A local business owner from Wembley, London has today been announced the winner of the coveted ‘Young Upstart’ Award at this year’s eBay for Business Awards. Samuel Langley, owner of Loftpens, is one of 11 eBay sellers to be recognised for their entrepreneurial success in the nationwide awards.

Ever since Sam’s dad first bought him a fountain pen for Christmas when he was young, he has had a passion for collecting all kinds of pens – whether they are rare, vintage or modern. When Sam was 20 he spotted a gap in the market for high-quality, low-cost pens and decided to turn to eBay to start up his business. He made his first sale within 24 hours of posting his listing. Now, three years on at the age of 23, he has over 1,000 different types of fountain pens, ballpoints, pencils and calligraphy supplies. Sam has also developed a range of Loft branded leather pouches, nibs and ink cartridges.

Sam Langley, owner at LoftPens, said: “As a university dropout, winning the Young Upstart Award has proven that pursuing higher education isn’t the only option for young people today. Taking my lifelong hobby and turning into an award-winning business on eBay is a dream come true for me. Right from the outset, eBay gave me the tools, global audience, and secure marketplace I needed to begin this journey. Over the years we have gone from a small eBay seller to a worldwide luxury penmaker, and this award will help me take the business to a whole new level of quality and efficiency.”

Each of the category prize winners will receive a £5,000 prize to invest in their business. Winners will also be granted a free one-year eBay Anchor Store Subscription and access to eBay’s Concierge, the gold-plated customer service team – with a combined value of over £15,000 – to support them in growing their businesses over the next year.

The eBay for Business Awards is an annual event designed to recognise and celebrate the most inspiring sellers among eBay UK’s community of 300,000 small and medium-sized businesses. The announcement follows a nationwide search for the best British businesses trading on the platform, following an exceptionally challenging year for many small businesses and entrepreneurs.

eBay received over 1,200 entries for this year’s awards across all categories, ranging from kitchen table start-ups and university ‘side hustles’, to established family businesses and those complementing offline stores with online avenues. Winners were selected by an expert panel of judges made up of eBay leadership, industry experts, and previous award winners, including Victoria Bischoff, Money Editor at the Daily Mail and Chris Dawson, Editor of Tamebay.

Murray Lambell General Manager of eBay UK, added: “In what continues to be an exceptionally challenging year for so many, I’m delighted to have the chance to celebrate some of the most impressive small businesses trading on eBay UK. Entrepreneurs like Loftpens are a critical part of the UK economy and a reflection of the entrepreneurial spirit that helps this country thrive. It has been a privilege hearing their stories of resilience and determination, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next year brings for these inspirational sellers.”

The announcement follows new data from eBay UK last month showing the number of new, self-made millionaires on the platform has risen by 35% in the last 12 months, as British entrepreneurialism continues to thrive despite challenging trading conditions. A new survey of SME sellers on eBay has also revealed that almost two thirds (62%) maintained or increased online sales compared to pre-COVID and the overwhelming majority (90%) managed to maintain or increase the number of jobs they support.

It comes as eBay recently launched its “Pay As You Grow” scheme, a new initiative that sees fees removed for any first-time business sellers on the platform until they have made over 100 sales in a single month, and reduced fees thereafter each month. The scheme, running until the end of the year, is inspired by the UK Government policy of loan repayments and designed to give an entrepreneurial helping hand to the growing numbers of unemployed across Britain. This builds on eBay’s continued efforts to support small businesses throughout the COVID-19 crisis, following a wide range of seller support policies brought in since the start of the pandemic.