The company established its brand as being an entity that connects people (with selling things as a by-product of that emphasis). The company began to move beyond auctioning collectibles and moved into an array of upscale markets where the average sale price (ASP) is higher. Average sales price is crucial to the company’s transaction fee income.

In 1997 the company received approximately $6 million in venture capital from Benchmark Capital. The company went public in 1998. Today the company has revenues exceeding $7 billion annually and boasts over 15,000 employees.

Product

• PayPal is an online transaction business allowing payments and financial transfers to be made through the internet. PayPal is an alternative to offline transaction methods such as checks and money orders.
• eBay offers  a marketplaces for the sale of goods and services. It also provides online payment and communication services to individuals and businesses.
• Products on sale at Ebay include millions of collectibles, décor, appliances, computers, furnishings, equipment vehicles and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, or sold, daily.
• Bill Me Later is an Ebay service that provides convenient and secure payment method designed for purchasing on the web or over the phone.
• Rent.com is an Ebay subsidiary which is a first pay-for-performance online rental site, a business model that outperformed competitors who went with subscriptions, listing fees, or costs-per-lead revenue models The company charges the property manager when a verified lease is produced through the site.
• Shopping.com is an online community Owned by Ebay it provides a price comparison service and operates webpages in the USA, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia.
• StubHub is a subsiiary of Ebay which acts as an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of tickets to sporting, concert and theater events.
• Skype is an economical communication tool owned by Ebay. The company provides free video calling , free chat with other Skype members, free instant messaging and call to landlines at low rates.
• Half.com is a subsidiary of Ebay, Inc in which sellers offer items at fixed prices, usually items that have a ISBN, UPC  or database file indicators as opposed to rare, old or collectible items. The items available on half.com are limited to textbooks, music, movies, video games, and video game consoles.

Price

• Ebay, Inc. recently changed some of its pricing policies, dictating different listing fees from frequent and occasional sellers.
• EBay, Inc. Every Day eliminated upfront listing fees (for auctions only, not Buy It Now), and instead charges 9-percent of the final sale price, up to $50.
• Ebay, Inc. employs a quality click pricing model which pays affiliates "by the click", just like AdSense.
• Sellers are charged when an item is listed on eBay a nonrefundable Insertion Fee is charged, which ranges between 30 cents and $3.30, depending on the seller’s opening bid on the item.
• Sellers pay a fee for additional listing options to promote the item, such as highlighted or bold listing.  
• A final sale price fee is charged to a seller at the end of an auction. This fee generally ranges from 1.25% to 5% of the final sale price.

eBay Marketing Mix

Introduction

Ebay began its business life as AuctionWeb and emphasized collectables. Originally the company was meant to be a marketplace for the sale of goods and services for individuals. The company’s founder was a computer programmer Pierre Omidyar. Its co-founder was Jeff Skoll. Would you like to take a lesson on the marketing mix?

Place

• New Ebay users can find answers to procedural questions by utilizing the company’s Answer Center located at http://pages.ebay.com/community/answercenter/index.html
• Ebay provides an international site visibility feature which allows some listings created on eBay.com to be posted on international sites (such as the U.K. site). Buyers on these sites will see the listings exactly as you originally post them on the U.S. site.
• Ebays Seller Information Center aids participants by offering information on getting started, growth strategies and shipping http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/

Promotion

• There are eBay Coupons, eBay discounts, eBay Promotional codes, and an eBay bargains page at DealTaker.com
• The eBay Bucks Rewards Program gives those who use PayPal on Ebay 2% back on qualifying purchases participants get a rewards certificate at the start of each calendar quarter for the amount of eBay Bucks they accumulated in the previous quarter. They have 30 days to spend it on any eBay listing with PayPal.
• EBay Radio provides traders and eBay community members with the latest in news and views from around the eBay world and covers major eBay events like the annual Ebay Live Conference.

Process

• Participants who list an item on eBay, are charged an insertion fee. If the item sells, you’re also charged a final value fee. The basic cost of selling an item is the insertion fee plus the final value fee. The basic fee structure depends on the type of listing—auction-style or fixed price format—you use.
• Ebay provides helpful information to facilitate the use of its services at Ebay University http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformation/starting/university.html.
• Ebay facilitates transactions by providing “Daily Deals” which highlight discounted prices parties can sign up to receive a Daily Deals Alert.

Physical Evidence

• The Ebay, Inc headquarters is located at 2145 Hamilton, Ave, San Jose California.
• Ebay has introduced a new fashion category.
• The company has introduced a new Products Review tab enabling a user to find the right product at the best price
• New Ebay users can find answers to procedural questions by utilizing the company’s Answer Center .
• Ebay provides an international site visibility feature which allows some listings created on eBay.com to be posted on international sites (such as the U.K. site). Buyers on these sites will see the listings exactly as you originally post them on the U.S. site.

People

• John J. Donahoe is the President & Chief Executive Officer
• Pierre Omidyar is Chairman of the Non-Executive Board
• Scott Thompson  is President of Paypal
• BobSwan is Senior Vice President
• Ebay purchases are now under a new Buyer Protection Program which covers a buyers full purchase price and shipping and implemented via a new streamlined customer service procedure.
• Ebay Feedback is a procedure that lets participants monitor their transaction reputation as an eBay member. It’s made up of comments and ratings left by other members you’ve bought from and sold to.