EBay

eBay Inc. (stylized as "ebay" since late 2012) is an American multinational corporation and e-commerce company, providing consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales services via the internet. It is headquartered in San Jose, California. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble. Today it is a multibillion-dollar business with operations localized in over 30 countries.<ref name="Global Trade: 1. Finding International Items On eBay"/>

The company manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. In addition to its auction-style sales, the website has since expanded to include "Buy It Now" shopping; shopping by UPC, ISBN, or other kind of SKU (via Half.com); online classified advertisements (via Kijiji or eBay Classifieds); online event ticket trading (via StubHub); and other services. It previously offered online money transfers (via PayPal),<ref name="Skype and PayPal – A Different Set of Rules"/> which was a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay from 2002 until 2015.

The website is free to use for buyers, but sellers are charged fees for listing items and again when those items are sold.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

File:Ebayheadquarters.jpg

eBay headquarters in San Jose, California

Early years

The AuctionWeb was founded in California on September 3, 1995 by French-born Iranian-American computer programmer Pierre Omidyar (born June 21, 1967) as part of a larger personal site.<ref name="cohen"/> One of the first items sold on AuctionWeb was a broken laser pointer for $14.83. Astonished, Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the laser pointer was broken. In his responding email, the buyer explained: "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers."<ref name="el_history"/> The frequently repeated story that eBay was founded to help Omidyar's fiancée trade Pez candy dispensers was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media, which were not interested in the company's previous explanation about wanting to create a "perfect market".<ref name="Berkun2010"/> This was revealed in Adam Cohen's book, The Perfect Store (2002),<ref name="cohen" /> and confirmed by eBay.<ref name="Berkun2010"/>

Reportedly, eBay was simply a side hobby for Omidyar until his Internet service provider informed him he would need to upgrade to a business account due to the high volume of traffic to his website. The resulting price increase (from $30/month to $250) forced him to start charging those who used eBay, and was not met with any animosity.Template:Citation needed It resulted in the hiring of Chris Agarpao as eBay's first employee to handle the number of checks coming in for fees.Template:Citation needed

File:Pomidyarji.jpg

Pierre Omidyar, founder and chairman of eBay

Jeffrey Skoll was hired as the first president of the company in early 1996. In November 1996, eBay entered into its first third-party licensing deal, with a company called Electronic Travel Auction to use SmartMarket Technology to sell plane tickets and other travel products. Growth was phenomenal; in January 1997 the site hosted 2,000,000 auctions, compared with 250,000 during the whole of 1996.<ref>page 36, The eBay Phenomenon by Elen Lewis publ2008 by Marshall Cavendish books</ref> The company officially changed the name of its service from AuctionWeb to eBay in September 1997. Originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar had tried to register the domain name echobay.com, but found it already taken by the Echo Bay Mines, a gold mining company,<ref name="Echobay Partners LTD"/> so he shortened it to his second choice, eBay.com.<ref name="The history of ebay"/>

In 1997, the company received $6.7 million in funding from the venture capital firm Benchmark Capital.<ref name="eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work"/>

Meg Whitman was hired as eBay President and CEO in March 1998. At the time, the company had 30 employees,<ref name="eBay founder factchecks John McCain"/> half a million users and revenues of $4.7 million in the United States.Template:Citation needed

eBay went public on September 21, 1998,<ref name="eBay Inc. - MSN Fact Sheet"/> and both Omidyar and Skoll became instant billionaires. eBay's target share price of $18 was all but ignored as the price went to $53.50 on the first day of trading.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2000s

As the company expanded product categories beyond collectibles into almost any saleable item, business grew quickly.<ref name="el_history"/> In February 2002, the company purchased iBazar, a similar European auction web site founded in 1998,Template:Citation needed and then bought PayPal on October 3, 2002.<ref>*****o</ref>

The name stylized with the name of "ebaY" between September 2007 and October 2012, after which the style became "ebay", which is currently used.Template:Citation needed

