eBay 2003 Annual Report Download - page 7

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December 31, 2003, eBay and our consolidated subsidiaries had websites directed toward the following
countries:
‚ Australia ‚ Hong Kong ‚ Sweden
‚ Austria ‚ Ireland ‚ Switzerland
‚ Belgium ‚ Italy ‚ Taiwan
‚ Canada ‚ New Zealand ‚ The Netherlands
‚ China ‚ Singapore ‚ United Kingdom
‚ France ‚ South Korea ‚ United States
‚ Germany ‚ Spain
In addition, through our equity investment in MercadoLibre, our geographic reach as of December 31,
2003, included the following countries:
‚ Argentina ‚ Columbia ‚ Uruguay
‚ Brazil ‚ Ecuador ‚ Venezuela
‚ Chile ‚ Mexico
Providing a Faster, Easier and Safer Trading Experience
Category Growth
Category growth both in number and size within the eBay marketplace is a key element in creating a
faster, easier, and safer online trading experience. In 2003, we made signiÑcant investments to grow
existing categories and to expand the number of categories in the eBay marketplace. By focusing
development, marketing and customer support eÅorts around major categories, we achieved greater than
27% year-over-year growth in gross merchandise sales in all of our major categories and increased the
number of global categories under which eBay users can list goods for sale, to more than 45,000 as of
December 31, 2003.
Major Categories
As of December 31, 2003, listings on eBay.com were organized under the following categories:
‚ Antiques ‚ Entertainment ‚ Stamps
‚ Art ‚ Everything Else ‚ Tickets
‚ Books ‚ Home ‚ Toys & Hobbies
‚ Business & Industrial ‚ Jewelry & Watches ‚ Travel
‚ Clothing, Shoes and Accessories ‚ Musical Instruments ‚ eBay Motors
‚ Coins ‚ Pottery & Glass ‚ Motorcycles
‚ Collectibles ‚ Real Estate ‚ Other Vehicles
‚ Computers & Electronics ‚ Specialty Services ‚ Passenger Vehicles
‚ Dolls & Bears ‚ Sports ‚ Parts & Accessories
Each major category has numerous subcategories, with the most popular items sold on eBay being
those that are relatively standardized, well represented with a photo, small and easily shipped and relatively
inexpensive.
Payment Services
Providing more eÇcient and eÅective payment methods is essential to creating a faster, easier and
safer online trading experience. Traditional payment methods such as checks, money orders and credit
cards processed through merchant accounts, all present various obstacles to the online trading experience,
including lengthy processing time, inconvenience and high costs. Our PayPal online payments solution
allows our community of eBay users, as well as users of other online businesses, to pay for their
transactions securely, easily and quickly.
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