eBay Inc. ( "English respelling pronunciation"> EE -bay ) is a multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, and became a success story of the dot-com bubble. eBay is a multibillion-dollar business with operations in about 30 countries, in 2011. The company manages eBay.com, auction sites and online shopping where people and businesses buy and sell a wide range of goods and services around the world. This free website is used for buyers, but sellers are charged for a list of items after a limited number of free listings, and again when they are sold.
In addition to the sale of the original auction style, this website has evolved and expanded to include "Buy Now" shopping; shop with UPC, ISBN, or any other type of SKU number (via Half.com); online classified ads (through Kijiji or eBay Secrets); trade event tickets online (via StubHub); and other services. It previously offered online money transfers (via PayPal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay from 2002 to 2015).
Video EBay
History
Initial years
The AuctionWeb was founded in California on September 3, 1995, by the French Iranian-American computer programmer Pierre Omidyar, as part of a larger private site. One of the first items sold on AuctionWeb is a broken laser pointer for $ 14.83. Startled, Omidyar contacts the auction winner to ask if he understands that the laser pointer is broken. In an email responding, the buyer explains: "I am a collector of a broken laser pointer."
The often repeated story that eBay was set up to help the Omidyar candy merchant, Pez candy dispenser, was made by a public relations manager, Mary Lou Song, in 1997 to attract the attention of the media, who was not interested in the previous explanation about wanting to create "perfect market ". This is revealed in Adam Cohen's book, The Perfect Store (2002), and confirmed by eBay.
Reportedly, eBay is just a sideline hobby for Omidyar until its Internet service provider informs him that he should upgrade to a business account due to the high volume of traffic to his website. The resulting price increase (from $ 30/month to $ 250) forced him to start filling those who use eBay, and did not run into hostilities. The result is to hire Chris Agarpao as eBay's first additional employee to handle the number of incoming checks for a fee.
Jeffrey Skoll was hired as president of the first company in early 1996. In November 1996, eBay entered into a first-party license agreement, with a company called Electronic Travel Auction, to use SmartMarket Technology to sell airline tickets and other travel. product. Growth is phenomenal; in January 1997, the site housed 2,000,000 auctions, compared to 250,000 during the whole of 1996.
The company officially changed its service name from AuctionWeb to eBay in September 1997. Originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar has tried to register the domain name echobay.com, but found it was already taken by Echo Bay Mines, a gold mining company, so he shortened it to second choice, eBay.com.
In 1997 the company received $ 6.7 million in funding from venture capital firm Benchmark Capital.
Meg Whitman was hired by the board as president and CEO of eBay in March 1998. At that time, the company had 30 employees, half a million users and $ 4.7 million in revenues in the United States.
eBay went public on September 21, 1998, and Omidyar and Skoll became instant billionaires. EBay's target price of $ 18 was completely ignored as the price went to $ 53.50 on the first day of trading.
2000s
As companies expand product categories beyond collections into virtually everything that can be sold, the business grows rapidly. In February 2002 the company purchased iBazar, a similar European auction website established in 1998, and subsequently purchased PayPal on October 3, 2002.
In early 2008, the company has grown worldwide, counting hundreds of millions of registered users as well as 15,000 employees and revenues of nearly $ 7.7 billion. After nearly ten years on eBay, Whitman decided to enter politics. On January 23, 2008, the company announced that Whitman would resign on March 31, 2008, and John Donahoe was elected president and CEO. Whitman remained on the board of directors and continued to advise Donahoe until 2008. By the end of 2009 eBay completed the sale of Skype for $ 2.75 billion, but still had 30% equity in the company.
2010s
In 2012, eBay is charged by the US Department of Justice by signing a non-solicitation agreement with other technology companies involving their highly skilled employees.
On September 30, 2014, eBay announced it would spin-off PayPal into a publicly traded publicly traded company, a request made nine months earlier by hedge fund magnate activist Carl Icahn. Spin off finished on July 18, 2015. eBay then chief executive, John Donahoe, resigned from that role.
