eBay 2000 Annual Report Download - page 16

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initiatives focusing on education and expanded access to technology. eBay also solicits user suggestions for
worthwhile charities through the eBay website, where charity auctions and other unique promotions are held
to support such causes
Customer Support. eBay devotes signiÑcant resources to providing personalized, timely customer service
and support. eBay oÅers customer support on a seven day a week basis. Most customer support inquiries are
handled via email, with customer email inquiries typically being answered within 24 hours after submission. In
2000, eBay continued its relationship with SatMetrix (formerly known as Customer Cast), an online customer
satisfaction survey company, to help eBay understand and improve overall customer support. Overall customer
satisfaction with eBay's support services has remained extremely high. eBay also oÅers an online tutorial for
new eBay users. In 2000, eBay completed the relocation of all customer support personnel to its center in Salt
Lake City, Utah.
The Half.com Fixed-Price Format
Half.com oÅers a Ñxed-price, online website to buy and sell high quality, previously owned goods at
discounted prices. Unlike auctions, where the selling price is based on bidding, the seller Ñxes the price for
items at the time an item is listed.
Registration. While any visitor to Half.com can browse through the site and view the items listed for
sale, in order to buy an item or to list an item for sale, buyers and sellers must Ñrst register with Half.com. To
register, visitors must provide their name, address, phone number and email address. To become a buyer,
visitors must provide valid credit card information. To become a seller, visitors must have a valid credit card,
and, for some sellers, Half.com will require bank account information, tax identiÑcation number or a social
security number.
Buying on Half.com. Buying at Half.com is similar to the shopping experience at other leading on-line
retailers. Shoppers can easily search for speciÑc books, CDs, movies and video games or browse for items that
are categorized and surrounded with product descriptions, reviews and artwork. Just like any online retail
store, shoppers Ñll their shopping cart and check out with a credit card. Customers can also see real-time price
comparisons of new versions of the same item through an on-screen shopping agent that shows prices from
other Internet retailers.
Selling on Half.com. Sellers wishing to sell items on the Half.com site simply type in the ISBN or UPC
bar code number, select the item's condition, conÑrm the sale price, and the item is immediately listed.
Half.com automatically adds descriptions and pictures to each listing, so sellers do not need to do it
themselves. There are no fees to list items on Half.com.
Until recently, a Seller could enter any price they wished Ì as long as it was less than half-oÅ the original
list price. To increase the selection of items available to buy and sell, especially with newly released and hard-
to-Ñnd items, Half.com now allows sellers to list items above half price in each category
In an eÅort to help users price their products competitively, Half.com provides a suggested selling price.
The suggested selling price for an item is calculated as a percentage of the best on-line retail price for a new
copy of the item, depending on the quality of the item. The Half.com pricing recommendations as a
percentage of the best online retail price are as follows:
Condition Suggested Percentage
Like New 50%
Very Good 45%
Good 40%
Acceptable 35%
How transactions are completed. When a buyer selects an item for purchase, sellers are sent an email
notifying them to ship the item. Once the seller conÑrms that the item is being shipped, the buyer's credit card
is charged. At least once a month, sellers are sent a check from Half.com for all items sold during the previous
period, less Half.com's 15% commission. Sellers also receive an allowance for shipping costs.
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