| eBay is the most powerful online marketplace these | | | | In 1996, Omidyar and his partner Jeffrey Skoll |
| days. Many of us would wonder how eBay has | | | | thought of renaming AuctionWeb. Their first choice |
| become a giant in terms of Internet revenues. Of | | | | of company name was Echo Bay Technology Group, |
| course, every successful company has its humble | | | | but the domain was already registered to someone |
| beginnings. Lets take a look at how eBay has made | | | | else. So they though of cutting it short to eBay was |
| its way to the top. | | | | already hosting 800,000 auctions in one day in the |
| It all started in Pierre Omidyars living room, where | | | | summer of 1998. By the end of the year, Omidyar |
| eBays first office was established. Omidyar, which | | | | already earned $ 3 billion worth of personal stake in |
| has a French-Iranian descent, came to America and | | | | the company. |
| finished a computer science degree. He had wanted | | | | With the help of Meg Whitman, a Harvard graduate |
| to become a programmer at Macintosh, but luck | | | | with rich experience in brand-building and business |
| made him trod along a different road. In his effort to | | | | management, eBay established a vast community of |
| establish an online venue for person-to-person auction | | | | individuals and small-scale business from different |
| of collectible items, Omidyar built the site called | | | | parts of the world. eBay is not just about getting |
| AuctionWeb. | | | | ones goods sold. The website seeks to foster trust |
| Auction Web started as a part of Omidyars larger | | | | among and between its users; this is the top |
| personal site that talks about Ebola virus. AuctionWeb | | | | corporate goal of eBay. |
| was just a simple prototype, with Omidyar as the | | | | Still, despite the fact that eBay has helped millions of |
| sole proprietor. At that time, Omidyar was working | | | | people sell their items with just a few tweaks and |
| for General Magic, a mobile communications company. | | | | clicks, the company never strays away from its goal |
| The number of people visiting Omidyars auction site | | | | of building trust among and between its users from |
| grew more and more each day. He collected small | | | | all over the world. eBays priority is not just getting |
| fees on each sale, and he used the revenues to | | | | people to sell or buy products and services. The |
| expand the enterprising site. He never imagined that | | | | companys core interest is to build an online |
| his business will grow into a large-scale online auction | | | | community in which everyone the sellers and the |
| website. | | | | buyers can make the most out of what they have. |