Murty in Calcutta on Thursday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, Aug. 31: eBay India is witnessing a surge in buyers from non-metro towns on its e-commerce website. They now comprise 20 per cent of the company’s buyer base.

“There is a rapid growth in the percentage of buyers from smaller non-metro towns. In the next five years, we expect them to comprise 50 per cent of our buyer base,” said Ambareesh Murty, director, category management, eBay India.

The growth rate of sellers, who list their items for sale on eBay, from such smaller towns is double that of the ones from metros and other big cities.

eBay in India has a two-million strong user community and according to an AC Nielsen International research, approximately 12,800 sellers use eBay as a primary or secondary source of income.