eBay

Aktivs

The company operates the eBay.com website and its local versions in several countries, owns Paypal and GSI Commerce.

Performance indicators

In 2010, eBay's revenue grew 4.9% to $9.16 billion. Moreover, the PayPal payment service played the role of the main support.

Cooperation with special services

In the book "The Internet as a Weapon" (2020), Jascha Lyovin writes that eBay created an internal police unit led by veterans of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice. It employs more than a thousand private investigators who work closely with intelligence and law enforcement agencies in all countries where the company conducts commercial activities. She conducts workshops and trainings and offers promotional tours for police officers around the world. eBay prides itself on its relationship with law enforcement and boasts that three thousand people have been arrested in the world thanks to its efforts.

Business in Russia

2020: Russian Ilya Kretov leads eBay business in 200 countries

February 26, 2020 it became known about the appointment [[Ilya Aleksandrovich Kretov|Ilya Kretov as CEO of eBay in global emerging markets. In the new position, the Russian will lead the company's business in 200 countries. More here.

2010: Getting Started Online

On February 23, 2010, eBay announced the launch of the eBay International Market (eIM) international shopping system in Russia. Thanks to her, Russian users were able to search for goods around the world, comparing, choosing and buying them using the Russian interface. The global auction catalog was accessed from the ebayrussia.ru website. eBay assumed responsibility for the refund in case of non-delivery of the item or its non-compliance with the parameters stated on the site. For about a year, the company was looking for a director of a local office.

On March 16, 2010, eBay planned to launch a Russian-language version of the resource, but later the opening of the Russian-language service moved approximately to March 25. During this period, eBay did not plan to open an office in Russia.

The work of the online auction in Russia was complicated by the fact that the PayPal payment system, through which transactions are carried out on eBay, operates in Russia with restrictions. Until 2012, PayPal only allowed you to pay for purchases, and did not allow you to accept payments to your account. In practice, this meant that users could spend money on purchases on eBay, and they could not sell something at auction and withdraw money from PayPal.

2011: Ability to withdraw money to American bank accounts

In the fall of 2011, PayPal authorized the withdrawal of funds to bank accounts. But again, it was not without restrictions - you can withdraw money only to accounts in American banks^[1].

According to the resource statistics, the number of active Russian users increased by 82% in 9 months of 2012, but information on the number of users was not disclosed.

2012: Opening of a representative office in Russia, turnover $400 million

In June 2012, it became known that eBay was opening a representative office in Russia - the local company would be called eBay Marketplaces. It was headed by Vladimir Dolgov, who had previously led Google's Russian division in Russia for six years.

The management of the eBay online auction plans to cooperate in the Russian Federation exclusively with the PayPal payment system, and intends to wait for all its functionality to be available to Russian users. This statement was made by the general director of the Russian representative office of eBay Vladimir Dolgov.

Users in Russia have the opportunity to replenish their PayPal account, but so far they cannot withdraw money through Russian banks. This difficulty in withdrawing funds from PayPal makes it difficult to trade between Russian users and limits the ability to sell their goods through eBay. According to Vladimir Dolgov, PayPal representatives have already begun working with Russian regulators to make all the functionality of the system available to users in the Russian Federation. The company is negotiating with Russian Post and courier services, intending to choose a logistics partner with whom eBay planned to decide by the end of 2012.

As a result, in 2012, Russians bought $400 million worth of goods on the American eBay online auction, said Vladimir Dolgov, head of the company's Russian office. Compared to 2011, eBay's turnover increased by 54%, and the number of buyers - by 75%. They buy primarily clothes and equipment, says Dolgov. Now users from Russia make about 30,000 purchases a day, 54% of all orders are in Moscow, 30% - in St. Petersburg, 9% - in Krasnodar and 4% - in Rostov.

Until now, for Russians, the auction works only in the online store mode. They can't sell anything because the PayPal payment system that eBay uses to settle between users is limited to them. Russian citizens cannot withdraw money from their PayPal wallets to Russian bank accounts until the Russian subsidiary PayPal receives a bank license or the status of a non-bank credit institution (NPO). PayPal should soon receive the status of an NGO after it pays for capital (18 million rubles), a representative of the Central Bank told Vedomosti.

