eBay: World’s Online Marketplace

eBay is referred to as The World’s Online Marketplace,  a site; catering to product trading from local and global levels. Items are traded in the millions and just as many visitors to the site. A person can find virtually anything in eBay and the user can just as much find a buyer for the item that he wishes to sell. eBay offers a product range that transcends from baby gear to the latest electronic gizmo on sale.

eBay was started in 1995, by a software programmer Pierre Omidyar, who ran a website for auctioning items from his home. Touted by Business Week as a self-regulating economy, eBay has extended its operations over 39 markets, with approximately $60 billion worth of products being traded.

eBay made the acquisition of PayPal in 2002, which handles the financial transactions of all items traded over the site. PayPal is the paragon for online transactions, it allows for the user to conduct the purchase or sale in a very quick and transparent manner. eBay also acquired Skype in 2005, an internet communication organization, which allows users to make free calls over VOIP.

eBay launched the Business and Industry category where even multinational corporations like IBM sell their product releases. Items that people might consider a no-sale item will have many online bidders. Auctions are conducted for these items in either a listing format or a fixed price auction.

The former auction method allows for the user to place an item or more on sale for a couple of day and mark a price for it. In the fixed price method the user places the item at a fixed price and the buyer willing to pay it will procure the item. Another auctioning method is the Dutch Auction, where the seller places two or more similar items on the same bid, the bidder can opt for a single item to the entire number of items on offer.

eBay started using seller ratings which is essentially a feedback from the buyer. The buyer rates the seller in four different categories on a five point scale. Sellers are requires to have a score of 4+ in order to ensure that they come up more often on search listings.

eBay also deals with unscrupulous trades being conducted over the site, organ trade for instance which is illegal. It does away with such auctions as stipulated by its Terms of Service policy.

A curious buyer or a passionate collector is never left in the lurch while searching for a product on eBay. A site on which even celebrity junk find their way into an auction will surely meet any odd requirement of yours.

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Tags: business, ebay, electronic gizmo, lbm