OZtion, Australia’s second largest online auction site (www.oztion.com.au) has announced a comprehensive identity verification program, which covers both online buyers and sellers at www.oztion.com.au.

Philip Druce, Managing Director for OZtion commented, “Many online scams and crimes are only possible because popular Internet sites make it easy to create a fake identity. It’s like a bank handing out free masks to bank robbers. When a crime occurs with a fake online identity, sites that don’t bother to check identities just shrug their shoulders and hand the fake details to the victim. OZtion has created a comprehensive range of identity checks, for both buyers and sellers, so Australians can shop online with confidence.”

OZtion’s new identity verification measures include: • extensive identity checks for businesses and individuals wishing to setup vShops at OZtion • identity verification for all individual sellers • optional identity verification for buyers • easy to understand icons to indicate identity verification levels achieved for every user of the site

OZtion’s vShop service allows any business to establish a fully branded, easy to setup and maintain Internet shop. Each vShop is created within the OZtion site, and benefits from the hundreds of thousands of visitors to www.oztion.com.au.

Membership at OZtion is free. Anybody can join and purchase products.

To reduce the possibility of scams, illegal, or inappropriate behaviour, OZtion has introduced the option for any member to become identity verified.

Members that choose to become identity verified are able to make purchases over $100, send private messages to other OZtion members, and post messages within the OZtion forums.

In addition, sellers must be either businesses or individuals that are physically located in Australia. Multinational businesses wishing to sell on OZtion need to have an Australian presence to setup a seller account.

OZtion’s online product listings have grown 284% since Jan 2006, currently averaging 182,000 simultaneous items for sale.

Background Information Commencing online on 1st January 2005, www.oztion.com.au is the result of a unique Australian online ecommerce system. All research and development for the site is carried out in Melbourne.

All items listed for sale via OZtion are offered by Australian businesses or individuals that have been security verified by OZtion’s unique seller verification process.

Membership at www.oztion.com.au is free.

OZtion has grown rapidly by offering Zero Cost Listings for items being sold online. This service is one of Australia’s safest and cheapest methods for small businesses to sell goods online.

OZtion’s Zero Cost Listing service enables any Australian individual or business to advertise their products online at no cost, with a very low fee being charged only in the event that the item is sold. The sale fee ranges from 1.5% to 3% of the sale price, with the fee capped at $30.

The Zero Cost Listing service is a form of “Pay for Sale” online advertising. It is extremely simple to use, and allows businesses to greatly increase their Internet based product sales without wasting money paying for clicks from people that are merely window shopping.

In contrast, website based advertising offerings from most Australian online sites are priced based on the number of times an advertisement is shown, or on a “pay for click” basis.

About OZtion OZtion is an Australian online auction site, based on unique Australian designed and developed technology. Based in Melbourne, OZtion has grown enormously to become the 2nd largest Australian online auction site. OZtion was recently voted Australia’s best new website by the readers of Australian Netquide magazine. Visit www.oztion.com.au for more information.

Media Contact: Sebastian Rice, Silverspan, 02 9959 1991, seb@silverspan.com, www.silverspan.com