eBay: the home business that changed the web
01/01/2008 send to a friend
From humble, home-based beginnings, eBay has become shopping mall to the web, and now helps thousands of others make money from home. We take you on a tour of the company that changed online shopping - by bringing online shoppers to home businesses.
In September 1995, Pierre Omidyar's laser printer broke down. Instead of sending it to the attic, to collect dust, Pierre took it from his home office to the world wide web, and sold it online to the highest bidder.
Just over a decade later and Pierre's ad hoc auction web site is one of the most visited on the web. Everyday, on eBay, thousands of printers, broken or otherwise, and everything from antiques to xylophones go under the virtual hammer.
'Fair auction environment'
His intention, besides shifting that broken printer, was to allow people to buy and sell goods in a fair auction environment.
And it’s been well received here in the UK, now eBay’s fastest growing trading nation. In 2008 it was revealed that the number of Britons with a full-time or hobby eBay business has grown a whopping 160% to 178,000 in 2 years.
Will you be joining them?
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Comments
Author: C Grant
Date: 06/11/2008
Comment: Ebay was a fantastic tool that allowed many people to test the water with an online business, but many small sellers (particularly craftspeople) feel that they have been pushed out by punishing fee structures and a gradual reduction of protection against rogue buyers. A new generation of websites that allows craftspeople to compete on a level playing field are emerging, with US site Etsy (www.Etsy.com) and new British site Folksy (www.Folksy.com) leading the way. It would be great to see an article on these.
Website: www.CeeGeeJewellery.com