Ebay

eBay (EBay Inc.) manages an online auction and shopping website, where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide. eBay has become a popular marketing channel for small businesses and has helped spawn thousands of small businesses that sell products and services via eBay, or assist others in selling products online through the service.

Items and services available via eBay

Millions of collectibles, appliances, computers, furniture, equipment, vehicles, and other miscellaneous items are listed, bought, and sold daily by consumers and businesses. Some items are rare and valuable, while many others are dusty gizmos that would have been discarded if not for the thousands of eager bidders worldwide, proving that if one has a big enough market, one will find someone willing to buy anything. Anything can be sold as long as it is not illegal or on the eBay banned list. Services and intangables can be sold too. It is fair to say that eBay has revolutionized the collectibles market by bringing together buyers and sellers internationally in a huge, never-ending yard sale and auction. Large international companies sell their newest products and offer services on eBay using competitive auctions and fixed-priced storefronts. Regional searches of the database make shipping slightly more rapid or cheaper. Software developers can create applications that integrate with eBay through the eBay API by joining the eBay Developers Program. As of June 2005, there were over 15,000 members in the eBay Developers Program, comprising a broad range of companies creating software applications to support eBay buyers and sellers as well as eBay Affiliates.

How eBay makes money: Fees

eBay generates revenue from a number of fees. There are fees to list a product and fees when the product sells. Fees tend to be very small, only a few cents per option, in some cases. There is also a "listing fee" that represents a small percentage of the transaction. In addition, eBay now owns the PayPal payment system which has fees of its own. Since PayPal is ideal for use with eBay itself these fees often come into play as well.

The fees are generally hidden from the buyers: the sellers actually pay them and deal with them. While some sellers resent the fees, others don't mind. For very small sellers eBay provides many services that save them money.

Suggestions for how Small Businesses can purchase products and services via eBay

(If you are experienced in purchasing items for your small business using eBay, please share advice regarding how others should go about doing this.)

Suggestions for how Small Businesses can sell products and services via eBay

(If you are experienced in selling items for your small business using eBay, please share advice here regarding how others should go about doing this.)

Source

Some of the original content in this entry was from this entry on Wikipedia.