On January 31, 2018, eBay announced that it would replace PayPal as its primary payment provider with the Dutch-based Adyen Start-up. The transition is set to complete by 2021, but PayPal will remain an acceptable payment option on the site until July 2023.
Maps EBay
Company affairs
Board of directors
In November 2014 the board of directors is as follows:
- Devin Wenig, new eBay CEO and president since 2015
- Fred D. Anderson, former managing director of Elevation Partners, eBay director since July 2003
- Edward W. Barnholt, former president and CEO of Agilent Technologies, director of eBay since April 2005
- Scott Cook, founder of Intuit, eBay's director since June 1998
- John Donahoe, former president and CEO of eBay since March 2008, former director of eBay since January 2008
- David Dorman, Motorola's non-executive chairman, eBay director since June 2014
- William Clay Ford, Jr., chief executive of Ford Motor Company, director of eBay since July 2005
- Kathleen C. Mitic, founder and CEO of Sitch Inc., eBay director since September 2011
- David M. Moffett, former CEO of Freddie Mac, director of eBay since July 2007
- Pierre Omidyar, director and chairman of eBay, since its founding in May 1996 Richard T. Schlosberg, former president and CEO of David and Lucile Packard Foundation, eBay director since March 2004
- Thomas J. Tierney, founder of Bridgespan Group, director of eBay since March 2003
Logo
In September 2012, eBay introduced a new set of logos in the typeface of the Univers, but used a thinner variation, posted on its website on October 10, 2012. It replaced the logo with a thicker variation of the Univers that has been in use since it was founded in 1995.
Good thing and transaction
eBay generates revenue with a cost-effective system for services, listing product features, and final cost for sales results by sellers. In November 2012, US-based eBay.com charges $ 0.10 to $ 2, based on the opening or reserve price, as an insertion fee for an unadorned list of basic auction styles. Final Fee amounts to 10% of total sales, which is the price of the item plus the shipping cost. The fixed price list has an insertion cost of $ 0.30, and the final cost value varies by category and total number of sales (e.g., 13% for DVD & Film up to $ 50). UK-based Ebay.co.uk takes from Ã, à £ 0.15 to the maximum rate of Ã, à £ 3 per Ã, à £ 100 for regular listings and up to 10% of the final price. End Final Cost Reduction is available for registered business customers.
Under U.S. law, countries can not require sellers who are outside the state to collect sales taxes, making purchases more attractive to buyers. Although some state laws require home buyers to pay for use taxes on purchases outside of the country, it is not a common practice. However, sellers operating as businesses follow the country's tax rules on eBay transactions. However, Value Added Tax (VAT), sales tax of EU countries, is different. eBay requires sellers to include a VAT element in their listing price and not as add-ons and thus earn a profit by collecting fees not only based on "VAT ex" sales price but also on VAT. In the same way, eBay also imposes a Final Value Fee on all shipping charges.
The company's business strategy includes the promotion of international trade. eBay has expanded to more than two dozen countries, including China and India. The international strategic expansion has failed in Taiwan and Japan, where Yahoo! have a head start, and New Zealand, where My Trade is the dominant online auction site. eBay also failed in China because of competition from local rivals Taobao. eBay entered the Chinese market in 2002 and closed the Chinese site in 2007. In India too, eBay's operations stalled after selling its operations in India to the country's largest e-commerce company, Flipkart, under $ 1.4 billion, eBay is a participant as well.
In Q1 2008 results, the total volume of payments through PayPal increased 17%, but from eBay auction sites rose 61%.
For most categories of lists, eBay sellers are allowed to offer various payment systems such as Escrow.com, PayPal, Paymate, Propay, and Skrill. Propay and Skrill are prohibited effective September 27, 2015, citing low usage.
