eBay 2005 Annual Report Download - page 6

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eBay Marketplaces
Our eBay Marketplaces enable online commerce in a variety of different formats, including the
traditional eBay.com format, the classifieds format and the comparison shopping format. Our significant eBay
classifieds formats include Kijiji, Marktplaats.nl, Rent.com, and mobile.de. Our marketplaces exist as online
commerce platforms that enable a global community of buyers and sellers to interact and trade with one
another. Our role is to create, maintain, and expand the functionality, safety, ease-of-use, and reliability of our
commerce platforms while, at the same time, supporting the growth and success of our community of users.
eBay.com Format Websites
Our eBay.com format websites (accessible at eBay.com, eBay.co.uk, and similar localized URLs in
over 20 countries) are fully automated, topically arranged, and easy-to-use online services that seek to provide
availability 24 hours a day, seven days a week, enabling sellers to list items for sale in either auction or fixed-
price formats, buyers to bid for and purchase items of interest, and all eBay users to browse through listed
items from any place in the world at any time. The platforms include software tools and services, available
either for no charge or for a fee, that allow buyers and sellers to trade with one another more easily and
efficiently. These tools and services include: Turbo Lister, eBay Blackthorne, ProStores, Selling Manager and
Selling Manager Pro, which help automate the selling process; Picture Services, which enables sellers to
include pictures in their listings; the Shipping Calculator, which makes it easier for buyers and sellers to
calculate shipping costs; Shipping Labels, which allows sellers to print U.S. Postal Service postage and UPS
labels; Shipment Tracking, which enables sellers to track their shipped packages; the eBay Toolbar, which
helps eBay users stay connected with eBay wherever they are on the Internet; eBay Sales Reports and eBay
Sales Reports Plus, which provide sales and fee information to sellers; eBay Market Research, which enables
sellers to analyze sales in categories across the site; Reviews and Guides, which assists shoppers in making
more informed choices; and PayPal, which facilitates the online exchange of funds. Whether provided by us or
our commercial partners, services such as PayPal and our trust and safety programs, user verification, buyer
protection and assurance programs, postage and other shipping services, vehicle inspections, escrow, authenti-
cation and appraisal services, are all intended to create a faster, easier and safer commerce environment.
Community
Our community of users is the largest and one of the most loyal online commerce communities on the
Internet. We have aggregated a significant number of buyers, sellers, and items listed for sale, which, in turn,
has resulted in a vibrant commerce environment. Our sellers generally enjoy high conversion rates and our
buyers enjoy an extensive selection of broadly priced goods and services. Key components of our community
philosophy are maintaining honest and open marketplaces and treating individual users with respect. We seek
to maintain the satisfaction and loyalty of our frequent buyers and sellers by offering a variety of community
and support features such as announcement and bulletin boards, customer support boards and personal pages,
as well as other topical or category-specific information exchanges. By applying a consistent set of policies and
fees to our community, we seek to create a level playing field that lets individuals and businesses of all types
and sizes access broad markets and compete equally.
Our success has been largely dependent upon the success of our community of confirmed registered users
on our eBay.com format websites, which has grown from approximately two million at the end of 1998 to more
than 135 million at the end of 2004 and to more than 181 million at December 31, 2005. In addition, at
December 31, 2005, we had approximately 72 million active users, compared to approximately 56 million at
the end of 2004. We define an active user as any user who bid on, bought, or listed an item during the prior
12-month period.
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