eBay History

Piere Omidyar had formed a sole proprietorship for his web consulting and freelancing technology work, which he named Echo Bay Technology Group.

In 1995, Pierre Omidyar created Auction Web, the forerunner to eBay. The company originally operated out of Omidyar’s house in San Jose, California. The company name, eBay, was arrived at by accident The company was originally known as Echo Bay Technology. In 1995, the company tried to register the domain name echobay.com; however, this domain was in use. The company shortened its domain name to eBay.com. ebay is short for echo bay and echo bay came from Echo Bay California.

The site began with the listing of a single broken laser pointer. Though Pierre had intended the listing to be a test more than a serious offer to sell at auction, he was shocked when the item sold for $14.83. Pierre knew that he’d created something big as soon as he contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the pointer was broken. “I’m a collector of broken laser pointers,” came the reply.

eBay began as an online market from which people could sell goods and services on a local or international basis.

In 2010, eBay’s company information describes the company as global with websites in the Asia Pacific region, Europe and North America. With 90 million worldwide users, eBay is the worlds largest online marketplace. eBay grew rapidly, branching out from collectibles into nearly every type of market. eBay’s vision for success transitioned from one of commerce—buying and selling things—to one of connecting people around the world together. eBay thrived, eclipsing many of the other upstart auction sites that dotted the dot-com bubble. According to eBay, PayPal, the online banking website, became an important part of eBay.

In 2002, eBay took control of PayPal. In 2009 eBay sold goods worth $60 billion.

by Peter Daley

Well what a merry-go-round I've been on! I had a 17” LCD monitor delivered by courier, the cardboard box looked a bit pressed in at the top, near the carry handle but nothing suggested that it was damaged inside.

You know what it is like. The courier rushes to the door carrying a new delivery, sweating profusely, and you feel you should take it, and sign for it as quickly as possible. Big mistake! It was late in the afternoon when it came in, so I didn't open it until the next morning, only to find one very smashed monitor. See picture.

Well I rang the wholesaler, took lots of photo's, and sent them to the wholesaler. Who said it had nothing to do with him. Why? Because the box had a mark on it , and I should not have accepted it, I should phone the courier. So I call the local office of the courier, who says it had nothing to do with them. Why? Because it was delivered by the courier in Brisbane, and they are a different franchise.

So I phone the franchise in Brisbane, It had nothing to do with them. Why? because I signed for the goods and by doing so, I accepted them. I was told this is clearly stated in the company's legal policy document, which I could have read on the Internet! The representative said you are supposed to open every box, and inspect it before you accept it, while the courier waits.

Well that was news to me. I said “Are you people crazy? If your couriers have to wait around until all the deliveries are unpacked and inspected, your business will go broke!” I was then given a get out of jail free card, when they said, Well you can sign every delivery slip from now on, “Subject to inspection”.

I know lots of members are now purchasing items s on the Internet that have to be delivered by courier, so make sure you have the courier wait, while you open up the boxes and inspect the contents, before t you sign for them, or write “Subject to inspection”.

Note: I have not had the opportunity to test the “Subject to inspection”, card yet! Also most of the couriers are now using electronic signature devices as delivery dockets. So write “STI” after your signature. If you don't take these precautions, you could end up wearing the cost for some expensive item, or being put on a merry-go-round trying to get recompensed for something that was clearly not your fault.

Well since then, the Brisbane head office told me to contact the company head office, which I did. After I told the young lady at the company head office my story, she said she would get back to me in 24 hours. After waiting another couple days I rang back n to be told the young lady had become ill, and the young man I spoke to would check it out and get d back to me. I am still waiting for his call.

This company has been paid to deliver goods safely and in good condition. I will now contact the, department of fair trading. Don't hold your breath, too long for the end of this story! I think that the community should be educated in the finer points of courier deliveries, that no one told me about, until I received a smashed monitor. So even though the monitor was smashed by the courier, I am supposed to grin and bare the cost, because I signed for it. The state of the box did not indicate the damage done inside.

© 2010 Peter Daley

Thought I’d tell you about a site I’ve recently found out about myself. It’s called auction sniper, and its free to join. It allows you to bid on items at the last moment, (which I do anyway, but you have to have nerves of steel, and be in front of your computer when the auction ends).

After you join up, it is very simple to use, as auction sniper already knows what you are watching and/or bidding on. It is just a matter of ticking a box to say you want to use auction sniper on that item, and the highest price you are willing to go to, and they do the rest.

They bid in the last closing seconds of the auction, and if you are the highest bidder, you win, if not, it was more than you were willing to pay anyway. It stops bidding wars, which sometimes makes an item go up to more than it is worth ( I once sold a bit of lace for over $70.00, because two ladies were both determined to get it, and ego won over common sense!)

This was very good for me as a seller, but I certainly do not want to be in the same position as a buyer. I like to keep my hand close to my chest, and as there are a lot of people who do not put in the top amount they are willing to pay, when you bid at the last moment, they do not have enough time to re-bid, so often you get your item for less than you imagined.

It’s just like a live auction really, nobody knows what anybody else is willing to go to, but unlike a live auction, which can go on until all bidding stops, eBay has a set time limit, after which you can’t bid again, so it relies more on tactics.

