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Tuesday, March 22, 2005

10 years ago, eBay changed the world

Popular wisdom, stoked by eBay (EBAY) press material, has long said that Pierre Omidyar started eBay 10 years ago so his girlfriend could have a way to trade Pez dispensers.

The first version of what would become eBay went online in September 1995. Since then, the company has been on quite a run. It had $3.3 billion in revenue in 2004, getting to that mark faster than Dell, Microsoft or Cisco Systems. It has 135 million users worldwide — a cyber nation-state about as populated as Germany and France combined.

In the meantime, eBay has become a phenomenon. It has changed how people think about the junk they once might've sold at garage sales. It has fostered the idea that trust between strangers can be established over the Internet. And it has been a source of amusement, whether about the grilled-cheese sandwich with the image of the Holy Mother that sold for $28,000 or the man who auctioned his forehead for advertising space for $37,375.

Whitman shifts into her presentation persona. First, she says, eBay will keep expanding worldwide. Today, in about 15% of transactions, the buyer and seller are in different countries. "I'd be surprised if that's not 50% to 60% 10 years from now," Whitman says.

Full article at: USAToday

posted by What I Write @ Article

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