eBay is one of the success example for e-commerce. It is a well known website for everyone. How eBay started? eBay was born over Labor Day weekend in 1995, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, in an experiment, put a broken laser pointer up for sale online, and to his surprise, found a buyer. When he told the buyer the item was broken, the buyer said: "I' m a collector of broken laser pointers." It was then that Omidyar knew anything was possible. It has around 14 years of history.

eBay is The World’s Online Marketplace, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis. With a diverse and passionate community if individuals and small businesses. Besides that, eBay also offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day. There are about 276 million registered eBay users worldwide until year 2008. More than US$2,039 (RM6,490) worth of goods are traded every second.

Since its initial public offering in 1998, the company has continued to innovate and connect people and not just through its marketplaces. Two critical acquisitions have made eBay Inc. a global leader in online payments (PayPal- acquired in October 2002) and communications (Skype- acquired in October 2005) as well.

PayPal enables any individual or business with an email address to securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online. Acquired by eBay Inc. in October 2002, PayPal builds on the existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts and credit cards and uses the world's most advanced proprietary fraud prevention systems to create a safe payment solution. Today, PayPal is a global leader in online payment solutions: It has 149 million registered users and is accepted by millions of merchants worldwide - on and off eBay. PayPal's Q1 2008 global total payment volume of $14.4 billion accounted for nearly 9 percent of worldwide eCommerce.

Acquired by eBay Inc. in October 2005, Skype is an Internet communication company that has revolutionized the way people talk online. With more than 309 million registered users as of early 2008, Skype allows people everywhere to make unlimited voice and video calls online for free using its software. Skype is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country on Earth. This business unit generates revenue through its premium offerings, such as calls (using its software) made to and from landline and mobile phones; voicemail; call forwarding; and personalization, including ringtones and avatars. In addition to its presence on eBay, Skype has relationships with a growing network of hardware and software providers.

Other key acquisitions have strengthened eBay Inc.'s portfolio of ecommerce companies, including shopping.com, a pioneer in online comparison shopping; Stubhub, a leading online marketplace for the resale of event tickets; rent.com, the most visited online apartment listing service in the U.S.; StumbleUpon, an online solution that helps people discover and share content on the web; and market-leading online classifieds sites including LoQUo.com, Intoko, and Netherlands-based Marktplaats.nl. The company has also grown its classifieds business through Kijiji, which launched in the U.S. in 2007.

Causes of its success:

(a) eBay's success is based on its ability to transform many fragmented, primarily local markets into global ones at a relatively low cost to its users. People have always had a need and an interest in buying and selling used, surplus, and collectible items. Traditionally, they have done so through garage sales, classified advertising in local newspapers, and flea markets.

(b) For a price comparable to advertising an item in the classifieds section of their local newspaper with three or four lines of text, users can post lengthy descriptions and pictures available to a worldwide audience. Concerns about fraud have been mitigated through a user feedback system escrow services. The company's ability to bring a large number of buyers and sellers together is what has driven its growth. The more buyers there are, the more sellers want to participate. Conversely, the more sellers there are, the more items are to buy, and the greater the attraction of the service to buyers. eBay has allowed many people to become entrepreneurs with little upfront expense or overhead and provides a method for companies and even governments to dispose of unwanted items.

(c) eBay makes money by charging listing fees and collecting a percentage of the selling price of items sold through the site. eBay also owns PayPal, which makes money through investing its clients' assets and from transaction fees. eBay's growth has been remarkable.

(d) eBay appears to have significant growth potential. It has successfully introduced new markets, such as car sales, which many thought would not be adaptable to its business model. Besides that, it is so successful because it meets its customer's needs better than any competing service. No one else has accumulated such a large number of buyers and sellers in a single marketplace.

(e) According to the interview with the spokesperson of eBay, Kevin Pursglove, he thinks that people really enjoy the experience of the shopping bazaar. They enjoy the hunt. They enjoy looking around for merchandise.

(f) The other component is that Kevin Pursglove believes they really enjoy the competition of the bidding process. Everybody likes to get a bargain, and everybody, I think, in some way, shape, or form, likes to haggle a little bit over the price. Their auction format allows users to do that.

Video Clips:

1)Brief introduction of eBay



2) eBay music video (Have fun XD)


Related Links:
1. http://www.ebay.com/
2. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/2127.html?welcome=1213184390
3. http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=245309
4. http://www.neowave.com.my/malaysia_ecommerce_radar.asp
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt0qIPAeLXM - source from WatchMojo
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXHcbX36Ao - source from dps001