PRESS: MTS opens website to sell used IT, telecom equipment

MOSCOW, Jan 29 (PRIME) -- Major Russian mobile operator MTS has launched a platform dealing with second-hand IT and telecom equipment, torg.mts.ru, which works like an auction, business daily Vedomosti reported on Tuesday, quoting MTS spokesman Alexei Merkutov.

Floor tests started a year ago and the system was free, now MTS starts charging a commission from sellers, Merkutov said without disclosing its size. Clients can subscribe to the floor paying 7,000 rubles per month and sell up to 200 items. A seller can hire a personal manager for 50,000 rubles, Merkutov said.

MTS specialists can help set the initial price of goods, which can fall or rise during trading, he said.

Vice President Vyacheslav Nikolayev said a year ago that new services brought MTS up to 20% of revenue.

The new platform is another additional source of income for the company, Merkutov said. It is also a place where MTS and other subsidiaries of its major shareholder, multi-industry holding Sistema, can sell used equipment and other property without middlemen.

During the year of testing, sales revenue amounted to 600 million rubles. The platform’s turnover could reach some 1 billion rubles in 2019, and third party firms would account for half of it, the MTS spokesperson said.

(65.9300 rubles – U.S. $1)

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