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Technology Stocks : eBay - Superb Internet Business Model

EBAY 83.82

+3.7%

Nov 7 9:30 AM EST

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To: AJ Berger who wrote (7184)	2/26/2003 11:18:30 AM
From: sherlockgerlach	Read Replies (1) of 7772

I am an avid ebay seller since '98. Just got offered their Power Seller status in an email. Ebayer's are a sort of cult and the stock is exhibiting this same type of loyalty. But it is not like the early days. Few of the little facts about ebay: 1. It is one of the largest distributors of pornography in the country. (Their dirty little secret.) Much of their hidden business (requires adult verification) borders on illegal. In the early years I wrote their legal department about my concerns about some of this material being illegal. Their response was to close down this part of their business from public view. In order to access this thriving part of their business, you have to agree to a full page of disclaimers including you will not hold ebay liable for its content, that you will immediately exit if you are ever offended, that you find nothing objectionable by "graphic visual depictions of sexual activity", etc.. . I have never seen how much of their revenue derives from this part of their business. 2. They have continued to consistently raise rates . . . this year reserve price went up to 1% versus a flat fee .. . It used to be a ridiculously cheap auction venue. Now, you don't get as good of prices because of the sheer amount of quantity offered. 3. You can now find better deals, especially on electronics, by using a search engine like google . . 4. Shill bidding (the practice of having an associate bid up the price of your auction) is rampant and ebay shows no desire to curb it. If you watch auction action you will see that often times a bidder with zero feedback, who has registered in the past few days, will bid a high price for an item. Those new to ebay will often get caught up in the bidding and pay more than they should. If this practice is ever exposed, it would damage the integrity of the bidding process. 5. Sniping, the use of programs to place your bid at the last minute is a real problem for ebay. Several websites offer this feature and it takes revenue away from ebay. Yet the company cannot afford to outlaw it yet, although they are thinking about it. Most analysts with the stock only bid on ebay and dont't know the view from the sellers position.

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