Mercantilism and eBay eBay operates just like a modern day flee market and in many ways eBay operates similar to the old Mercantilism style of economic system.

Mercantilism and eBay

eBay operates just like a modern day flee market and in many ways eBay operates similar to the old Mercantilism style of economic system. Merchants gather together to buy and sell their products, but unlike the old market places these merchants now gather on-line. With eBay itself, being the chief merchant the owner of the village market so to speak.

"Mercantilism allowed the market to operate, but it kept the market under its control. The market was not allowed to respond freely to the laws of supply and demand" (Colander 50.) eBay does exactly that. They control the market. eBay is the head merchant, the owner of the market and the king of Internet Market.

Overview of eBay

eBay is the online marketplace for the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and businesses. This marketplace was founded in September 1995. Today, the eBay community includes 49.7 million registered users and is the most popular shopping site on the Internet when measured by total user minutes, according to Media Matrix. In 2000, the eBay community transacted more than 5 billion in annualized gross merchandise sales. On any given day, there are millions of items listed on eBay across thousands of categories. People come to eBay to buy and sell all kinds of practical, unique, and interesting items, such as automobiles, jewelry, musical instruments, cameras, computers, furniture, sporting goods, tickets, to name a few (eBay).

eBay's mission is to help almost anyone trade practically anything on Earth. eBay enables trade on a global basis. It features a variety of international sites, specialty sites, categories, and services that aim to provide users with the necessary tools for efficient online trading in an auction style and fixed price format. The eBay community profits from an environment...