By early 2008, the company had expanded worldwide, counted hundreds of millions of registered users, 15,000+ employees and revenues of almost $7.7 billion.<ref name=PRESS /> After nearly ten years at eBay, Whitman decided to enter politics. On January 23, 2008, the company announced that Whitman would step down on March 31, 2008 and John Donahoe was selected to become President and CEO.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Whitman remained on the Board of Directors and continued to advise Donahoe through 2008. In late 2009, eBay completed the sale of Skype for $2.75 billion, but will still own 30% equity in the company.<ref>*****o</ref>

In 2012 eBay was charged by the United States Department of Justice with entering into non-solicitation agreements with other technology companies involving their highly skilled employees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On September 30, 2014, eBay announced it would spinoff PayPal into a separate publicly traded company, a demand made nine months prior by activist hedge fund magnate Carl Icahn. The spinoff completed on July 18, 2015. eBay’s then chief executive, John Donahoe, stepped down from that role.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Corporate affairs

Board of directors

As of November 2014, the board of directors was as follows:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Devin Wenig, new eBay CEO and President since 2015
• Fred D. Anderson, former managing director of Elevation Partners, director of eBay since July 2003
• Edward W. Barnholt, former president and CEO of Agilent Technologies, director of eBay since April 2005
• Scott Cook, founder of Intuit, director of eBay since June 1998
• John Donahoe, eBay’s former president and CEO since March 2008, former director of eBay since January 2008
• David Dorman, non-executive chairman of Motorola, director of eBay since June 2014
• William Clay Ford, Jr., executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, director of eBay since July 2005
• Kathleen C. Mitic, founder and CEO of Sitch Inc, director of eBay since September 2011
• David M. Moffett, former CEO of Freddie Mac, director of eBay since July 2007
• Pierre Omidyar, director and chairman of eBay, since its incorporation in May 1996
• Richard T. Schlosberg, former president and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, director of eBay since March 2004
• Thomas J. Tierney, co-founder of the Bridgespan Group, director of eBay since March 2003

Logo

In September 2012, eBay introduced their new logo set in Univers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This new logo was installed onto the main website on October 10, 2012.

• EBay former logo.svg

  1995–2012

• EBay logo.svg

  2012–present

Profit and transactions

eBay generates revenue by a complex system of fees for services, listing product features, and a Final Value Fee for sales proceeds by sellers. As of November 2012, the U.S.-based eBay.com charges $0.10 to $2, based on the opening or reserve price, as an insertion fee for a basic auction-style listing without any adornments. The Final Value Fee amounts to 10% of the total amount of the sale, which is the price of the item plus shipping charges.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Fixed-price listings have an insertion fee of $0.30, and the final value fee varies based on category and total amount of the sale (e.g., 13% for DVDs & Movies up to $50).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The UK-based ebay.co.uk<ref name="Contact Information"/> takes from £0.15 to a maximum rate of £3 per £100 for an ordinary listing and up to 10% of the final price. Reduced Final Value Fees are available to business registered customers.

Under U.S. law, a state cannot require sellers located outside the state to collect a sales tax, making purchases more attractive to buyers. Although some state laws require resident purchasers to pay use tax on out-of-state purchases, it is not a common practice.Template:Citation needed However, sellers that operate as a business do follow state tax regulations on eBay transactions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="eBay Guides - Tickets Buying Guide"/> However Value Added Tax (VAT), the EU countries' sales tax, is different. eBay requires sellers to include the VAT element in their listing price and not as an add-on and thus profits by collecting fees based not only on the sale price "ex VAT" but also on the VAT.<ref name="eBay January 2008 announcement board. Posted on January 30, 2008 06:20 pm GMT"/> In a similar manner eBay also charges its Final Value Fees on all shipping charges.