But even as an online store, eBay managed to become one of the largest e-commerce sites for Russia. If his Russian business participated in the ranking of online retailers, compiled recently by the Enter Center for Strategic Studies, then he would take fourth place - after the seller of household appliances and electronics "Citylink" (turnover - 18.9 billion rubles), auto parts Exist.ru (14.7 billion rubles) and household appliances and electronics "Ulmart" (14.3 billion rubles; all excluding VAT)^[2].

2014: eBay launches sales from Russian online stores

On September 30, 2014, the American online platform eBay will launch sales of goods from Russian online stores, according to the Vedomosti newspaper. It is assumed that Russian online stores will sell goods to Russian customers. eBay partner stores will include X5 Retail Group online stores, a 220-volt power tool store.

Until now, eBay in Russia has focused on cross-border trade: in the summer, eBay agreed with Russian Post to expedite the delivery of purchases from China to Russia. At the end of 2013, eBay received about 90 thousand orders from Russian customers per day.

The commission that the American online auction eBay will take from Russian online stores will be 0% for the initial period. The company explained that it announces such conditions for the first time to attract new Russian sellers to the Internet site.

2015: Ebay agreed to keep personal data of Russian customers in Russia

eBay agreed in the spring of 2015 with the requirements of Roskomnadzor and announced its readiness to store personal data of Russian customers on Russian servers. The American company is working on transferring data from Switzerland to Russia.

According to the Association of Internet Commerce Companies, in 2014, Russians bought 80 million goods worth $6 billion from foreign online stores, which is approximately 30% of all online commerce in Russia. In the second half of 2014, eBay had 3.7 million buyers from Russia. Now the capitalization of eBay on Nasdaq is $69 billion.

As explained in Roskomnadzor, personal data that allows you to accurately identify a person is considered personal, and if it is extremely difficult for a personal data operator to distinguish citizens of Russia from a common set of personal data subjects, it is advisable to apply the principle of territoriality. In the case of eBay in Russia, you need to store the data of those who are registered in Russia. Accordingly, if a Russian citizen is abroad and some server collects data on the territory of this country, such a case does not fall under the law.

Company history

2024:9% dismissal due to lack of money

On January 23, 2024, the American corporation eBay announced a reorganization aimed at ensuring long-term and sustainable growth. This program is designed to reduce headcount by approximately 9% globally.

The upcoming changes were announced by eBay President and CEO Jamie Iannone. According to him, in three years (by the beginning of 2024) the company made fundamental changes to the business model. This provided an increase in customer satisfaction and a significant improvement in performance. At the same time, the macroeconomic situation has a negative impact on operating activities. Iannone notes that the total headcount and costs are outpacing business growth.

eBay announces reorganization

To address this challenge, we are implementing organizational changes that integrate and consolidate specific teams to improve the structure of the company and meet the needs of customers around the world. The most important and difficult action being taken is to reduce the workforce. We must say goodbye to people who have made such an important contribution to the community and culture of eBay, and this is not easy, "says the CEO of eBay.

Roughly 1,000 full-time employees will be laid off during the restructuring. They will receive monetary compensation and support. In addition, eBay will reduce the number of contracts with employees who work part-time. Iannone emphasizes that inflationary pressures and rising interest rates continue to adversely affect purchasing power. Organizational changes are expected to help lower costs and improve the overall financial position. In addition, the company will be able to adapt faster and more efficiently to the changing market environment.^[3]

2023: Allowing the sale of hundreds of thousands of air polluting devices for cars, fines of up to $2 billion

On September 27, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against eBay, accusing the internet platform of illegally selling hundreds of thousands of polluting devices. Companies face fines totaling up to $2 billion.

The agency, in particular, accuses eBay of violating the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The complaint is filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in federal USA court in Brooklyn.

eBay accused of illegally selling hundreds of thousands of polluting devices

It is alleged that eBay sold, put up for sale or contributed to the sale of more than 343 thousand devices for cars that pollute the air. We are talking about increasing emissions of harmful substances, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and non-methane hydrocarbons. Such compounds can harm the health of citizens. In addition, eBay is charged with distributing 23,000 incorrectly labeled or restricted pesticides. The complaint also alleges that the company distributed more than 5,600 items in violation of methylene chloride regulations.

