Submitted by: Submitted by shileenlee
Views: 490
Words: 274
Pages: 2
Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 11/02/2010 12:00 AM
Introduction:
eBay establishes itself as the “The world’s Online Marketplace” .Coincidently, it is also the
positioning statement of eBay,which itself means many things about the company’s identity, it
enables trade on local, national and international basis, with a diverse and passionate community
of individuals and small businesses, Bay offers an online platform where millions of items are
traded each day.
According to company lore, the idea for eBay came from founder Pierre Omidyar’s wife, who
wanted to trade Pez dispensers with other collectors over the Internet. In truth Omidyar had been
pondering an Internet auction venture before he was ever aware of Pez mania. He says that he had
been thinking about how to create an efficient marketplace-a level playing field, where everyone
had access to the same information and could compete on the same terms as anyone else.”
After writing the code for the site, Omidyar launched eBay from his home in mid-1995.the
concept of an Internet marketplace caught on so quickly that by the end of the year, eBay was
getting a few thousand hits daily. Even more impressive the website was profitable from its
inception. The objective at ebay was to develop the work ethics and culture of eBay as a fun,
open and trusting environment and to keep the organization focused on the big picture objectives
and key priorities.
Ebay went public in September 1998 at $18 a share. By early march 1999, the stock was trading
approximately b$282 per share. The company market capitalization had surpassed that of even
Amazon.com, making it the world’s most valuable Internet retailer.