The company's business strategy includes increasing international trade.<ref name="eBay Inc. - eBay Inc. Outlines Global Business Strategy"/><ref name="The brand that auctioned the www: eBay"/> eBay has already expanded to over two dozen countries including China and India. Strategic international expansion has failed in Taiwan and Japan, where Yahoo! had a head start, and New Zealand where Trade Me is the dominant online auction website. eBay also notably failed in China due to competition from local rival Taobao.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> eBay entered the Chinese market in 2002 and shut down its Chinese site in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In its Q1 2008 results, total payment volume via PayPal increased 17%, but off the eBay auction site it was up 61%.<ref name="Q1 eBay earnings call April 16, 2008"/>

For most listing categories, eBay sellers are permitted to offer a variety of payment systems such as Escrow.com,<ref name="eBay Inc">Template:Cite web</ref> PayPal, Paymate, Propay, and Skrill.<ref name="Accepted Payments Policy"/> Propay and Skrill will be banned effective September 27, 2015, citing low usage.<ref name=ecom-ebayban>Template:Cite web</ref>

Escrow.com is eBay's approved escrow site. The transactions processed through Escrow.com largely are in relation to eBay Motors; they are not restricted to this type of listing however.<ref name="eBay Inc"/>

eBay runs an affiliate program under the name eBay Partner Network.<ref name="eBay Partner Network"/> eBay affiliate marketers were originally paid a percentage of the eBay seller's transaction fees, with commissions ranging from 50% to 75% of the fees paid for an item purchased. In October 2009, eBay changed to an affiliate payout system that it calls Quality Click Pricing, in which affiliates are paid an amount determined by an undisclosed algorithm. The total earnings amount is then divided by the number of clicks the affiliate sent to eBay and is reported as Earnings Per Click, or EPC. In October 2013, ePN launched a new pricing model. The new model is more transparent, and is based on category-level base commission rates with bonuses available for referring new and reactivated buyers.<ref name=autogenerated5>Template:Cite web</ref>

On April 18, 2012 eBay reported a 29% Q1 revenue increase to $3.3 billion compared to their Q1 in 2011. Net income was reported to be at $570 million for the quarter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Environmental record

On May 8, 2008, eBay announced the opening of its newest building on the company's North Campus in San Jose, which is the first structure in the city to be built from the ground up to LEED Gold standards.<ref name="autogenerated3"/> The building, the first the company had built in its 13-year existence, uses an array of 3,248 solar panels, spanning Template:Convert, and providing 650 kilowatts of power to eBay's campus.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name="autogenerated2"/> The array can supply 15%–18% of the company's total energy requirements, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases that would be produced to create that energy by other means.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> SolarCity, the company responsible for designing the array, estimates that the solar panels installed on eBay's campus will prevent 37 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the environment as a result of replaced power production over the next three decades. Creating an equivalent impact to remove the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would require planting Template:Convert of trees.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> The design of the building also incorporates other elements to reduce its impact on the environment. The building is equipped with a lighting system that detects natural ambient light sources and automatically dims artificial lighting to save 39% of the power usually required to light an office building. eBay's newest building also reduces demand on local water supplies by incorporating an eco-friendly irrigation system, and low-flow shower heads and faucets. Even during construction, more than 75% of the waste from construction was recycled. eBay also runs buses between San Francisco and the San Jose campus to reduce the number of commuting vehicles.<ref name="autogenerated3" /> In 2014, eBay and several other Oregon businesses signed the Oregon Business Climate Declaration to promote local job growth and slow carbon pollution.<ref name=bizjournal>Template:Cite web</ref>

Acquisitions

StubHub

StubHub was acquired by eBay in January 2007 for a reported $310 million.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="ShellyVermaat2008">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="AP0107">*****o</ref> According to CNN Money, 2007 was a very successful year for the company, handling five million individual transactions, more than in the previous six years combined of its history.<ref name="Fekete2010">Template:Cite book</ref> Staffing at StubHub had increased to 350 workers by the time of the sale.<ref name="AP0107"/> Eight months after the acquisition, StubHub reached an exclusive agreement with Major League Baseball (MLB).<ref name="Fekete2010"/> They get a piece of the 25% in commissions StubHub earns on either end of a season tiy in 2007, alleging "intentional interference" with Ticketmaster's contractual rights.<ref name="Inc.2007">Template:Cite book</ref>

