Amazon is about to shut down its selling platform Local Finds — just two years after launch — owing to poor traction, as even the world’s biggest ecommerce company finds it tricky to operate in the peer-to-peer (P2P) space in India.

The platform enabled 90,000 small and medium sellers selling new and used products, mainly mobile phones, books, jewellery, clothing among other categories. However, only 2,000 members were active until recently, sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18.

Amazon had integrated Junglee.com, which it acquired in 1998, into Local Finds, and was launched as a pilot project in Bengaluru in 2017 with a mission to enhance discovery, convenience & trust of buying products or services from local sellers.

Local Finds was competing with platforms such as Quikr and OLX where individuals sell and buy second-hand items.

In an e-mail to sellers on Local Finds, the company said that effective from May 22, 2019, the services will no longer be available.

"Local Finds began its journey in July 2016 with a simple premise - to provide a simple and easy way for anyone to get started with selling on Amazon. Over the last 2 years we enabled thousands of people to start selling new and used products on Amazon. Individuals who were selling through Local finds can now register themselves as professional sellers and continue selling on Amazon.in,” Amazon said in a statement.

Local Finds was an experiment by the Seattle-based giant in Bengaluru to encourage individual sellers to use the platform, also offering logistical support and payment solutions. Local Finds was run under the Amazon Pay team in the company.

First Published:Apr 22, 2019 8:07 PM IST