Escrow.com is an eBay-approved escrow site. Transactions processed through Escrow.com are mostly associated with eBay Motors; However, they are not limited to this type of list.
eBay runs an affiliate program under the name eBay Partner Network. EBay's affiliate marketers initially pay a percentage of eBay seller transaction fees, with commissions ranging from 50% to 75% of the fees paid for purchased items. In October 2009, eBay turned into an affiliate payment system known as Quality Click Price, in which affiliates are paid a certain amount determined by an undisclosed algorithm. The total amount of earnings is then divided by the number of clicks that affiliates send to eBay and reported as Earnings Per Click, or EPC. In October 2013, ePN launched a new pricing model. The new model is more transparent and is based on the commission level base level with bonuses available to refer new and reactivated buyers.
On April 18, 2012, eBay reported a revenue increase of 29% Q1 to $ 3.3 billion compared to Q1 in 2011. Net income was reported at $ 570 million for the quarter.
Environmental recordings
On May 8, 2008, eBay announced the opening of its newest building on the company's North Campus in San Jose, which is the first structure in the city built from base to LEED Gold standard. The building, the first company built within 13 years of its existence, uses an array of 3,248 solar panels, which covers 60,000 square feet (5,600m 2 ), and provides 650 kilowatts of power to eBay campus. Arrays can supply 15-18% of the company's total energy requirements, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases to be generated to create that energy in other ways. SolarCity, the company responsible for designing arrays, estimates that solar panels installed on the eBay campus will prevent 37 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the environment as a result of replacement power production over the next three decades. Creating an equivalent impact to eliminate the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would require planting 322 hectares (1.30 km 2 ) trees.
The building design also incorporates other elements to reduce its impact on the environment. The building is equipped with a lighting system that detects natural ambient light sources and automatically dims artificial lighting to save 39% of the power normally required to power an office building. EBay's newest building also reduces the demand for local water supplies by combining environmentally friendly irrigation systems, and low-flow shower heads and faucets. Even during construction, more than 75% of waste from construction is recycled. eBay also runs a bus between San Francisco and the San Jose campus to reduce the number of commuter vehicles. In 2014, eBay and several other Oregon businesses signed the Oregon Business Climate Statement to promote local job growth and slow carbon pollution.
Acquisitions
PayPal
On October 3, 2002, PayPal became a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay. Its corporate headquarters are located in San Jose, California, United States on the campus of First First Street eBay satellite office. On September 30, 2014, eBay Inc. announces PayPal's divestment as an independent company, completed on July 20, 2015.
Craigslist
In the summer of 2004, eBay acknowledged that they had acquired 25% of the Craigslist classifieds listing website. Former Craigslist executive Phillip Knowlton is a salesperson, and he insists his former employer is aware of his plans to release his holdings. Initially, eBay assured Craigslist that they would not ask the company to change the way businesses do.
In March 2005, eBay launched the Kijiji line advertising service. In April 2008, eBay sued Craigslist for "securing its four-year financial investment", claiming that in January 2008, Craigslist took action that "does not dilute eBay's economic interest by more than 10%." Craigslist countersued in May 2008 "to correct substantial and sustained losses for fair competition" which Craigslist claims is based on eBay's actions as a Craigslist shareholder. In September 2010, Delaware Judge William Chandler ruled that Craigslist's actions were unlawful and that actions taken by Craiglist's founders, Jim Buckmaster and Craig Newmark had "violated their fiduciary obligations", and restored eBay's share in the company to 28.4% diluted 24.85%. However, the judge dismisses eBay's objection to excessive board provisions, arguing that Craigslist has the right to protect its own trade secrets. EBay spokeswoman Michael Jacobson stated "We are very pleased that the court gave eBay what it sought from the lawsuit."
Skype
In October 2005, eBay Inc. acquired Skype Technologies, a developer of VoIP Skype and Instant messaging services, significantly expand its customer base to more than 480 million registered users worldwide. eBay then sold a majority stake in Skype in November 2009, while retaining a minority investment in the company. This ultimately led to the sale of all Skype businesses to Microsoft for $ 8.5 billion in May 2011.
