Based in the US the site has only been operating for a short time but already has listings in the thousands. It appears to be following the fixed price "stores" model rather than auctions which are difficult to succeed with while buyer traffic is modest.

Initial impressions of the site are very positive. A good range of categories to satisfy almost any eBay refugee and, something I particularly liked, plenty of information available and easily found by new visitors.

When clicking to find out more about selling on the site I was greeted with a brief outline of how Atomic Mall came together and what they are looking to achieve. It says:

I was pleased to see security mentioned in this introduction and consideration for user safety was confirmed when SSL encryption kicked in as soon as I clicked the "sign up" page.  It appears that international sellers are welcomed by Atomic Mall provided they can meet the verification requirements. Sellers also have the option of enabling a live chat facility when they are online and users get a choice of payment methods including both Paypal and Google Checkout.

It appears the site only charges fees based on the sale price of items after they sell. These fees compare very well against eBay and, with no set up charges or listing costs being charged, the package looks inviting. An extra bonus that will appeal to a lot of weary sellers is the "Atomic Uploader" which the site claims can help you to list at "warp speed".

Marketing seems to have been thought thru with a referral system already in place whereby current users can earn $5 credit against their site fees for each new member they sign up. Whether there is more money available to help overcome the initial name awareness issue isn't clear.

Obviously it's still very early days and it remains to be seen how effective the marketing plan will be for the site and how they cope with future growing pains. However, as first impressions go, this is the best I've had for a new sales venue for quite a while.

Visit: Atomic Mall.

For more news from around the blogs about Atomic Mall visit the Atomic Mall page at Auction Buzz.

Comment about Atomic Mall in our Auction Forums.