eBay is online marketplace where anyone with computer and the Internet access can sell and buy practically anything. One can sell any product as long as it is not illegal or violets eBay items policy. Airplanes, trucks, cars, computers, electronics, jewelry, clothing are only some of the categories that can be found on eBay storefront.
eBay was founded by Pierre Omidayar in 1995. Pierre was a computer programmer who wrote the first piece of the auction code for the website called auctionweb.com, which later changed its name to eBay.com.[1]
Today eBay is present in 39 markets, with approximately 84 million users worldwide. In 2007 over $60 billion dollars worth of merchandise was sold on eBay worldwide. [1] As of November 20th, 2008, eBay’s market capital is was 15.34B and stock traded at about $12, there are 1.28 billion shares in circulation.
Merchandise on eBay can be sold primarily in two ways, by using fixed price method or by using auction method. Fixed price method is straightforward one, merchants offer goods for fixed price and sellers purchase a good for the price. Auction method is the most popular feature of eBay, and it is one of the key reasons for eBay’s worldwide success. An auction method is the one where individuals and companies offer the product to the highest bidder. Interested buyers will place the bids on the item until the auction expires, auctions on eBay are usually 3,7 and 10 days.
Very important component of eBay is PayPal service, which was acquired in 2002 by eBay. PayPal is online financial payment service which enables sellers and buyers to safely exchange payments no matter of the location, currency and language.
Both PayPal and eBay operate on sales commission principle. Seller usually pa ...