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Technology Stocks : eBay - Superb Internet Business Model -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Urlman who wrote (7593)	10/21/2007 10:35:50 AM
From: Glenn Petersen	Respond to of 7772

Good for Google. About 25 year ago, I used to frequent a Salvation Army store on Chicago's southwest side that had a huge selection of used books that turned over rather quickly. Almost each visit yielded an unexpected discovery. I go the satisfaction of finding a bargain and felt good because I was supporting a good service organization. We love eBay but we feel that it's easy to get lost in a sea of junk on eBay. We wanted to create an online experience that was much closer to the shopping experience in our stores then eBay could provide. When you go into a thrift store you don't normally know what you're going to leave with, you go into to browse, look around, find something that jumps out at you. eBay, because of the sheer volume of merchandise, doesn't lend itself to this browsing experience. Our site allows people not only to view items in specific categories, but also encourages them to browse a window display, we find that this method of shopping works well for our customers as they often find things they didn't even know they were looking for. We also wanted a site that would not only bring in revenue but also promotes our mission, and encourage people to get involved not just by shopping but by volunteering and donating as well. Customers can fill out requests for furniture pickups, get store location information and even sign up to volunteer at their favorite location. I think for other non-profits, MissionFish is a great idea, but because we encourage our customers to donate their items instead of selling them themselves, we don't really promote it.