eBay Canada announces the winners of Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

The September edition of the Business review Canada is now live!

Earlier this year we reported on eBay Canada’s ninth annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. eBay is happy to announce Farishta Zarify of London, Ontario as the 2013 winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.               

As the 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year, Zarify has leveraged her passion for fashion to create a full-time career. Zarify launched her business, Designer Luxury Gowns, in January and quickly tapped into the high-end fashion market on eBay.  Specializing in designer and luxury evening gowns, Zarify sold in excess of $20,000 worth of luxury clothing within the first six months of launching, including her most notable sale to-date, an $11,000 gown by designer John Galliano.  Zarify takes full advantage of eBay’s mobile apps to meet the needs of her business and her discerning customers: she is able to research prices, post listings and respond to customer inquiries - anytime, anywhere.

Additionally, eBay Canada is also celebrating two other categories: Home-preneur of the Year, new for 2013 honours a seller who operates an eBay business from the comfort of their home; and eBay welcomes the return of Young-preneur of the Year, for an entrepreneurially-spirited seller under the age of 29.

Richard Kalpakian of Toronto, Ontario was named the first eBay Canada Home-preneur of the Year.  Kalpakian turned his lifelong love of comic books into a profitable online business with an extraordinary inventory of nearly 250,000 titles.  With the support of his wife, Kalpakian operates all aspects of his business from the family home, and houses his inventory in thoroughly organized, temperature controlled storage units. Since launching in 2004, Kalpakian’s sales have increased six fold, making him the fourth largest comic book seller globally on eBay. 

Adrien Lavoie of Gatineau, Quebec is eBay Canada’s 2013 Young-preneur of the Year.  An employee and protégé of2012 Entrepreneur of the Year, Jean-Francois Lapointe, Lavoie was inspired to establish his own eBay business offering sports products including longboards, shoes, sunglasses, and other accessories.  Since starting his business over two years ago, Lavoie has seen tremendous growth and earlier this year was able to open a 2,100 ft2 brick-and-mortar store,Wooki.ca,  as a result of the success of his eBay store.