The eBay Economy in 2005

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"What makes eBay successful -- the real value and the real power at eBay -- is the community. It's the buyers and sellers coming together and forming a marketplace. It's really this "of the people, by the people, for the people"environment. It's a very bottom-up environment. It's not the kind of approach that's top-down, centrally directed."

- Pierre Omidyar, Founder of eBay¹.

"It's a self-regulating marketplace that functions like a free economy, with increased transparency and a more level playing field than many national economies. Every day, we're struck by how the economy regulates itself. When I first came to eBay and Beanie Babies were a high percentage of items on the site, people said, What are you going to do when Beanie Babies fade away?. I said, "nothing."It's not something we can manage. The economy manages itself. Our users are on to the next idea, the next hot thing faster than we could ever be as a company. It's the millions of entrepreneurs who maximize their own business on eBay, which in turn maximizes the economy. They have built this small economy."

- Meg Whitman, CEO, eBay².

Introduction

On the 23rd of June 2005, over 11,000 eBay users gathered at San Jose, United States, for what was popularly called eBay Live. The online-auction firm's annual users' conference was being held in its hometown in 2005 to celebrate its tenth anniversary. eBay Live was a yearly affair where participants shared tips, learnt more about doing business on eBay, networked with other users, and above all enjoyed themselves. These users bought and sold various items regularly on eBay.com in thousands of categories from collectibles like trading cards, antiques, dolls, and house wares to practical items like used cars, clothing, books and CDs, and electronics...

Excerpts >>

1] In an interview with Hof, Robert D. "Pierre Omidyar on 'connecting people,"www.businessweek.com, 20th June 2005.

2] In an interview with Hof, Robert D. "Meg Whitman on eBay's self-regulation,"www.businessweek.com, 18th August 2003.

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