagh said.