eBay 2008 Annual Report Download - page 11

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listing, feature, subscription and final value fees paid by sellers, lead referral fees, transaction fees and advertising
fees.
eBay.com Platform
Our Marketplaces core platform, eBay.com, includes our traditional auction-style format and fixed-price
format and has a global presence in 39 markets. In 2008, our auction-style listing format accounted for approx-
imately 55% of our gross merchandise volume, or GMV, which is the total value of all successfully closed items
between users on our Marketplaces trading platform websites during the period, regardless of whether the buyer and
seller actually consummated the transaction (excluding Rent.com, Shopping.com and our classified websites). Our
fixed-price listing format accounted for the remaining 45% of our GMV in 2008.
Auction-Style Listing Format
Our traditional auction-style format allows a seller to select a minimum price for opening bids, with the option
to set a reserve price for the item, which is the minimum price at which the seller is willing to sell the item. A seller
with appropriate feedback ratings can also sell in a “Multiple Item Auction” format, which allows a seller to sell
multiple identical items to the highest bidders.
Fixed-Price Listing Format
Our fixed-price format allows buyers and sellers to accelerate the transaction process rather than waiting for
the auction period to expire. Sellers with appropriate feedback ratings are allowed to name a price at the time the
item is listed at which they would be willing to sell the item to a buyer. Our Half.com subsidiary also provides a
fixed-price, person-to-person online commerce platform that allows people to buy and sell new and previously
owned books, movies, music and games at discounted prices.
In addition, eBay Stores enables sellers to exhibit all of their listings in one place on our eBay platform and to
describe their respective businesses through customized pages. eBay Stores provides sellers with useful tools to
build, manage, promote and track their businesses. “Store Inventory Format” listings allow sellers to list items for a
minimum 30-day listing period at a lower insertion fee and higher final value fee than regular auction-style and
fixed-price listings. As of December 31, 2008, there were approximately 516,000 online storefronts established by
users in locations around the world.
Key Services for Buyers and Sellers
We have developed a number of features on our platforms in the areas of Trust and Safety (including our
Feedback Forum, Safe Harbor Program and Verified Rights Owner Program), Customer Support and Value-Added
Tools and Services, as well as Loyalty Programs (such as PowerSeller, top buyer and coupons and buyer rewards).
These features are designed to make users more comfortable dealing with unknown trading partners and completing
commercial transactions on the Internet.
Feedback Forum: Our Feedback Forum encourages users to provide feedback ratings and comments on other
users with whom they trade. Users’ profiles, which include these feedback ratings and comments, can be viewed by
any of our other users. Every registered user has a feedback profile that may contain compliments, criticisms and/or
other comments by users who have conducted business with that user. The Feedback Forum requires feedback to be
related to specific transactions and provides an easy tool for users to match specific transactions with the user names
of their trading partners. This information is recorded in a profile that includes a feedback rating for the user, with
feedback sorted according to whether the feedback has been provided over the past month, six months or twelve
months. Users who develop positive reputations have color-coded star symbols displayed next to their user names to
indicate the number of positive feedback ratings they have received. In addition to leaving an overall feedback
rating (positive, neutral or negative) for a seller, buyers also can leave anonymous Detailed Seller Ratings (“DSR”)
that cannot be viewed by the seller in four areas: item as described, communication, shipping time and shipping and
handling charges. The Feedback Forum has several automated features designed to detect and prevent certain forms
of abuse, such as a user leaving positive feedback about himself or herself through multiple accounts. As a
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