StubHub
The acquisition of StubHub by eBay was announced in January 2007 with $ 310 million. According to CNN Money, 2007 was a very successful year for the company, handling five million individual transactions, more than in the previous six years combined from its history. The staff at StubHub has increased to 350 workers at the time of sale. Eight months after the acquisition, StubHub reached an exclusive deal with Major League Baseball (MLB). They get a 25% deduction in commissions earned by StubHub at the end of the sale. Ticketmaster filed a lawsuit against StubHub and eBay in 2007, accusing "deliberate disruption" with Ticketmaster contractual rights.
Corrigon
In October 2016, eBay acquired Corrigon, a visual search engine, with less than $ 30 million.
Use for data analysis â ⬠<â â¬
eBay is a publicly visible market that has attracted interest from economists, who have used it to analyze aspects of purchasing and selling behavior, auction format, etc., comparing it with previous theoretical and empirical findings.
Computer information system researchers have also shown interest in eBay. Michael Goul, Chair of the Computer Information Systems department of the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, published an academic case based on eBay's massive data management and use where he discusses how eBay is a data-driven company that processes 50 petabytes of data a day.
eBay uses a system that allows various departments in the company to check data from their data marts into the sandbox for analysis. According to Goul, eBay has experienced significant business success through its data analytics. eBay employs 5,000 data analysts to enable decision-making based on data.
Third party
In 2006 Intuit accounting software company launched a web-based donation tracking service called ItsDeductible. The service uses data from eBay to help users set market value to the goods they donate.
Visual search
In July 2017, eBay released an image retrieval capability that allows users to find lists on sites that match the items depicted in the photos, using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
GCHQ
GCHQ UK has a set of tools to monitor the use of eBay targets, named ELATE.
Item
Millions of collections, decorations, equipment, computers, furniture, appliances, domain names, vehicles and other items are listed, purchased, or sold on eBay every day. In 2006, eBay launched Business & amp; Industry category, breaking into the industry surplus business. Generally, anything can be auctioned on the site as long as it's not illegal and does not violate eBay's Prohibited and Forbidden goods policy. Service and intangible can also be sold. Large international companies, such as IBM, sell their latest products and offer services on eBay using competitive auctions and storefronts at a fixed price. Separate eBay sites like eBay US and eBay UK allow users to trade using local currency. Software developers can create applications that integrate with eBay through the eBay API by joining the eBay Developer Program. In June 2005, there were more than 15,000 members on the eBay Developer Program, comprising of companies making software applications to support eBay buyers and sellers and eBay Affiliates.
Many government and police agencies around the world are now using eBay as well as traditional auctions to dispose of confiscated and confiscated items.
Controversy arises over certain items that are prepared for bidding. For example, in late 1999 a man offered one of his kidneys to be auctioned on eBay, trying to profit from a potentially lucrative (and, in the United States, illegal) market for transplanted organs.
Beginning in August 2007, eBay requires a list of "Video Games" and "Health & Beauty" to accept PayPal's payment system and sellers can only accept PayPal for payments in the "Video Game: Console" category. Starting January 10, 2008, eBay says sellers can only accept PayPal as a payment for the "Computing & gt; Software" category, "Consumer Electronics & gt; MP3 Players", "Lots & amp; Lots of Jobs & gt; Mobile & Phone Home ", and" Business, Office & Industrial & Industrial Supply/MRO ". eBay announced that starting March 2008, eBay has added this requirement that all sellers with fewer than 100 feedbacks should offer PayPal and no merchant accounts can be used as an alternative. This is in addition to the requirement that all sellers from the UK must offer PayPal.
Further, and as mentioned below, it is a requirement to offer PayPal on all lists in Australia and the UK. In response to concerns expressed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, eBay has removed the policy on the ebay.com.au website which requires sellers to offer PayPal as a payment option.
