| eBay was created in September 1995, by a man | | | | item was sold (it was a toy version of Big |
| called Pierre Omidyar, who was living in San | | | | Bird from Sesame Street). |
| Jose. He wanted his site - then called | | | | |
| 'AuctionWeb' - to be an online marketplace, | | | | Then, in 1998 - the peak of the dotcom boom - |
| and wrote the first code for it in one | | | | eBay became big business, and the investment |
| weekend. It was one of the first websites of | | | | in Internet businesses at the time allowed it |
| its kind in the world. The name 'eBay' comes | | | | to bring in senior managers and business |
| from the domain Omidyar used for his site. | | | | strategists, who took in public on the stock |
| His company's name was Echo Bay, and the | | | | market. It started to encourage people to |
| 'eBay AuctionWeb' was originally just one | | | | sell more than just collectibles, and quickly |
| part of Echo Bay's website at The first | | | | became a massive site where you could sell |
| thing ever sold on the site was Omidyar's | | | | anything, large or small. Unlike other sites, |
| broken laser pointer, which he got $14 for. | | | | though, eBay survived the end of the boom, |
| | | | and is still going strong today. |
| The site quickly became massively popular, as | | | | |
| sellers came to list all sorts of odd things | | | | 1999 saw eBay go worldwide, launching sites |
| and buyers actually bought them. Relying on | | | | in the UK, Australia and Germany. eBay bought |
| trust seemed to work remarkably well, and | | | | half.com, an Amazon-like online retailer, in |
| meant that the site could almost be left | | | | the year 2000 - the same year it introduced |
| alone to run itself. The site had been | | | | Buy it Now - and bought PayPal, an online |
| designed from the start to collect a small | | | | payment service, in 2002. |
| fee on each sale, and it was this money that | | | | |
| Omidyar used to pay for AuctionWeb's | | | | Pierre Omidyar has now earned an estimated $3 |
| expansion. The fees quickly added up to more | | | | billion from eBay, and still serves as |
| than his current salary, and so he decided to | | | | Chairman of the Board. Oddly enough, he keeps |
| quit his job and work on the site full-time. | | | | a personal weblog at There are now literally |
| It was at this point, in 1996, that he added | | | | millions of items bought and sold every day |
| the feedback facilities, to let buyers and | | | | on eBay, all over the world. For every $100 |
| sellers rate each other and make buying and | | | | spent online worldwide, it is estimated that |
| selling safer. | | | | $14 is spent on eBay - that's a lot of laser |
| | | | pointers. |
| In 1997, Omidyar changed AuctionWeb's - and | | | | |
| his company's - name to 'eBay', which is what | | | | Now that you know the history of eBay, |
| people had been calling the site for a long | | | | perhaps you'd like to know how it could work |
| time. He began to spend a lot of money on | | | | for you? Our next email will give you an idea |
| advertising, and had the eBay logo designed. | | | | of the possibilities. |
| It was in this year that the one-millionth | | | | |