Skype

eBay Inc. acquired Skype in 2005<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and significantly expanded its customer base to more than 480 million registered users worldwide. To focus on its core e-commerce and payments businesses, eBay Inc. sold a majority stake in Skype in November 2009, retaining a minority investment in the company.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May 10, 2011, Microsoft announced that they had acquired Skype for $8.5 billion.<ref>*****o</ref>

Craigslist

In the summer of 2004, eBay acknowledged that it had acquired 25% of classified listings website, Craigslist. Former Craigslist executive Phillip Knowlton was the seller, and he insisted that his former employer was aware of his plans to divest his holdings. Initially, eBay assured Craigslist that they would not ask the company to change the way it does business. eBay spokesman Hani Durzy stated that the "investment was really for learning purposes; it gives us access to learn how the classified market online works".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In March 2005, eBay launched the classifieds service Kijiji. In April 2008, eBay sued Craigslist to "safeguard its four-year financial investment", claiming that in January 2008, Craigslist took actions that "unfairly diluted eBay's economic interest by more than 10%."<ref name="EBay sues Craigslist ad website"/> Craigslist countersued in May 2008 "to remedy the substantial and ongoing harm to fair competition" that Craigslist claims is constituted by eBay's actions as a Craigslist shareholder.<ref name="Craigslist strikes back at eBay"/> In September 2010, Delaware Judge William Chandler ruled that the actions of Craigslist were unlawful, and that the actions taken by Craigslist founders Jim Buckmaster and Craig Newmark had "breached their fiduciary duty of loyalty", and restored eBay's stake in the company to 28.4% from a diluted level of 24.85%.<ref name="Market Watch"/> However, the judge dismissed eBay's objection to a staggered board provision citing that Craigslist has the right to protect its own trade secrets.<ref name="eBay Gets Partial Win in Craigslist Poison Pill Lawsuit"/><ref name="Ruling Restores Ebay's Stake in Craigslist"/> eBay spokesman Michael Jacobson stated "We are very pleased that the court gave eBay what it sought from the lawsuit".<ref name="Market Watch"/>

PayPal

On October 3, 2002, PayPal became a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its corporate headquarters were sited in San Jose, California,<ref name=samuels2012>Bombus<ref name="xeps-dnock">Template:Citation</ref></ref> United States at eBay's North First Street satellite office campus. On September 30, 2014, eBay Inc. announced it would spin off PayPal into an independent company. The spin was completed on on July 20, 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Use for data analysis

As eBay is a huge, publicly visible market, it has attracted a great deal of interest from economists, who have used it to analyze many aspects of buying and selling behavior, auction formats, etc., and compare these with previous theoretical and empirical findings.

Just as economists have shown interest in eBay's operations, computer information systems researchers have also shown interest in eBay. Recently Michael Goul, Chairman of the Computer Information Systems department of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, published an academic case based on eBay’s big data management and use. In the case, Goul discusses how eBay is a data-driven company which processes 50 petabytes of data a day.<ref name="knowwpc">Template:Cite web</ref>

eBay uses a system that allows different departments in the company to check out data from their data mart into sandboxes for analysis. According to Goul, eBay has already experienced significant business successes through its data analytics. To continue improving the business through data-driven decision making, eBay employs 5,000 data analysts.<ref name="knowwpc"/>

Third party

The accounting software company Intuit launched in 2006 a service called ItsDeductible which is a free web-based donation tracking service. With regard to eBay, the service uses data from the site to assist users in assigning a market value to the items they donate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

GCHQ

UK's GCHQ has a suite of tools for monitoring target use of eBay, named ELATE.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

ebay.com

Items

Millions of collectibles, decor, appliances, computers, furnishings, equipment, domain names,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, or sold daily on eBay. In 2006, eBay launched its Business & Industrial category, breaking into the industrial surplus business. Generally, anything can be auctioned on the site as long as it is not illegal and does not violate the eBay Prohibited and Restricted Items policy.<ref name="Prohibited and Restricted Items - Overview"/> Services and intangibles can be sold, too. Large international companies, such as IBM, sell their newest products and offer services on eBay using competitive auctions and fixed-priced storefronts. Separate eBay sites such as eBay US and eBay UK allow the users to trade using the local currency. Software developers can create applications that integrate with eBay through the eBay API by joining the eBay Developers Program.<ref name="eBay Developers Program"/> In June 2005, there were more than 15,000 members in the eBay Developers Program, comprising a broad range of companies creating software applications to support eBay buyers and sellers as well as eBay Affiliates.