On April 24, 2006, eBay opened a new eBay Express website, designed to function like a standard Internet shopping site for consumers with a United States address. It was closed in 2008. The selected eBay item is reflected on eBay Express, where shoppers shop using a shopping cart to buy from multiple sellers. The English version was released to eBay members in mid-October 2006, but on January 29, 2008, eBay announced its intention to close the site. The German version, eBay Express Germany, also opened in 2006 and closed in 2008.
At the eBay 2008 Developer Conference, eBay announced the Sales Manager Application program (SM Application). This program allows approved developers to integrate their apps directly into the eBay.com interface. Apps created by the developer are available for subscription by members of eBay who also subscribe to the Sales Manager.
eBay has a number of specialized sites including discussion boards, groups, answer centers, chat rooms, as well as reviews and guides. EBay's mobile offerings include SMS notifications, WAP sites, Java ME clients, and mobile apps for Windows Phone, Android OS, and Apple iPhone.
The choice of initiatives in eCommerce was established on May 8, 2013 by several online retailers in Berlin, Germany. The reason, in the view of the initiative, the prohibition of online sales and restrictions by individual producers. Dealers feel disconnected from their main sales channel and hence give them the opportunity to use online platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Rakuten in a competitive market for the benefit of their customers.
Unusual items
Many unusual items have been sold on eBay, including at least two previously undiscovered species, including Coelopleurus exquisitus sea urchins.
Restricted or restricted items
In the early days, eBay was virtually unregulated. However, as the site grows, it becomes necessary to restrict or ban auctions for various items. Note that some restrictions are related to eBay.com (US sites), while other restrictions apply to certain European sites (such as Nazi fixtures). Local laws and regulations may apply to sellers or buyers. Generally, if the sale or possession of an item is regulated or prohibited by one or more countries, eBay will not permit its registration. Among hundreds of prohibited or forbidden categories:
Offer
List of auction styles
Bidding on eBay auctions (old or new) is called proxy deals and is basically the equivalent of Vickrey auction (closed offer), with the exception of the following.
- The winning bidder pays the second highest bid plus one bid increase amount (i.e., a small amount specified relative to the bid size), not just the highest bid. However, since the number of bid increases is relatively insignificant compared to the size of the offer, they are not considered from a strategic point of view.
- The highest bidder bid is sealed, as in Vickrey's auction, but the current winning bids (the second highest plus one plus) are shown throughout the auction to allow price discovery.
- Since the eBay auction list list is sealed bidding, usually for all bidder profits, the bid is only made at the end of the auction. Initial bids will not always increase the bidder's chance of winning the auction, and will often raise the final price of the item (winning bid) for the winner.
- eBay also allows sellers to offer "Buy Now" prices that will end the auction soon. Buying Prices Now available until someone offers the item, or until the reserve price is met. When the Buy Now option disappears, the list of auction styles takes place normally.
Vendor value
In 2008, eBay implemented a seller rating system with four categories. Buyers are asked to rate sellers in each of these categories with a score of one to five, with five being the highest ranking. Unlike the feedback feedback as a whole, this rating is anonymous; neither the seller nor the other user does learn how each buyer assesses the seller. A list of sellers rated 4.3 or lower in one of the four lower ranking categories appears in search results. Power Sellers must have a score in each category above 4.5.
In role reversal, on January 24, 2010, Auctionbytes.com conducted an open survey where sellers can rate eBay, as well as auction sites and competing markets. In the survey, users were asked to rank 15 sites based on five criteria: profitability, customer service, communication, ease of use, and recommendations.
eBay ranks 13th, after other major sites like Amazon and Craigslist, as well as less-known sales sites such as Atomic Mall, eCRATER, and Ruby Lane. In the individual category rankings, eBay rated the worst of all 15 sites on customer service and communications, and average on ease of use. Some respondents stated that they would give eBay a ranking of 10, three to five years ago. eBay is ranked twelve out of fifteen in the Recommended Seller category.
