5 billion in stock. .
Business Summary.
According to the Standards & Poor financial report: "eBay operates the world's most popular online trading community at eBay.com. As of June 2003, it had 75.3 million confirmed registered users (up from 49.7 million a year earlier). In the 2003 second quarter, the company hosted 225.0 million listings (up from 145.2 million in the prior year quarter). Items are listed in thousands of specific categories, the primary ones of which are Antiques; Art; Books; Business & Industrial; Clothing, Shoes & Accessories; Coins; Collectibles; Dolls & Bears; Electronics & Computers; Entertainment; Home; Jewelry & Watches; Musical Instruments; Pottery & Glass; Real Estate; Specialty Services; Sports; Stamps; Tickets; Toys & Hobbies; Travel and Everything Else. Specialty sites include eBay Motors, eBay Stores, Half.com by eBay (fixed pricing), and PayPal (electronic payment.)".
The eBay service was introduced in September 1995, to establish an efficient marketplace for individuals to trade goods with one another. The online service lets users list items for sale, browse through listed items using a 24-hour-a-day service organized by topics, and bid on items of interest. Users can search online auction listings for specific items by category, key word, seller name and auction status (such as whether the auction recently began or is about to end).
The company seeks to build on its leading position in online trading by broadening its trading platform (across new product categories and geographies), developing global markets, enhancing features and functionality (including eBay Stores and payment offerings), and fostering customer affinity. .
eBay operates country-specific Web sites for countries including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the U.