EBay

The World’s Online Marketplace

EBay is one of the world’s largest online auctioneers, offering localized sites in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. EBay is referred to as the “The World’s Online Marketplace” and has over 200 million users worldwide. There are approximately 105 million listings worldwide,

 and approximately 6 million listings are added per day. EBay users trade in more than 50,000 categories of goods and services including: collectibles, computers, appliances, furniture, vehicles, equipment and other miscellaneous items. EBay Inc., founded in 1995, owns an array of websites that work along side of eBay.com to strengthen customer satisfaction and convenience. By bringing millions of buyers and sellers together each day, eBay is able to facilitate ecommerce in both the domestic and international community.

Proof of its success, eBay’s financial results for its third quarter 2006 showed record consolidated Q3-06 net revenues of $1.449 billion, representing a growth rate of 31% year over year. Also, in Q3-06, the total value of all successfully closed items on eBay (GMV) was US$12.6bil and eBay users worldwide trade more than $1,590 worth of goods on the site every second. EBay generates revenue from a number of fees such as: fees to list a product, fees when a product sells, and other optional fees. The U.S. based eBay.com for example, charges $020 to $80 per listing as well as 2-8% of the final price. Already having expanded to dozens of countries, the company continues to maximize revenue by increasing international trade within the eBay system.

As many shopaholics will tell you, eBay can be a dangerous place for compulsive buyers.  Conversely, eBay has proved to be the key to success for most, especially private business owners who have started using eBay for product sales. Ebay has a global presence in 33 markets, therefore making it easier for individuals and businesses to find the perfect buyer for their product. Customers are equally as enthusiastic and many have decided to bypass live surplus auctions altogether. They instead turn to eBay and other online auction sites for the majority of their purchases.

Other Services

EBay has an assortment of services designed to assist it’s users in any online transactions.

For instance, PayPal was bought by eBay in October 2002 and is now a global leader in online payment solutions for eBay customers and others. PayPal is a quick and easy way for both the buyer and seller to send and receive payments online by allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the internet. Ebay also wants it’s customers to make informed choices on any item they purchase. Shopping.com allows users to do just that. With this price comparison service, purchased by eBay in June 2005, changes in the price of a product that the user seeks to buy is monitored. When the price reaches the predetermined level, the buyer is informed. On the site, eBay.com also provides: Half.com, offering great deals in-stock everyday at low prices; Kijiji, helping users connect to a specific community; and ProStores, allowing users to create their own WEB STORE.

Expanding its reach into the classifieds market, in February 2005, eBay purchased Rent.com, the largest apartment listing service on the internet today. At around the same time, eBay also purchased 25% stake in Craigslist, a leading online classified service. Skype, the world’s fastest growing peer-to-peer voice over IP network, was acquired by eBay in October 2005. It provides users everywhere with a free, unlimited video and voice communication network that is available in 27 different languages. And most recently, Ebay opened its new eBay Express site in the spring of 2006, making shopping faster and easier for United States users. The UK version was later launched in mid October.

EBay Businesses, Skype and Paypal, both grew at an impressive pace in 2006. PayPal had an excellent 3rd quarter in 2006, with net revenues totaling $350 million, up from $247 million in Q3-05. The total number of PayPal accounts also had a high growth rate in Q3-06 with a 41% increase from the previous year. Those accounts helped drive the record Total Payment Volume of $6.7 billion of Q3-05 to $9.1 billion in Q3-06, a 36% increase. Also, the global TVP for PayPal Merchant Services was at a 59% percent increase in Q3-06. In the same quarter, Skype net revenues totaled $50 million, representing a 13% increase from the previous Q2-06. By the end of Q3-06, the number of Skype users had gone up 20% from the previous quarter. "As our results demonstrate, we are executing on our strategy to grow our Marketplaces, PayPal and Skype businesses individually and collectively to deliver greater value to our community of users and to our shareholders" said Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay Inc.

The eBay Foundation

Whitman says, “giving back to the community is simply a part of eBay.” In accordance with this mission, eBay founded what is known as the eBay Foundation in 1998. The eBay Foundation is a charitable fund dedicated to making communities grow and prosper through contributions to community organizations. Grants provided by the Foundation are awarded to non-profit groups working on building a stronger community. Having contributed over $8 million to various non-profit organizations, the eBay Foundation is constantly recognized for its efforts. The San Francisco Times named the eBay Foundation as one of the Bay Area’s top corporate philanthropists. And, the Association of Fundraising Professionals Silicon Valley Chapter recently awarded eBay with the Outstanding Corporate Grantmaker Award.

Dealing with Fraud

Online criminals who target sites like eBay are rapidly growing in numbers. After an internal survey showed that online scammers may be negatively affecting the company’s reputation, executives at eBay inc. name security as their top priority for 2007. Last year the company began addressing this issue with more intensity. EBay has now established a program to safeguard members’ identities and the company continues working hard to protect buyers from scammers. EBay also works with law enforcement and government agencies to both, prevent fraud and appropriately resolve any problems that may occur. EBay now offers a number of tools, programs and resources to ensure safe community trade.

For instance, with the feedback system provided by eBay, the buyer and seller of a product have the option of rating each other with a “positive”, “negative”, or “neutral” after every transaction. This method of fraud protection has proven to be somewhat faulty and many complaints have been made due to manipulation of this Feedback system. According to a recent study at the University of California Berkeley, hundreds of eBay users have been artificially magnifying their ratings by buying and selling good feedback.

EBay also provides users with Buyer Protection through either the PayPal Buyer Protection or the eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program. These programs provide a set amount of coverage for items that are not received or items that are not as described in the listing. To help protect against fraudulent purchases, eBay Inc. has established an eBay Security Center which provides guidance on how to safely, buy, sell and pay for items. It also provides information on other government and law enforcement resources. Users can protect their personal accounts using the eBay Toolbar with Account Guard. This program is called the Spoof (Fraudulent) Web Site Protection. With this program the user will receive timely desktop alerts warning them of a site that is a potentially fraudulent, or spoof, Web site. Users are also allowed to conduct online tutorials on spoof email and are then able to report issues to spoof@ebay.com.

EBay claims that less than one-hundredth of one percent of the listings on its Web sit are fraudulent. Even still, users are skeptical and, ironically, some have even gone so far as to use the problem as a way to deceive users. Recently an email claiming that the site is closing because of the incidence of scams and rogue traders. The email, posing as an eBay inquiry, asks the recipient to vote on whether or not they agree with the decision to shut down the site. The recipient is then directed to a Yes or No link were username and password is required. IT specialist from Sophos warns that the email is a hoax designed to steal information from users. Security experts say clicking on the link will allow cybercriminals to hack into user accounts allowing them to make fraudulent purchases or sales. Users beware!

eBay: Leader of the Online Auction

With millions buying and selling online, eBay.com has become the world leader in the online auction field, providing more items and categories than any competitor. Buyers and sellers from across the globe have begun to rely heavily on such internet auction sites for generating business revenue, convenient/inexpensive trading of goods, or simply for a fast and easy way to shop. Even with a single listing on eBay any individuals or small business is able to greatly increase profits.

A wide variety of new auction web site companies have sprouted up in the past year, and each offer similar services. So, how does eBay maintain its role as the head online auction provider? For one, eBay has been around the longest and has expanded to countries across the globe. But, where eBay really got it right was by keeping the focus on bringing the best auction experience to the user in their everyday transactions.

تقرير واشنطن