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To: Danny who wrote (108667)	9/20/2000 4:33:54 PM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

Danny, its not a shock to me. When the going gets tough investors will buy more "used" stuff...that's why "used" car sales are expected to outperform "new" sales cars next year. >San Jose, Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc. said it expects to have $3 billion in sales in 2005 as the largest Internet auction site expands worldwide. Revenue is forecast to increase 50 percent annually during the next five years, the company said. EBay had $224.7 million in sales last year, more than double from $86.1 million in 1998. EBay plans to double the number of international markets where it operates by expanding into five more countries by the end of next year. The company, the only major online retailer to turn a profit, expects to be in 25 countries at the end of 2005. ``They're putting up some pretty good projections,'' said analyst John Spytek of Banc One Investment Advisors, which owned 574,000 EBay shares at the end of June. He was among more than 100 investors and analysts invited to an EBay analyst presentation today. EBay spokeswoman Kristin Seuell said the company had not presented profit forecasts at the meeting, which concludes this afternoon. Shares of San Jose, California-based EBay rose 11.31, or 17 percent, to 77 in late trading. Addressable Markets EBay expects gross margins, which measure the amount of profit made on each sale, to reach the mid-80 percent range. In the second quarter, its gross margin was 76 percent. The company also aims to have operating margins of 30 percent to 35 percent before 2005. EBay, founded in 1995, said the potential market for its service will increase to $2 trillion in 2005 from $1.6 trillion today. The market represents the total amount of goods and services that could be bought and sold on its sites. ``EBay is uniquely positioned to capitalize on an enormous market opportunity,'' said Brian Swette, chief operating officer, in a statement. The company still has growth potential in the U.S., where it estimates it has 2 percent of the market for trading collectible items. EBay also expects Half.com, a site where users sell items for a fixed price that is less than the suggested list price, will grow. EBay, which acquired Half.com for $312 million in stock in July, said the subsidiary is ``its first example'' of a move beyond auctions. EBay currently operates international sites in Canada, the U.K., Australia, Germany and Japan. The company said its estimates show the dollar value of what it sells is almost twice as much as the nearest competitors in all of its international operations except Japan. The company said it plans to expand into the top Internet markets outside of the U.S. The company has said it will begin operations in France early in the fourth quarter and that it also plans a site for Italy. Sep/20/2000 15:51 ET