Numerous government and police agencies <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> around the world now use eBay as well as traditional auctions to dispose of seized and confiscated goods

Controversy has arisen over certain items put up for bid. For instance, in late 1999, a man offered one of his kidneys for auction on eBay, attempting to profit from the potentially lucrative (and, in the United States, illegal) market for transplantable human organs.<ref name="kidney">*****o</ref> On other occasions, people and even entire towns have been listed, often as a joke or to garner free publicity.Template:Citation needed In general, the company removes auctions that violate its Terms of Service agreement.

File:PayPal San Jose Headquarters.jpg

eBay North First Street satellite office campus (home to PayPal)

Beginning in August 2007, eBay required listings in "Video Games" and "Health & Beauty" to accept its payment system PayPal and sellers could only accept PayPal for payments in the category "Video Games: Consoles".<ref name="August 10, 2007, 10:38 am BST post to eBay announcement board by eBay's staff"/> Starting January 10, 2008, eBay said sellers can only accept PayPal as payment for the categories "Computing > Software", "Consumer Electronics > MP3 Players", "Wholesale & Job Lots > Mobile & Home Phones", and "Business, Office & Industrial > Industrial Supply / MRO".<ref name="December 21, 2007 12:10 pm GMT General announcement by eBay"/> eBay announced that starting in March 2008, eBay had added to this requirement that all sellers with fewer than 100 feedbacks must offer PayPal and no merchant account may be used as an alternative.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="eBay February 2008 announcement board posted on February 28, 2008 02:49 pm GMT"/> This is in addition to the requirement that all sellers from the United Kingdom have to offer PayPal.<ref name="eBay announcement March 24, 2008 09:00 am GMT"/>

Further, and as noted below, it was a requirement to offer PayPal on all listings in Australia and the UK. In response to concerns expressed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, however, eBay has since removed the policy on the ebay.com.au website requiring sellers to offer PayPal as a payment option.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

File:Ebay express.png

eBay Express logo

File:EBayTorontoOffice.JPG

eBay Office in Toronto

On April 24, 2006, eBay opened its new eBay Express site, which was designed to work like a standard Internet shopping site for consumers with United States addresses.<ref>*****o</ref> It closed in 2008.Template:Citation needed Selected eBay items were mirrored on eBay Express, where buyers shopped using a shopping cart to purchase from multiple sellers. The UK version was launched to eBay members in mid-October 2006 but on January 29, 2008 eBay announced its intention to close the site.<ref name="January 2008"/> The German version, eBay Express Germany,<ref name="eBay - eine der größten deutschen Shopping-Websites"/> was also opened in 2006 and closed in 2008.

At the 2008 eBay Developer's Conference, eBay announced the Selling Manager Applications program (SM Apps).<ref name="eBay Developer's Conference Highlights"/> The program allows approved developers to integrate their applications directly into the eBay.com interface.<ref name="Selling Manager Applications"/> The applications created by developers are available for subscription by eBay members who also subscribe to Selling Manager.

eBay maintains a number of specialty sites including the discussion boards, groups, answer center, chat rooms, and reviews and guides. eBay's mobile offerings include SMS alerts, a WAP site, Java ME clients, and mobile applications for Windows Phone, Android OS and Apple iPhone.

The initiative Choice in eCommerce was founded on May 8, 2013 by several online retailers in Berlin, Germany.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>BILD, Online-Händler kämpfen gegen Hersteller-Boykott, July 16, 2013</ref><ref>eCommerce Magazin 7-2013, Online-Handel gründet Initiative gegen Verkauftsverbot, July 17, 2013</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The cause was, in the view of the initiative, sales bans and online restrictions by individual manufacturers. The dealers felt cut off from their main sales channel and thus deprived them the opportunity to use online platforms like Amazon, Ebay or Rakuten in a competitive market for the benefit of their customers.

