EBAY INC:

WWW.EBAY.COM
Presented by:
GOURAV DE
 HISTORY OF EBAY
Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar
Bills itself as “The world’s online market place”
“Our mission is to build an online marketplace
that enables practically anyone to trade practically
anything anywhere in the world”
1998: 300,000 users; and $200 million in gross
merchandise sales
2002: 42,000,000 users; $9 billion gross
merchandise sales
 Advertising

In 1999, eBay paid AOL $79 million to promote

its auction site
After which eBay reported $24.6 million in
cash earnings
In 2002, sales and marketing expenses for eBay
totaled $73.1 million, or 30% of net revenues.
The actor on the eBay commercial resembles
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO
 About eBay
 Why eBay?
 Millions of customers
 Cheap costs to sell
 You can sell “anything”
 Approx. 70% of items sell
 You can have your own store

 To be successful on eBay & to gain a good

reputation:
1. Market your merchandise
2. Provide good customer service
3. Fulfill transactions quickly & efficiently
 About Auctions on eBay
2 Types of Auctions: Standard and Non-Standard
Standard
 Open 3 – 10 days, seller specifies a minimum bid & bidding increments, sale item goes to
the high bidder at the time the auction ends,
 Reserve price may or may not be specified
Reserve Price
 A measure of protection that a seller can add to her auction. The reserve price is the
lowest price at which a seller is willing to sell an item. Can be kept secret. If not met
then seller needn’t sell the item.
Non-Standard
 Dutch auction – used to auction multiple, identical items
 Private auction – bidders don’t disclose their email addresses in public
 Featured Auctions
 Additional fee
 Appear at the top of main page listings
 Category Feature Auctions appear at the top of category pages
 Big Ticket items (rare autos, sports memorabilia,…
 Gift Section where a gift icon appears next to the item and item is shown on a
special page
 The Gallery lists your auctions in eBay’s gallery with a thumbnail of your item
shown for shoppers to view
 Club99 Auctions offer 99 cents items on certain days
 Premium Auctions by prestigious auction houses
 Selling on eBay
Step-by-Step
Step One: Become a registered eBay user
Step Two: Decide what to sell
Step Three: Set the price
Step Four: Find the right category
Step Five: Fill out the “Create Your Listing” form
Step Six: Write a good description of item
Step Seven: Review & Submit
Step Eight: Process Sales
Step Nine: Pay eBay (fees)
 eBay Stores
 eBay store sellers must have at least 20 feedbacks or be
ID verified to open a store

 All items are set at a fixed price and online until

cancelled (or listed at least 30 days)

 You have to pay monthly rent

From $15.95 for basic to $299.95 for an anchor store
(pages.ebay.com/storefronts/seller-landing.html)

 Click on “Sell” link from the eBay homepage then click

“Sell tools & eBay stores”
 Auction mechanism
 Ascending auction with proxy bidding
 Enter “maximum bid” – proxy bids up to maximum
 Object awarded to standing high bidder at close
 Hard close: auction ends at a fixed time
 Secret reserve – minimum bid usual reserve, but
possible an extra “secret” reserve.
 What are the issues?
 Sniping (late bids: why does this happen?)
 Squatting (early bids: why does this happen?)
SNAPSHOT
SNAPSHOT
SNAPSHOT
 eBay Inc.: Managing
Success in a Dynamic Online Marketplace

 1- Why has eBay become such a successful, fast

growing, and diverse online marketplace? Visit
the eBay website to help you answer, and check
out their many trading categories, specialty sites,
international sites, and other features.
 Discussion Points Would Include
 Buyers/Sellers Feedback Rating System
 eBay’s Fraud Policy
 PayPal-Electronic eBay Payments
 Vortex-Draws Products/Players
 Expansion into B2C and B2B
 User Voice in Decisions
 eBay Inc.: Managing
Success in a Dynamic Online Marketplace

 2- Why do you think eBay has become the largest

online/offline seller of used cars, and the largest
online seller of certain other products, like
computers and photo equipment?
 Discussion Points Would Include:

 Kruse International Purchase

 Acquire not Start Marketplace
 Requires a Different Strategy
 Include listings-Online AutoTrader.com LLC
 Arranged Insurance and Warranty Plans
 Established an Escrow Service
 Established Shipping/Inspection Services
 B2C is Similar to C2C Selling
 eBay Inc.: Managing
Success in a Dynamic Online Marketplace

 3- Is eBay’s move from a pure consumer-to-

consumer auction marketplace to inviting large
and small businesses to sell to consumers and
other businesses, sometimes at fixed prices, a
good long term strategy? Why or why not?
 Discussion Points Would Include
 Profitability to eBay
 eBay’s Meets Shift in Demand
 eBay Maintains-Voice of the Customer
 IT Delivers Online System
 Discussion Points Would Include:

 Profitability to eBay
 eBay’s Meets Shift in Demand
 eBay Maintains-Voice of the Customer
 IT Delivers Online System
 Trading Assistants Impact on eBay
Any Questions
THANK YOU