eBay 2009 Annual Report Download - page 11

We seek to create a global platform that provides individuals and businesses of all types and sizes with
access to broad markets. We have aggregated a significant number of buyers, sellers and items listed for sale,
which in turn has resulted in a vibrant online commerce environment. Our buyers enjoy an extensive selection of
goods and services. Key components of our community philosophy are maintaining honest and open
marketplaces and treating individual users with respect. We seek to maintain the satisfaction and loyalty of our
buyers and sellers by offering a variety of community and support features, such as announcement and bulletin
boards, customer support boards and personal pages, as well as other topical and category-specific information
exchanges.
Generally, we believe our Marketplaces platforms are more effective, relative to most available alternatives,
at addressing markets of scarce new goods, new items that are no longer in-season, end-of-life products and used
and vintage items. Our highest growth rates in gross merchandise volume (GMV) and sold items in recent
periods have been in our fixed-price listing format, primarily for new items that are no longer in-season. We
define GMV as the total value of all successfully closed items between users on eBay Marketplaces trading
platforms during the period, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction
(excluding Rent.com, Shopping.com and eBay’s classified websites). We offer our buyers additional ways to get
access to reduced-price products, including through our “Daily Deal” program where we offer multiple highly
discounted deals from sellers every day.
The large size of our community of active users has contributed significantly to our historical success. We
had approximately 90.1 million active users at the end of 2009, compared to approximately 87.7 million at the
end of 2008. We define an active user as any user who has bid on, bought or listed an item during the preceding
12-month period.
Marketplaces Platforms Overview
Our Marketplaces platforms seek to bring buyers and sellers together through fully automated and
easy-to-use online websites that are generally available throughout the world at any time. The platforms include
software tools and services, some available at no charge and others for a fee, that are intended to allow buyers
and sellers to trade with one another easily and efficiently. The Marketplaces platforms consist of our core online
commerce platform, eBay.com and its localized counterparts, and adjacent platforms consisting of our classifieds
websites, as well as StubHub, Shopping.com, Half.com, and Rent.com. Our Marketplaces platforms earn revenue
from, as the case may be, final value, listing, feature and subscription fees paid by sellers, lead referral fees,
transaction fees and advertising fees.
eBay.com Platform
Our Marketplaces core platform, eBay.com, includes our fixed-price format and our traditional auction-style
format and has localized websites in 24 countries, as well as a global presence with our partnerships and
investments in an additional 15 markets. In 2009, our fixed-price listing format accounted for approximately 53%
of our GMV, and our auction-style format accounted for the remaining 47% of GMV.
Fixed-Price Listing Format
Our fixed-price format allows buyers and sellers to close transactions in the way most shopping occurs: at a
pre-determined price. In this format, sellers can indicate they have multiple items available, including variations
of certain items in applicable categories, such as sizes and colors for clothing, shoes and accessories. Also, sellers
are able to signal that they would be willing to close the transaction at a lower price than advertised through the
“best offer” feature. Our Half.com subsidiary also provides a fixed-price, person-to-person online commerce
platform that allows people to buy and sell new and previously owned books, movies, music and games at
discounted prices.
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