Our country's environmental laws protect public health and nature by prohibiting the illegal sale of dangerous devices, unregistered or mislabeled pesticides, restricted substances and products containing toxic chemicals. EPA will hold online retailers accountable for the illegal sale of such goods, the Justice Department website says.

eBay rejects claims against it. The company says it has worked closely with law enforcement agencies, including the Justice Department, for more than two decades (as of 2023) to "identify emerging risks and assist in preventing them."^[4]

2022: NFT KnownOrigin marketplace purchase

On June 22, 2022, eBay announced the purchase of the KnownOrigin NFT marketplace. The company did not disclose the value of the transaction. KnownOrigin presents itself as a non-interchangeable token (NFT) platform. Read more here.

2021: Sale of stake in Adevinta to Permira

As it became known in July 2021, eBay sold a stake in the online ads service for $2.25 billion. The company agreed to sell part of its stake in Adevinta ASA to Permira. Read more here.

2020

In the top 50 largest Internet sites in the world

The largest Internet sites in the world for November 2020

Sale of the advertising business of the Norwegian Adevinta for $9.2 billion

In July 2020, the eBay online auction agreed to sell the classified advertising business to the Norwegian company Adevinta for $9.2 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, which will be settled in shares and cash, eBay will receive $2.5 billion in cash and approximately 540 million Adevinta shares, a stake of about 44%, based on the number of outstanding Adevinta shares at the end of the second quarter.

The company notes that as a result of the transaction it will become the largest shareholder of Adevinta. The deal is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2021.

2019: Court bans eBay from selling counterfeit Cisco equipment

In mid-December 2019, an American court banned online stores from selling counterfeit Cisco equipment. According to the court order, marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and AliExpress should stop selling Chinese-made gray products under the Cisco brand, including transceiver devices. Read more here.

2013: Top 20 internet giants by size of internet audience

Internet companies by audience size

1995: Pierre Omidyar creates private online auction AuctionWeb

On September 4, 1995, in San Jose, California, programmer Pierre Omidyar created an online auction called AuctionWeb as part of his personal website.

The famous story of how eBay was created so that Pierre's bride had the opportunity to exchange PEZ dispenser toys with other collectors was invented in 1997 by the company's public relations manager, which was later confirmed by the company itself.

The first item sold on AuctionWeb was Omidyar's faulty laser pointer, which was paid 13.83 USD. After contacting the buyer, Pierre asked him, "did you understand that the laser pointer was faulty?" In a response letter, the buyer explained: "I am a collector of faulty laser pointers."

Initially, AuctionWeb was completely free, and gradually began to attract sellers and buyers. By the end of 1995, thousands of auctions were taking place on the site.

In 1995, Pierre Omidyar established the basic values ​ ​ of the eBay auction, which determine the principles of the auction and are currently valid:

• "Basically, all people are good-minded"
• " Everyone can contribute"
• "In open communication, people show their best qualities"

1997: Renaming to eBay

The company acquired the name eBay in September 1997. Initially, Omidyar wanted to name the Echo Bay Technology Group website in order to maintain a connection with his consulting company Echo Bay Technology Group. However, the domain name was EchoBay.com owned by the gold mining company Echo Bay Mines, and the name was shortened to eBay.com.

In subsequent years, eBay developed from the C2C trading platform, which was a flea market, to the B2C platform, used by both individuals and legal entities.

1999-2005: Expansion through shopping

In May 1999, eBay acquired the system, online payments Billpoint which was later closed after the Paypal acquisition.

In 1999, eBay acquired Butterfield & Butterfield, which was sold in 2002 to Bonhams.

In 1999, eBay acquired the Alando auction from Mark and Oliver Zamver for $43 million, which was then transformed into eBay Germany.

In June 2000, eBay bought Half.com, later integrated into the eBay Marketplace.

In August 2001, eBay bought Mercado Libre, Lokau and IBazar, the largest Latin American online auction sites.

In July 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion.

July 11, 2003 eBay Inc. acquires EachNet, a leading Chinese e-commerce company, paying approximately $150 million.

