eBay completes 20 years: Here’s what you probably didn’t know
Shopping websites like eBay, Flipkart, Amazon, Jabong etc have changed the selling and buying behaviour of consumers. This has given a boost to the e-commerce sector in India. Established on September 3, 1995, eBay has come a long way and expanded its business horizon.
Here are some interesting facts you probably didn’t know about eBay:
Auction Web then, now eBay
According to The Telegraph, eBay was originally known as Auction Web and was established by Pierre Omidyar.
(Image credit: The Telegraph)
Laser pointer on sale
Priced at $14.83, the laser pointer was the first product to go on sale on eBay. The interesting part of this was that the laser was unusable, as it was a broken laser pointer. By displaying the laser pointer for sale, eBay found out that there’s even a particular group of buyers who love to collect unsuable products such as broken laser pointers.
Trademark
Pierre Omidyar emphasised on adding an‘e’ in the brand name in the later stages of business. However, his first registration of naming the website as echobay.com got rejected. Unfortunately, there already existed a mining company under the name ‘Echo Bay’. Due to this reason, the brand name was shortened to eBay.
Most expensive product sold on eBay
Designed by Frank Mulder, a 405-foot yacht featuring a helipad and movie theatre, was sold on eBay for $168million.
New species named on eBay
A report by the Telegraph stated that a Montana-based seller put up a sea urchin from the Pacific ocean on eBay in 2006, but it was of a type nobody had seen before. Simon Coppard of the Natural History Museum realised the urchin had been mis-labelled as an already discovered species. He gave it the name Coelopleurus exquisitus.
800 million items are on eBay at the same time
Unbelievable, but true! Around 800 million items are displayed on eBay at the same time.
eBay helped two soul mates meet
Media reports state that a British man and woman were married in 2007 via eBay. David Jones purchased a pair of ornamental birds on the website but apparently fell in love over the internet with the seller - Cheryl Pipes - before they even met.
