When you think of a true Internet success story, eBay Inc., incorporated in May 1996, operates a marketplace in which anyone, anywhere, can buy or sell practically anything. According to their financial profile in Yahoo.com: "The Company has developed a Web-based marketplace in which a community of buyers and sellers are brought together to browse, buy and sell various items. Through eBay's PayPal service, it enables any business or consumer with e-mail to send and receive online payments securely, conveniently and cost-effectively.".
eBay Inc. was formed as a sole proprietorship in September 1995, and was incorporated in California in May 1996. In April 1998, it was reincorporated in Delaware and in September 1998 the company completed the initial public offering of their common stock. The main executive offices are located at 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, California, 95125, and the telephone number is (408) 376-7400. eBay operates one of the Internet's most popular e-commerce destinations and a well known online payments company (PayPal).
Sales are expected to climb 69% in 2003, and to gain about 50% annually through 2005, on organic growth in registered users, listings and gross merchandise sales, coupled with the October 2002 acquisition of online payments company PayPal and the related closure of eBay's payment operation, Billpoint. The international operation contributed 38% of 2003 second quarter online revenues, and is expected to continue to contribute significantly for the remainder of the year with the additional listing and transaction fees, and to account for an increasing percentage of revenues. Continued expansion in the fixed-price market with the Buy It Now feature, and Half.com platform has also aided revenue growth. .
eBay has increasingly focused on its online businesses. In August 2002, it sold fine art auctioneer Butterfields for an undisclosed amount. In October 2002, it acquired PayPal for $1.