June 22, 2004 eBay acquires Baazee.com], a leading auction site in India for approximately $50 million.

On August 13, 2004, eBay acquired 25% in Craigslist.org by acquiring an existing shareholder.

In September 2004, eBay made significant progress in the Korean market, acquiring shares of Korean online trading company worth 3 million, paying approximately 125,000 Korean won (about US $109) per share.

In November 2004, eBay absorbed Marktplaats.nl for €225 million. It was a German firm that owned 80% of the auction market in the Netherlands and generated revenue mainly from advertising sales.

On December 16, 2004, eBay acquired Rent.com for $30 million in money and $385 million in eBay stock.

In May 2005, eBay absorbed Gumtree, a network of advertising sites in the UK.

In June 2005, eBay absorbed Shopping.com, a site that provides services in comparison of goods and their prices, for $635 million.

In August 2005, eBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in money and shares.

2010: Win in Tiffany dispute

Tiffany Jewelry House's six-year legal battle with eBay ended in November 2010 in favor of the latter. The US Supreme Court refused to consider the lawsuit of a well-known jewelry manufacturer who accused an online auction of selling fakes. This decision will certainly delight other internet sites, many of which are also charged with distributing counterfeit goods. Earlier, for six years, Tiffany has repeatedly stated that hundreds of thousands of its silver jewelry on the eBay website are counterfeit and online auction specialists are well aware of this. According to representatives of the jewelry house, the company used the eBay program, which allows you to remove suspicious auction items from the site. Still, that program wasn't enough to address all of the counterfeiting issues, the plaintiff argued.

The defendant, in turn, stated that he was doing everything possible to prevent the placement of fake products on his website and, thus, protect his reputation. eBay's spending on special programs that can detect counterfeits is about $20 million a year.

In 2008, Tiffany was already suing eBay in a New York court. Then the decision was not in favor of the jewelry house: the court ruled that eBay was not responsible for posting fakes on its website. A similar decision was made in April this year by the Court of Appeal, which noted that the manufacturer should not monitor counterfeit goods. And now the Supreme Court has put an end to this difficult case.

This is far from the first accusation of eBay in the sale of counterfeit. So, in 2009, eBay won a similar process against L'Oreal. True, a year earlier, the online auction was unlucky: it lost a lawsuit initiated by the manufacturer of luxury goods LVMH, and was forced to pay compensation in the amount of 38 thousand euros.

The eBay case is very important for American litigation. It will help courts rule on other internet companies, such as Google, which are also reproached for distributing counterfeit goods

2011: GSI Commerce Purchase

In March 2011, eBay announced its intention to acquire leading e-commerce solutions provider GSI Commerce. For each share of a public American company, $29.25 was offered - 51% more than the value of securities at the close of March 25. The amount of the transaction, which is planned to be closed in the third quarter of 2011, will amount to about $2.4 billion. Part of the funds eBay will take on credit. Until May 6, 2011, a tender will be held, under the terms of which eBay will have the right to raise the bet.

"We intend to lead a new wave of innovations in commerce," said eBay President and CEO John Donahoe. "The acquisition of GSI, which offers the broadest package of e-commerce and interactive marketing services, will significantly strengthen our ability to connect with buyers and sellers around the world."

By acquiring GSI, eBay is looking to enter the e-commerce segment, albeit not in the way Amazon does.

With the development of the Internet, it no longer makes sense to make the main bet on auctions, especially since this segment is significantly inferior in growth rates to online stores, in which, due to convenience, more and more buyers are rushing. According to Forrester Research, in the period from 2010 to 2015. the volume of the e-commerce market in the United States alone will grow from $176 billion to $279 billion, that is, by about 60%. eBay wants some of the "pie."

The deal is the largest since Donahue's reign, becoming CEO in 2008, and the largest since buying Skype in 2005 for about $2.5 billion. However, there is no other way for the company: any amount is good in the desire to attract as many corporate customers as possible who are ready to sell goods on the Internet at fixed prices. "Obviously, eBay is going on the offensive," said David Spitz, president of ChannelAdvisor, which helps customers sell their products on the Internet.

