Ebay Case Study: Assess how the characteristics of the digital media and the Internet together with strategic decisions taken by its management have supported eBay's continued growth.

ContentsA Brief History of the Growth of eBay3Characteristics of the digital media and the Internet4Strategies for growth5Partnerships and Acquisitions5Payment Options7The Localised Marketplace7Increased Categories8Reduction in fees8Conclusion8Appendices9Appendix A9Appendix B9Bibliography10 Assess how the characteristics of the digital media and the Internet together with strategic decisions taken by its management have supported eBay's continued growth.

A Brief History of the Growth of eBayOne of the world's most famous dot-coms was founded as AuctionWeb in San Jose, California, on September 3, 1995, by French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar. This was 1995 when the World Wide Web or 'information superhighway' as it was known, was just a few years old. On September 12, Pierre Omidyar posts a list of the non-computer related items that are available on his new Auctions Website to the misc.forsale.non-computer newsgroup; just nineteen items which include a Marky Mark's signed underwear and a Yamaha motorcycle.

By the following February, the website had become a popular place with 10,000 registered users.

The satellite office campus of eBay in the North F...

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eBay Logo

"The site has become more popular than I ever expected", Pierre posted on the website's forum, "and I began to realise this was indeed a grand experiment in Internet commerce". (Peel, 2006)Having been on an upward curve, 1997 was a rollercoaster year. The one-millionth item was sold, and AuctionWeb officially changed its name to eBay (short for Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm).

eBay went public on September 21, 1998, and Omidyar became an instant billionaire. Currently, eBay comprises for three main businesses, or as the previous CEO Whitman calls 'the power of three' strategy:1. The eBay Marketplace: eBay describes this as "online platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and small businesses" where "anyone can buy anything."2. PayPal: Acquired by eBay in 2002, PayPal aims to "create a new global standard for...