Hewitt suffers over 440 K dollar eSwap Internet loss

Melbourne, Jan.4 (ANI): Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt's internet business eSwap has run up losses of over 440,000 dollars, company accounts show.

According to the Herald Sun, the business, which runs the auction website eSwap.com.au, had income of just 2037.89 dollars and spent almost 211,000 dollars on advertising and promotion in 2008.

"You will notice that since officially launching in December 2007 there has been limited income to eSwap Limited. This is because the website has been offering free basic listings and free store listings to entice regular users to the site. We envisage this practice to continue through 2008 until we have sufficient user base to encourage a basic fee structure," a company report said.

The website was still offering free listings yesterday.

Depending on price and type of goods, its competitor eBay, which dominates the online auction market, charges between 30 cents and 49.95 dollars to list an item for sale.

"The biggest challenge in the future is the continuance of building eSwap.com.au as a viable brand name," the company says in the report. (ANI)