According to Donahue, after the acquisition, GSI will operate as a separate unit under the leadership of Chris Saridakis, the current manager of GSI's marketing solutions group. eBay and GSI will serve small and large companies using eBay, PayPal and GSI platforms. At the same time, the director clarified, they do not plan to directly compete with Amazon - that is, to independently sell goods on their sites.

2012: Over 6 years, 3 thousand fraudsters were arrested with the support of eBay

Ex-director of the eBay online auction for information security Dave Cullinane spoke in the summer of 2012 about his achievements in this position. According to the expert, in total during his work, eBay helped law enforcement agencies in various countries to detain about 3 thousand fraudsters. The level of fraud within the service itself has been reduced by 90%. Among the most resonant incidents, Callinane noted the capture of a gang of fraudsters who sold non-existent used cars on prepayment. The income of the criminal group reached about $1 million. USA per day.

Despite the significant success of eBay, the expert stressed that in most companies the level of information security leaves much to be desired. This, in his opinion, is evidenced by the growing number of successful targeted attacks on both small businesses and large organizations. Among the most influential factors that positively influenced the increase in the level of security of eBay, Callinane credited a significant increase in the budget for security, as well as relations with law enforcement agencies in various countries.

2019: StubHub ticket service sale for $4.05 billion

At the end of November 2019, eBay announced the sale of StubHub for $4.05 billion to the Swiss company Viagogo, which is developing a service of the same name that allows you to buy tickets for various events. Read more here.

Interesting facts

Some high value items sold on eBay

• Shakespeare's 340-year-old'Prince of Tyre' manuscript that survived London's great fire in 1666 (£5m)
• Grumman Gulfstream II aircraft ($4.9 million)
• 1993 Yellow McLaren F1 ($1.7 million) (there is only one yellow McLaren F1 in the world)
• Honus Wagner 1909 Baseball Card ($1.65 million)
• Diamond Lake Resort, in western Kentucky, USA ($1.2 million)
• Ferrari Enzo ($975,000, December 2005)
• Famous baseball player Joe Jackson's "Black Betsy" bat ($577,610)
• Golf Party with legendary golfer Tiger Woods ($425,000)

Largest items

One of the largest items sold at eBay is a World War II submarine sold by a small city in New England when city officials decided they no longer needed such a relic. [edit] Largest failed auction

One of the largest items ever auctioned was a decommissioned aircraft carrier. The lot was created by an anonymous seller from Brazil on eBay Motors. [Edit] Unusual Items

• In June 2005, a resident of Utah (USA), Caroline Smith, sold the right to permanently tattoo someone's advertisement on her forehead for $10,000. This offer was taken advantage of by the popular Golden Palace virtual casino.
• In May 2005, Volkswagen Golf, previously owned by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (a month before that elected by Pope Benedict XVI), was sold for €188.938.88. The buyer was the casino GoldenPalace.com
• In 2004, a Seattle man sold his own photo of him wearing his ex-wife's wedding dress. To his considerable surprise, he received significantly more for this picture than he expected. At first, he wanted to just sell the dress to help out some money for him to buy Seattle Mariners tickets, but the bets exceeded several thousand dollars, and the seller himself received many offers of hand and heart from buyers.
• In September 2004, the owner of the MagicGoat.com sold the contents of his trash can to a high school art teacher whose students wrote an essay about this trash.
• 50,000-year-old mammoth. The giant was put up for sale in 2004 by its German owner due to lack of space to store it, and was sold for £61,000. Experts confirm that it is one of the best preserved mammoth skeletons in the world, containing 90 % of the original bones.
• The owner of the Cockeyed.com sold an advertising space on his website, equal to one pixel, for 21 days for $100
• The water that was said to remain in Elvis Presley's cup, which he took with him to a concert in North Carolina in 1977, sold for $455.
• "The Hands Resist Him," a painting by American artist Bill Stoneham, is up for sale with a mystical backstory recounting unusual phenomena associated with it.
• The California city of Bridgeville has been up for auction three times. In 2002, it sold for $1.77 million, but after inspecting the "purchased goods" the buyer refused the transaction. In 2006, another owner put it up for auction for $1.75 million. In 2007, another owner for several months tried to sell it for $1.3 million.

Notes