Word: auction
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Internet collapse continues, and even substantial firms like Amazon and Yahoo are struggling to stay ahead of it. But eBay has never had it better. Revenues topped $430 million last year, up 92% over 1999. The auction king now has 22.5 million registered users, a number that grew at a 125% annualized rate last quarter. And it's on track to do more than $6 billion in gross merchandise sales this year...
With stats like that and the stock up 51% since Jan. 1, the New Economy pundits are scratching their heads. How is it that a flea-market auction site has become the most successful company in cyberspace? And when so many other dotcoms are crashing and burning, will this high-tech highflyer come down to earth anytime soon...
...began when Josh Kopelman went online to find a copy of John Grisham's The Testament. He was about to spend $20 to buy it new on Amazon, but he decided to see if there were any copies listed on eBay. There were 12 up for auction, starting for as low as $1. And nobody was bidding on them...
...model is different. Kopelman saw something the folks at eBay were slow to appreciate--just how much demand there was for fixed-price deals. "There are people who love the thrill of bidding and winning," says Kopelman. "But there are other people who don't want to win an auction, they just want the CD." Kopelman's goal was to make it easier to sell an item than to throw it away. He's not there yet--garbage still doesn't need to be bubble-wrapped or taken to the post office. But closing a deal at Half.com requires...
...Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal was reporting widespread criticisms of the auction by its participants. Steve Bergstrom, president of Houston utility Dynegy, described the state's bid request as "price, volume, term. It doesn't allow much creativity," he said. "But I don't guess there's anyone at the state who would understand anything much more complicated than that...