Charity auction
Using MissionFish as an arbiter, eBay allows sellers to donate a portion of their auction results to a seller's seller charity. This program is called eBay Giving Works in the US, and eBay for Charity in the UK. eBay provides a partial refund of the seller's fees for goods sold through a charity auction. As of March 4, 2010, $ 154 million has been raised to US nonprofits by the eBay Community since eBay Giving Works began in 2003.
Several high profile charity auctions have been advertised on eBay's homepage. In June 2010, the highest successful bid on one item for charity was for an annual "Power Lunch" with investor Warren Buffett at Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York. The winning bid is $ 2.63 million with all proceeds going to the Glide Foundation. The winning bidder is not published, but is able to bring up to seven friends to lunch. In 2012, a higher offer, $ 3.46 million, also goes to the Glide Foundation, winning lunch with Buffet. In 2016, an anonymous bidder won a $ 3.45 million lunch with Warren Buffett and the money earned from the auction was awarded to the Glide Foundation.
The previous highest successful bid on a single item for charity was for letters sent to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel (the parent company of Premiere Radio Networks, production company producing The Rush Limbaugh Show and Glenn Beck Program ) by Senator Harry Reid and forty other Democrat senators, complaining about comments made by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The winning bid is $ 2,100,100, with all proceeds going to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, benefiting the education of the dead boys and girls serving in the armed forces. The winning bid has been matched by Limbaugh in its largest charitable donation to date.
In 2007; eBay Canada partnered with a Montreal-based digital imaging agency, CloudRaker, to develop a campaign to raise funds for the Sainte-Justine children's hospital in Montreal. They are aligning themselves with the Internet phenomenon TÃÆ'êtes ÃÆ' claques to create eBay auctions based on the popular T-A-C character Uncle Tom, an infomercial host who offers unreasonable products. eBay and CloudRaker reproduce Uncle Tom's imaginative products, The Body Toner Fly Swatter, The Waller Potato Peeler Willi, and LCD Shovel and sell them online. In six weeks, they raised $ 15,000 for HÃÆ'Ã'pital St-Justine with a fly swatter, a peeler potato, and a shovel, a world record. The Body Toner Fly Swatter sells for $ 8,600, Willi Waller Potato Peeler sells for $ 3,550, and Shovel LCD sells for $ 2,146.21.
Shipping
During the auction process, eBay provides a choice of delivery methods to the seller: regular mail, express mail, and/or courier service. Seller may choose to offer only one shipping method to the buyer; or the seller can offer buyer options.
Very low-value items sent directly from China are sometimes sent by land mail, which is cheap but takes one to two months. If the buyer is in a hurry, he may be able to pay an additional fee to upgrade to a Second Class Water Surface delivery or a first class airmail delivery.
Since 2012, eBay has enrolled sellers into the "Global Delivery Program". If the seller uses this program, the non-domestic buyer pays the fee to Pitney Bowes. The seller ships the goods to the Pitney Bowes facility in the US (or UK), which is then forwarded to the buyer, taking care of all international shipping requirements. The program is claimed to improve the selection of products available to international buyers.
Controversy and criticism
EBay's general criticism involves policies requiring the use of PayPal for payments and concerns over fraud, forgery and intellectual property infringement in auction items. There is also the problem of how negative feedback after an auction can offset the benefits of using eBay as a trading platform. eBay has been criticized for not paying UK taxes: The Sunday Times reported in October 2012 that eBay only paid Ã, à £ 1.2 million in taxes on sales of over Ã, à £ 800 million.
security breach 2014
On May 21, 2014, the company revealed that consumer databases for usernames, passwords, phone numbers, and physical addresses had been violated between late February and early March. Users are advised to change their password; to expedite this, the "change password" feature is added to the user profile that has not already done so. The Syrian Electronic Army is responsible for the attack. The SEA says that although hacking reveals millions of user banking details to them, they will not misuse the data. They have replaced the front page of the website with their own logo, called "Defacing" in technical terms. The hack caused eBay's stock price to fall in intra-day trade as a result of a security breach.
See also
- Alibaba Group, China's e-commerce company
- eBay v. Bidder's Edge
- Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia