eBay 2000 Annual Report Download - page 36

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‚ continue to enhance and expand our service to meet the changing requirements of our users;
‚ provide superior customer service;
‚ remain attractive to our commercial partners;
‚ respond to competitive developments; and
‚ attract, integrate, retain and motivate qualiÑed personnel.
We may be unable to accomplish one or more of these goals, which could cause our business to suÅer. In
addition, accomplishing one or more of these goals might be very expensive, which could harm our Ñnancial
results.
Our operating results may Öuctuate
Our operating results have varied on a quarterly basis during our operating history. Our operating results
may Öuctuate signiÑcantly as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside our control. Factors
that may aÅect our quarterly operating results include the following:
‚ our ability to retain an active user base, to attract new users who list items for sale and who purchase
items through our service and to maintain customer satisfaction;
‚ our ability to keep our website operational and to manage the number of items listed on our service;
‚ the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to the maintenance and
expansion of our business, operations and infrastructure;
‚ foreign, federal, state or local government regulation, including investigations prompted by items
improperly listed or sold by our users;
‚ the introduction of new sites, services and products by us or our competitors;
‚ volume, size, timing and completion rate of trades on our websites;
‚ consumer conÑdence in the security of transactions on our websites;
‚ our ability to upgrade and develop our systems and infrastructure to accommodate growth;
‚ technical diÇculties or service interruptions;
‚ our ability to attract new personnel in a timely and eÅective manner;
‚ our ability to retain key employees in both our online businesses and our acquisitions;
‚ our ability to successfully integrate and manage our acquisitions;
‚ our ability to successfully expand our product oÅerings involving Ñxed price trading;
‚ the ability of our land-based auction businesses to acquire high quality properties for auction;
‚ the timing, cost and availability of advertising in traditional media and on other websites and online
services;
‚ the timing of payments to us and of marketing and other expenses under existing and future contracts;
‚ consumer trends and popularity of some categories of collectible items;
‚ the success of our brand building and marketing campaigns;
‚ the level of use of the Internet and online services;
‚ increasing consumer acceptance of the Internet and other online services for commerce and, in
particular, the trading of products such as those listed on our websites; and
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