eBay is an online auction site that facilitates the purchasing of items from individual vendors worldwide. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal, the online payment service that is most frequently utilized and accepted by eBay buyers and sellers. eBay has purchased several online shopping sites such as Half.com and Stubhub.com, but has also taken interest in other businesses such as Skype, a global communications venture which was acquired in 2005. http://www.ebayinc.com/history

eBay is based on a platform that allows any user to place items for sale or purchase items from private sellers. While there are several small business that operate on eBay, the founding idea was to allow anyone the opportunity to place their items up for bid. In addition to the auction style listings that are available, sellers can choose to accept best offers, or set a fixed price for their items. The feedback element on eBay is designed to ensure that transactions that occur are fair and each party ends the transaction satisfied with their sale or purchase. Each party can leave comments as to their experience and other users can use this to determine if they would like to do business with the user. http://www.ebay.com/

On April 14, 2009, eBay announced their intention to release Skype to the public as a separate business entity, with a planned initial public offering scheduled for the first half 2010. eBay said that the decision was made because of the current market conditions.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/technology/companies/15skype.html?

In 2009 eBay and Craigslist have been going through an ongoing dispute for ownership.http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10414395-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

On April 2, 2010 eBay announced the availability for iPad in conjunction with the U.S. debut of the device. eBay for iPad app allows shoppers to browse the vast selection of products available on eBay.http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?symbol=US:EBAY&feed=BW&date=20100402&id=11368874

The eBay website launched on September 3, 1995, and has since grown into the largest internet auction site and a powerhouse in online commerce. eBay grew out of a smaller scale auction company named AuctionWeb, founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar. He wrote the original code for eBay in 1995 and hosted it on his own website, which was originally set up as an informational site about ebola. Jeffrey Skoll became the company's president in 1996 and two years later in 1998, eBay went public

• Money.co.uk: Man Sued For Leaving Negative Feedback on ebay (October 24, 2008)

• MainStreet: Avoiding eBay? Here Are Five Sites You Need To Know About (July 1, 2008)

• Webware: eBay Opening Up Add-On Marketplace, APIs (June 15, 2008)

• ZDNet: eBay's early backer to leave board of directors (March 28, 2008)

• Fortune: Outraged Ebay Sellers Plot Strike Week (February 10, 2008)

• BBC News: eBay to ban negative seller views (February 5, 2008)

• Webware: Ebay Sellers to Be Banned From Criticizing Buyers (February 5, 2008)

• The New York Times: Sellers Give Negative Feedback on eBay Changes (January 29, 2008)

• CNN: EBay cutting listing fees, boosting commissions (January 29, 2008)

• Yahoo! Finance: Meg Whitman to Step Down as President and CEO of eBay (January 23, 2008)

• CNET: eBay CEO Meg Whitman to step down (January 23, 2008)

• Article: eBay Seeking New Properties for Expansion (January 20, 2008)

• CNN: "eBay Offers Chat with Mandela" (May 25, 2007, 2007)

• TheStreet.com: "The Businesses That eBay Built" (April 30, 2007, 2007)

• Reuters: EBay evacuates office as suspicious package found (November 14, 2007)

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• Google News: eBay