The success of eBay

Most of the people will have a mindset saying that “E-commerce, online shopping? Can it be successful in the real world?” Actually in the competitive world nowadays some potential and successful e-commerce websites still exist. One of it is eBay which is at http://www.ebay.com/.

Mr. Omidyar started eBay, which the first name eBay used was called Echo Bay Technology in 1995. When the company tried to register the domain name echobay.com, they found that it was already in use. They shortened the name to eBay.com and the website was born.

eBay began by Pierre Omidyar is 1995, (pure play) virtual organization, which they conduct their business activities solely online with no physical shop. This company began as something like an online garage sale in 1995 and has enjoyed steady growth over the years. Items on eBay are listed by categories and if you have an eBay account you can bid on the item on eBay. eBay include items like antiques, art, book, cars, coin or paper money, CDs, clothing, real estate, and many things else.








In the competitive world today, to build a successful e-commerce is not an easy thing. eBay provide us as a guide to become successful. The early emphasis on eBay was the customers. The very nature of online auctions required that strangers trust each other. First and foremost, eBay have done is to offer a quality product and be willing to stand behind it. Not only that eBay runs on feedback and it is far better to satisfy a customer than for negative feedback to be left. Positive feedback is one of the main things that attributed to the success on eBay. Next eBay focuses on providing excellent customer service. Give the customer MORE than expected. It is always more difficult to sell to a customer the first time. Therefore, once someone buys from eBay, their goal is KEEPING them as long term customer.

In order for the business to grow further, eBay started buying over some websites, which would help to boost up eBay’s. The Website Half.com was bought over by eBay in 2000 and fully integrated into eBay's web community in 2001. Half.com allows users to buy and sell items at lower rates much like eBay transactions but without the auction feature. The following year, eBay acquired Paypal Inc. which help eBay auctions to make payment. Paypal allows a person to send or receive money via an email address. Money in a Paypal account can be spent on the Internet, sent by check to the account owner, or deposited into a bank account. Paypal also offers credit cards, debit cards, and a bill paying function.


eBay is only for auction-style listings, which also auction for odd items that help eBay to earn a higher profit. The first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer, for $14.83. Omidyar was experimenting with how equal access to information and opportunities affects the efficiency of marketplaces. As a test he posted a listing for a broken laser pointer, which to his astonishment sold. Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ensure he realized the item was broken. The buyer answered, "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers." At that moment, Omidyar knew he was on to something very big.

From day one, Omidyar built eBay around what remain the company's core values; a belief that people are basically good, everyone has something to contribute, an open environment brings out the best in people. The success of eBay underscores the truth of these values, and is at the heart of eBay's continuing success.