Florida based Neha Gajwani named a winner at eBay’s SHINE Awards

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) – Indian American Neha Gajwani was selected among six other small business owners as a winner of eBay’s inaugural SHINE Awards for Small Business.

The winners were honored at eBay’s inaugural seller celebration event, eBay OPEN, in Las Vegas last month.

As the chief executive of SmackTom.com, Gajwani was honored in the category of global business. Tanya Crew, Spencer Apland, Lauralee Lindholm and William Wolstenholme, who won in the woman-owned business, growing business, charitable business and family business categories were the other winners.

The award program seeks to celebrate the efforts and success of entrepreneurs across the country and celebrates the contributions of small businesses on eBay to the U.S. economy, the company said.

“We were thrilled to read the stories of the more than 1,300 eBay businesses that were considered for the SHINE Awards this year,” said senior vice president and head of eBay North American Hal Lawton in a statement. “Our winners represent the best of what eBay stands for: innovative, fast-growing, global, diverse small businesses that are grounded in their families and communities and work hard every day.”

The SHINE winners were selected from more than 1,300 submissions throughout the country, ranging from new businesses to multi-million dollar global enterprises.

Nearly 18,000 voters within the eBay community voted roughly 40,000 times to select the winners of each category, while the grand prize was selected by a panel of expert judges.

Based out of Florida, Gajwani, who operates an eBay channel under the name Smack-Tom, sources accessories overseas and sells them through her eBay account as well as through the SmackTom.com website.

“eBay made it simple for me to list a product, understand how to market that product, and understand what their role and my role would be in the process,” the Washington University in St. Louis graduate said in her SHINE Awards bio page. She claims that eBay’s easy-to-use website helped her business to grow. This is something that a lot of business owners realize, eBay is a great place for a small business owner to gain some sales. Some businesses on eBay will also use a Non API eBay Lister to support their store. This helps them to upload unlimited listings and also helps them to list these products with one click, saving them time. Perhaps using a dropshipping tool would be beneficial alongside your eBay store, it could help you to gain more sales.

“It took something as complex as online selling and made it plausible for a beginner like myself.”

She has been selling through the website since 2009, shortly after she graduated from college. Thanks to the popularity of her service, Gajwani has opened offices in Miami, India and China. Roughly 23 percent of her sales are on the international scale. Those looking to purchase items through eBay may want to be made aware of the additional savings that can be made on the site through the use of promo codes and discounts – head to the Raise website to find more information on this. Nothing feels better than getting a great deal on great products.

“I look at what we’ve done in just a few short years – how many orders we’ve fulfilled, the number of places we sell in, being able to expand offices to India and China, and the incredible team we’ve built – and I do feel proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish as a global business,” she said.