Unusual items

Template:Main Many unusual items have been placed for sale on eBay, including at least two previously undiscovered species, including the Coelopleurus exquisitus sea urchin.<ref name="BBC">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Insect expert discovers new species on eBay">Template:Cite web</ref>

Prohibited or restricted items

In its earliest days, eBay was nearly unregulated. However, as the site grew, it became necessary to restrict or forbid auctions for various items. Note that some of the restrictions relate to eBay.com (the U.S. site), while other restrictions apply to specific European sites (such as Nazi paraphernalia). Regional laws and regulations may apply to the seller or the buyer. Generally, if the sale or ownership of an item is regulated or prohibited by one or more states, eBay will not permit its listing. Among the hundred or so banned or restricted categories: Template:Columns-list

Bidding

Auction-style listings

Bidding on eBay (old or new)'s auction-style listing is called proxy bidding and is essentially equivalent to a Vickrey auction (sealed-bid), with the following exceptions.

• The winning bidder pays the second-highest bid plus one bid increment amount (that is, some small predefined amount relative to the bid size), instead of simply the highest bid. However, since the bid increment amounts are relatively insignificant compared to the bid size, they are not considered from a strategic standpoint.<ref name="eBay's explanation of bid increments"/>
• The highest bidder's bid is sealed, as in a Vickrey auction, but the current winning bid (second highest plus one increment) is displayed throughout the auction to allow price discovery.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Because eBay's auction-style listings are sealed-bid, it is usually to all bidders' advantage that bids are made only at the very end of the auction. Early bids will not always increase the bidder's chance of winning the auction, and will often raise the item's final price (winning bid) for the winner.
• eBay also allows the sellers to offer a "Buy it Now" price that will end the auction immediately. The Buy It Now price is available until someone bids on the item, or until the reserve price is met. When the Buy It Now option disappears, the auction-style listing proceeds normally.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Seller ratings

In 2008, eBay began using detailed seller ratings with four different categories. When leaving feedback, buyers are asked to rate the seller in each of these categories with a score of one to five stars, with five being the highest rating and one, the lowest. Unlike the overall feedback rating, these ratings are anonymous; neither sellers nor other users learn how individual buyers rated the seller. The listings of sellers with a rating of 4.3 or below in any into the four rating categories appear lower in search results. Power Sellers are required to have scores in each category above 4.5.<ref name="February 2008"/><ref name="January 20081"/><ref name="Upcoming Changes to Feedback"/><ref name="Fees 2008 Overview"/><ref name="January 20082"/>

In a reversal of roles, on January 24, 2010 Auctionbytes.com held an open survey in which sellers could effectively rate eBay itself, as well as competing auction and marketplace sites.<ref name="survey"/> In the survey, users were asked to rank 15 sites based on five criteria:

• Profitability
• Customer Service
• Communication
• Ease of Use
• Recommendation

After the results were published, eBay had finished 13th overall,<ref name="auctionbytes13"/> edged out by established sites such as Amazon and Craigslist, as well as lesser-known selling sites like Atomic Mall, eCRATER, and Ruby Lane. In individual category rankings, eBay was rated the worst of all the 15 sites on Customer Service and Communication, and average on Ease of Use. A number of respondents said they would have given eBay a rating of ten 3 to 5 years ago. eBay was rated twelfth out of fif***** in the Recommended Selling Venue category.

