eBay Soars to New Heights Secures Position as the Second Most Popular Site on the Internet
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- eBay(TM) (Nasdaq: EBAY)
(www.ebay.com), the world's leading person-to-person online trading community,
today announced that it is ranked the second most popular site on the
Internet, when measured by total user minutes per month (696 million total
user minutes), according to Media Metrix December 1998 Web report.
As a result of the close relationship eBay has built with its community,
the site provides high user satisfaction and continues to attract large
numbers of new registered users.
"My experience on eBay has been fraud-free," said Bill Bryant of San Jose,
Calif., an avid collector of aviation memorabilia. "In the past six months I
have bought over 100 items on eBay and have had only very positive experiences
with sellers. It's pretty clear to me that the issue of fraud between buyers
and sellers has been blown way out of proportion in recent weeks and does not
reflect the majority of eBay user experiences."
Shanna and Wayne Bumbaca of Sheridan, Wyo., with the help of a full-time
employee, average 1,000 transactions on eBay each week. They started trading
on eBay in June 1997 and now earn their living entirely by selling artwork,
mainly loose and framed prints, on eBay.
"My experience on eBay has been amazing," said Shanna. "All eBay users
that we have conducted business with have been very honest. eBay certainly
keeps us busy, but we have a lot of fun with it."
"My business has tripled this past year because of eBay," said Jon
Bertolino, owner of Toizrit Inc. in Elgin, Ill. He sells collectible toys and
vintage writing instruments, such as diecast Hot Wheels from the 1960s through
the 1970s and Parker pens from the 1920s through the 1950s, on eBay. "I am
amazed with the new forum that eBay has provided for my business and ecstatic
with the success that I have found on the site. The quality of buyers on eBay
continues to impress me."
Due to the tremendous growth of his sales on eBay, Jon has eliminated most
of his print advertising and direct mailings to buyers. "eBay is just
wonderful. Not only is my business booming, but also I have more time to
focus on my personal life. Instead of continuous phone calls from buyers, I
just post a picture and description on eBay, and the check arrives in the
mail."
According to the Media Metrix report, eBay is the number three shopping
site and the 20th most visited site on the Internet, when measured by percent
reach. eBay's consolidated reach is 9.9 percent, representing approximately
5.6 million unique viewers.
"From October to December 1998, eBay's community grew from 1.2 million
registered users to 2.1 million registered users, an increase of 72%. Over
three years, eBay's exponential growth is the equivalent of growing from a
small village into a major metropolitan area roughly the size of San
Francisco, Oakland and San Jose combined," said eBay president and CEO Meg
Whitman. "eBay offers the broadest selection of items for sale anywhere on
the Internet -- and quite possibly in the world -- with more than 1.4
million items up for auction each day in more than 1000 categories. In fact,
every minute of every day more than 150 new items are listed, more than 500
bids are placed, and seven new people register on eBay."
While less than 1/100 of one percent of the millions of transactions
conducted on eBay have a reported fraud complaint, eBay aggressively works to
prevent fraud and has recently instituted and intensified a number of
initiatives to eliminate negative experiences on the site. eBay's
comprehensive SafeHarbor(TM) program was established to promote safe online
trading as well as protect the community from fraud, the sale of illegal or
infringing materials and people that would misuse the system.
About eBay
eBay (www.ebay.com), the world's personal trading communitya, pioneered
person-to-person online trading. Founded in 1995, eBay has developed an
efficient and entertaining trading site on the Web that is available 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. eBay has more than two million registered users.
Currently, there are more than 1.4 million items listed for sale. More than
200,000 items are added daily in more than 1,000 categories, including:
antiques; books, movies and music; coins and stamps; collectibles; computers;
dolls and figures; jewelry and gemstones; photo and electronics; pottery and
glass; sports memorabilia; and toys.
Top Ten Sites By Usage
Ranking Company Total Minutes Per Month (000)
1 Yahoo 1610580
2 eBay 695710
3 HotMail 547779
4 MSN 544374
5 AOL 449255
6 Netscape 431681
7 Excite 418633
8 Geocities 316916
9 Microsoft 251093
10 BlueMountainArts 211818
Source: Media Metrix December 1998 Web Report
SOURCE eBay
CO: eBay; Media Metrix
ST: California
IN: MLM CPR
SU:
01/29/99 08:00 EST prnewswire.com |