Anyway, getting back to the benefits of using auction sniper, even if you enjoy the rush of the bidding process yourself, sometimes you just cannot be around when the auction ends, or it ends in the middle of the night, so it makes sense to use these facilities, and it is very economical, with the least cost being around 25cents an auction, and only if you win. You pay nothing if you lose. The max. you can pay is US$9.95, but that is for very expensive items, like cars etc. If you are interested, check it out at www.auctionsniper.com

When you log into eBay, you can put an item you are looking for, in a search box, and a list of relevant items appear, On the left hand side of your screen is another list with certain things you can tick, to make your search easier.

If you tick the “worldwide” box, many more items appear in you list of available items, giving you much more choice, and often, even taking into account the exchange rate, and higher postage costs, you will get a better deal by buying overseas, especially from America. I do not often buy from the UK, for some reason it usually works out much more expensive.

The same rules of safety apply when you are buying from overseas, always check FEEDBACK! If someone seems the least bit dodgy, do not buy from them, stick with the well established sellers, and read what other buyers are saying about them.

Sometimes sellers have a few negatives showing up, but when you see the volume of items they are selling, it is only natural they will have a few unhappy customers, you cannot please all of the people, all of the time!! Just use your judgement, do not send money by Western Union, stick with Paypal for overseas purchases, and have a go!

(c) 2007 Linda Land

Everybody has heard about buying and selling on eBay by now, through the media, and word of mouth. Many of you will have ventured into that area yourselves, but many of you will be resistant to the idea because of fear about being ripped off, losing your money etc. I have been buying and selling on eBay now for over three years, and in that time, I have only had one bad experience, in which I lost about $39.00 because I was dealing with a scammer, who never delivered the items I bought.

This person has been investigated by Paypal, and has probably been prosecuted, but unfortunately, Paypal was not able to retrieve any funds to reimburse the people who had been scammed. I was new to eBay at the time, and probably should not have been dealing with this person anyway. I have since learnt to look at the sellers feedback rating, and length of time as a dealer on eBay. If you only deal with well established sellers, with at least a 99% feedback score, you should have no trouble at all.

I have saved masses of money buying on eBay, buying such diverse items as edible coconut oil, Revolution cat flea treatment, underwear, electrical goods, DVDs, craft items, jewellery, make-up and perfumes etc. etc. I have bought new items, and pre-loved items, and vintage collectables.

No matter what you are looking for, chances are you will find it on eBay, and for a cheaper price than anywhere else. For instance, I have bought Swarovski crystal ornaments for a friend, from eBay in the USA, and saved almost half the price, and when the item in question costs over $600.00, that is a massive saving! I bought underwear last week at Myers. Silly me! This week I bought the same thing on eBay, for $12.00 less, including postage!

There are different ways to pay on eBay. If you are only buying in Australia, you can keep it really simple and send a money order. You can also pay by direct bank transfer, if you are happy to use internet banking, or you could do the same thing at your local bank. Some sellers don’t mind personal cheques, but you have to wait for your cheque to clear, at that end.

Because I buy mainly from America, I use a Paypal account, which is very secure, and also instant. Your goods are paid for as soon as you go through the very simple Paypal process, and you get your goods that much quicker. You wouldn’t want to buy from overseas with any other method, as it costs money to buy foreign currency from the bank or post office, so make sure, if you do purchase overseas, to check that the seller accepts Paypal payments.

You can also use Paypal to pay for your goods in Australia, if the seller accepts that, and many do.

I also sell on eBay, and it can be a good way to make a few pennies on the items you no longer need. Vintage items are in high demand, as are electrical goods. People even sell pre-loved clothes and shoes, in fact, there is not much you cannot list on eBay, you’ve all heard of the cheese and Marmite sandwich, which sold for something like $30,000, because it had an image of the virgin Mary and Jesus on it!

If you are going to sell on eBay, it is a bit of a learning curve, but they do try to make it as easy as possible, and once you have a go, you will probably become addicted! It can be very thrilling to watch your item being bid on, and wondering what the final outcome will be. There are fees to pay to eBay, for listing your items, and also a small percentage fee when you sell an item, which you have to take into account, and sometimes you may get very little for your goods, but if you are not using the item, or were going to throw, or give it away anyway, you have nothing to lose, and maybe a bit of fun, listing it on eBay

I want to emphasise again, if you are going to buy on eBay, make sure you ONLY buy from well established sellers, with good feedback, which is easy to do, as all feedback is very visible, including buyers comments about the transactions they have had with the seller. If you are going to purchase an expensive item, you can go through an escrow service, which means your payment stays with a third party, until you receive the goods, then the seller is paid.

Never take any notice of e-mails sent to your e-mail address, purporting to come from eBay, or Paypal, and saying you need to up-date your details, etc., these are scams! Ebay and Paypal will write to you from within your sign in account area themselves, so if you cannot see the message on your eBay site, do not open it! Never respond to anything you receive to your e-mail account, no matter what they are telling you has happened to your eBay or Paypal account, I get lots of scam emails all the time, but if they do not appear within my eBay and Paypal sites, I just delete them.

One other thing, if you do buy on eBay, please do not be too quick to leave negative feedback. Make sure the negative or neutral feedback is definitely warranted before going down that path. Sometimes people get sick, and can’t post their items out, or answer their e-mails as quickly, emergencies come up, or their computer goes on the blink, so give sellers the benefit of the doubt until you are absolutely sure of the facts, especially if their feedback up till now, has been good. A good feedback score means a lot to a seller, so communicate first, through e-mails, before leaving a negative, even if you are unhappy with your purchase, as a lot of things can be done to rectify a situation. Also, be a good buyer,and PAY-UP as soon as possible! First and foremost. Enjoy yourselves!

(c) 2007 Linda Land