Charity auctions

Using MissionFish as an arbiter, eBay allows sellers to donate a portion of their auction proceeds to a charity of the seller's choice. The program is called eBay Giving Works in the US, and eBay for Charity<ref name="eBay for Charity"/> in the UK. eBay provides a partial refund of seller fees for items sold through charity auctions.<ref name="eBay Giving Works fee credits"/> As of March 4, 2010, $154 million has been raised for U.S. nonprofits by the eBay Community since eBay Giving Works began in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Some high-profile charity auctions have been advertised on the eBay home page.<ref>2008 Jeffrey Carpenter, Jessica Holmes and Peter Hans Matthews Charity Auctions: A field of Experiment, The Economic Journal, Vol118 p92-93, Royal Economic Society, London- Blackwell Publishing January 2008.</ref> As of June 2010, the highest successful bid on a single item for charity was for the annual "Power Lunch"<ref>*****o</ref> with investor Warren Buffett at the famous Smith & Wollensky Steakhouse in New York. The winning bid was $2.63 million with all of the proceeds going to the Glide Foundation. The winning bidder was not made public, but was able to bring up to seven friends to the lunch. In 2012, a higher bid, of $3.46 million, also going to the Glide Foundation, won a lunch with Buffet.<ref>*****o</ref>

The previous highest successful bid on a single item for charity was for a letter<ref name="eBay Update: High Bidder on Reid Letter Will Own Historic Document"/> sent to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel (parent company of Premiere Radio Networks the production company that produces The Rush Limbaugh Show and Glenn Beck Program) by Senator Harry Reid and forty other Democratic senators, complaining about comments made by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. The winning bid was $2,100,100, with all of the proceeds going to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, benefiting the education of *****ren of men and women who have died serving in the armed forces. The winning bid was matched by Limbaugh in his largest charity donation to date.<ref>*****o</ref>

In 2007; eBay Canada partnered with Montreal-based digital branding agency CloudRaker to develop a campaign to raise money for Sainte-Justine *****ren's hospital in Montreal. They aligned themselves with Internet phenomenon Têtes à claques to create an eBay auction based on popular T-A-C character Uncle Tom, an infomercial host who pitches absurd products. eBay and CloudRaker reproduced Uncle Tom's imaginary products, The Body Toner Fly Swatter, The Willi Waller Potato Peeler, and the LCD Shovel and sold them online. In six weeks, they raised $15,000 for Hôpital St-Justine with one fly swatter, one potato peeler, and one shovel, a world record. The Body Toner Fly Swatter sold for $8,600, the Willi Waller Potato Peeler sold for $3,550, and the LCD Shovel sold for $2,146.21.

Shipping

Before an auction, eBay lets sellers choose which shipping options to offer - standard mail, express mail, or courier service. The website lets buyers choose which option to accept.

Since 2012, eBay has also allowed US sellers to opt into its Global Shipping Program. If a seller has opted into the program and a non-US buyer buys an item from that seller, then the buyer pays an additional fee to Pitney Bowes. The seller sends the item to a Pitney Bowes facility in the US which forwards it to the buyer. The program is claimed to enhance the selection available to buyers,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but can considerably increase both buyers' costs on low-value items and the shipping time.

Controversy and criticism

Template:Main eBay has its share of controversy, including cases of fraud, its policy of requiring sellers to use PayPal, and concerns over forgeries and intellectual property violations in auction items. There are also issues of how negative feedback after an auction can offset the benefits of using eBay as a trading platform. eBay has also been criticized for not paying its share of UK tax: the Sunday Times reported in October 2012 that eBay paid only £1.2m in tax on sales of over £800m.<ref>*****o</ref>

2014 security breach

On May 21, 2014 the company revealed that the consumer database of usernames, passwords, phone numbers, and physical addresses had been breached between late February and early March. Users were advised to change their passwords; in order to expedite this a "change password" feature was added to profiles of users who had not yet done so. The Syrian Electronic Army took responsibility for the attack. The SEA said that even though the hack revealed millions of user's banking details to them, they would not misuse the data. They had replaced the front pages of the websites with their own logo, called "Defacing" in technical terms. The hack caused eBay's share price to crash in intra-day trade as a result of the breach of security.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>*****o</ref><ref>*****o</ref><ref>*****o</ref>

See also

• Alibaba Group, Chinese e-commerce company
• Carousell (company)
• eBay v. Bidder's Edge
• Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc.

External links

• Template:Official website