All You Need to Know About eBay (Infographic)
Written by, Raj
Updated November, 21, 2024
If you want to buy or sell something new, unique, and everything in between, eBay is the perfect place for you. The founder of eBay, Pierre Omidyar launched an eCommerce company back in 1995 with the goal of creating an online marketplace that will connect buyers and sellers. The company was then known as AuctionWeb, and the first item that was sold there was a broken laser pointer.
How did eBay happen?
Two years later, in 1997, the company changed its name from AuctionWeb to eBay. The founder and chairman of eBay initially wanted to name his company Echo Bay. Why? Because it sounded cool. Unfortunately, that name was already taken, so Pierre decided to shorten it, and that’s how eBay.com came to life. Over the years, the company only became more popular and acquired about 40 companies including Up4Sale, iBazar, Gumtree, StumbleUpon, and many others. eBay’s latest acquisition was Terapeak Inc. – a data tool company.
eBay Today
Nowadays, eBay is one of the most successful eCommerce companies with headquarters in San Jose, California, U.S. The public online shopping company employs about 12,600 people and has a revenue of US $8.97 billion. In 2017, eBay had 168 million active users with buyers from 190 different markets. The auction kingdom is home to one billion products, 81% of which are brand new, sold by 6.7 million sellers.
The best-selling items on eBay
You can buy almost anything you can think of on eBay. TVs, computers, office supplies, phones, fragrances, shoes, clothes – these are some of the most common items for sale. The most popular items have fast-selling times. For example, a pair of shoes is sold every 5 seconds, someone buys a tablet every 14 seconds, and about five collectibles are sold every second. However, these stats don’t come as a surprise as shoppers perform 3,000 searches per second on eBay on a daily basis.
Unusual items for sale on eBay
eBay is also the place where you can find some not-so-common items such as an unassembled snowman, a chunk of Mars, or unwanted Brussel sprouts. If you were looking to buy the town of Bridgeville in California – it has already been sold, twice. A ten-year-old girl from England tried to sell her grandmother on eBay, but thanks to the laws against human trafficking the auction was canceled. A man sold his life on eBay, and when we say his life we mean his house, all of his belongings, as well as an introduction to his friends and a trial at his job – all of this for $384,000. Is there anything you can’t find on eBay? Probably not.
Believe it or not, there’s still much more to know about eBay! Check out the infographic below to find out all the details associated with this eCommerce giant, and discover a plethora of interesting facts and stats.

Infographic sources:
Amazing facts & surprising myths about ecommerce sales on eBay