eBay Announces the 2017 SHINE Awards for Small Business Winners

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, eBay announced the winners of its annual seller recognition program, the SHINE Awards for Small Business. The award program highlights the efforts and success of small businesses across the country and recognizes the entrepreneurs who have used eBay to help build successful businesses.

"We were thrilled to receive thousands of submissions from sellers across the U.S. for the SHINE Awards for Small Business," said Hal Lawton, Senior Vice President of eBay North America. "Our sellers are what makes eBay the vibrant marketplace it is today. This year's winners truly exemplify what it means to grow a best-in-class business on eBay and we couldn't be prouder to honor them with these awards."

The SHINE Awards Grand Prize Winner and eBay's 2017 Small Business of the Year is Angie Cardona-Nelson. Her business, eWaste Direct, is an eco-friendly business that diverts electronic waste from landfills by recycling and refurbishing used electronics. Over the course of nine years, eWaste Direct has diverted over 7 million pounds of e-waste from landfills and has gone from a revenue ratio of 80% recycling to over 80% resale.

Winners from each of the five categories were also recognized onstage:

• Rising Star: Katy Zilverberg, A Boutique for Him. Katy left her traditional 9-to-5 job to pursue a career in small business consulting. It wasn't long before she realized selling on eBay was her true calling – and she went all in, growing her sales at a staggering rate. Today, A Boutique for Him is a full-time eBay boutique specializing in a men's clothing.
• Global Business: Denise Martell, Al's Snowmobile Parts Warehouse. As a seasonal business based in rural Vermont, Denise made the decision to expand her father's snowmobile business and source additional cashflow in the off season by selling on eBay – and never looked back. Today Denise exports between 30-40% of her products to countries all over the world.
• Minority or Woman-Owned Business: Melissa Crook, Sticky Fingers Vinyl. A single mother with four children, Melissa knew she needed a way to support herself and her family finding a niche in the online craft market. She now has a thriving business selling vinyl product to crafting professionals and expanded to a 11,000+ sq. ft. warehouse with six employees.
• Charitable Business: Nancy Meyer, Community Forklift. Nancy founded Community Forklift to "lift up the community" by recycling and reselling unwanted and salvaged building materials throughout the metro DC region. To raise even more funds, the organization leverages our eBay for Charity program. Since 2011, Community Forklift has also provided $250,000 worth of materials to neighbors in need.
• Young Entrepreneur: Ciara Brown, The Diamond Hanger. With an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for finding that diamond in the rough, Ciara created a flourishing clothing business out of her college dorm room while juggling her time as a full-time college student and Division I athlete.

The eBay SHINE Awards winners were selected from more than 2,400 submissions that came from across the U.S. Submissions matched eBay's breadth and depth of businesses and merchandise on the site with entries from brand new businesses just starting out on eBay to global, multi-million dollar enterprises and entries from every category – from fashion to homewares to automotive parts.

The eBay community had a chance to vote on 15 selected finalists for category winners: three in each of the five categories. Nearly 30,000 votes were cast for the category winners by thousands of voters. Independent from the community voting, the Grand Prize Winner and eBay's 2017 Small Business of the Year was selected by a panel of expert judges including Brent Bellm, CEO of BigCommerce, Anita Campbell, Founder of Small Business Trends, John Henry, host of eBay's Open for Business podcast, Hal Lawton, SVP, North America, eBay and Laurie Wong, Owner, Reflections of Trinity and eBay's 2016 Small Business of the Year.

The SHINE Awards winners receive a suite of prizes and marketing tools to help take their business to the next level. This includes a cash prize, $10,000 for the grand prize winner and $5,000 for each of the five category winners, a one-year Anchor store subscription, credits for eBay shipping supplies and promoted listings and more. 

For information on the SHINE Awards for Small Business, photos of the winners and more, please see visit ebay.com/shineawards.

About eBay
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity through Connected Commerce. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay is one of the world's largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2016, eBay enabled $84 billion of gross merchandise volume. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

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