eBay – History, Brand Value, and Brand Strategy

The brand eBay is one of the world’s most notable multinational eCommerce companies. Today, the presence of eBay appears to be never-ending since it has consistently been there for some personal computer clients. 

The brand eBay facilitates two major types of business transactions – the first one is Business to Business transactions (B2B), and the second one is Business to Customer (B2C) transactions.

eBay History

The idea started with Pierre Omidyar, a French-born Iranian-American computer programmer from San Jose, California. From his room, he initiated the idea that eBay would serve as a marketplace for the sale of products and services across the world. 

In September 1995, the brand eBay idea was implemented, and soon it bloomed, developed, and, with the assistance of a few companions, turned into a global sensation. 

  • Originally Called Auction Web, E Bay Was Founded by Omidyar on Labor Day Weekend in 1995.

The initial days

Founder of eBay Pierre Omidyar and his companion Jeff Skoll pulled in another colleague named Meg Whitman, a Harvard business college graduate and a specialist in marketing, to unite to build up a plan of action in the late 1980s. 

Whitman, in the process, became eBay’s leader and CEO. In just three years, eBay had about 30 employees, had created an early income of almost USD 6 million, and served a large portion of a million guests and clients. 

Seven months after eBay opened up to the world, Pierre and Jeff were one of the richest people in the world.

The planning

EBay’s business model was to develop and provide a marketplace where individuals keen on selling something could list their products and make them available for sale. 

At that point, people keen on purchasing such things could browse through the listing on eBay in a free and completely mechanized way. 

Classifications sorted listed things, and the dealer could list a cost for their thing or item, create online bidding, and offer the item to the most noteworthy bidder toward the finish of a stipulated time frame.

Present time

By 2008, eBay had made a name for itself in the global market and had crossed millions of registered users on its website. They already have nearly 16,000 employees working for the brand and have earned USD 8 billion.

The brand eBay integrated the payment domain PayPal, which empowered clients worldwide to receive and send payments without any bank troubles or delays in payments.

eBay Brand Value

Towards the end of 2017, eBay had 168 million dynamic purchasers per year, an expansion from 90 million purchasers in 2010. Almost 66% of transactions are currently global transactions.

The rise in brand value

After the launch of the brand eBay in 1997, it had 112 million registered clients by 2012. As per reports published in recent years, it has been estimated that eBay has sold products worth USD 60 billion. The total revenue generated by the brand stood at a whopping USD 8.7 billion. 

Most of eBay’s income came from the product listing and commission earned from successful transactions.

While it is most popular for swaps, 80% of UK deals coming through new things have a larger part with a fixed cost. 

The present impact

Today over 60% of listings are done through eBay listing tools which have helped consumers to create, manage and promote their listings.

Misrepresentation is a huge hazard factor for eBay. BBC announced that around 1 out of 10,000 exchanges inside the UK were fake; however, by scaling this up over the number of exchanges, this is a noteworthy volume.

eBay Brand Strategies

1 . The product strategy of eBay

The brand eBay is an online stage for individuals to sell and purchase products with a solid worldwide reach. eBay commenced with the bartering model, and the brand has come up with a modified business model in the long run.

The eBay website and the application are the items in its advertising model. eBay’s Money Back Guarantee program ensures that once a product is returned, the customer will get his/her money back.

eBay is available and accessible on all platforms, including workstations, mobiles, tablets, etc. 

There is a huge number of items listed for deals on eBay, and this shows the variety and the number of exchanges on eBay. 

PayPal became a separate brand in the year 2015, which was previously under eBay.

2 . The price strategy of eBay

eBay offers a video scope of valued things as the assortment increasingly pulls several clients into the site. The business income from the deals isn’t a salary for eBay as eBay is a site to encourage exchange. 

eBay charges the merchant an expense for setting up the item, and afterward, on the off chance that it is sold, another charge on that is charged. These expense demands are the essential wellspring of pay for eBay. 

The expense charged isn’t high; this system initiates an ever-increasing number of individuals to set up their things on eBay, as the number of exchanges is an immediate driver for the benefit of eBay. The standard expense charge when the thing is sold is 4% of the hold value; this expense can go just as high as a hundred dollars.

3 . The distribution strategy

The brand eBay has a solid presence in eCommerce and has established itself in more than 100 nations worldwide. eBay is a website, and the website itself is a marketplace. eBay has more than 22 localized websites for various global markets.

The stage is measured so that purchasers can utilize the economies of scale. eBay additionally considers clients who make purchases and sell products across nations. They contribute to the majority of the global sales for the brand. 

The clients on eBay have many options to choose from when it comes to listing their products and buying them. 

These options have made eBay particularly available to anyone who wants to set up a business model integrated with eCommerce.

4 . The marketing strategy

The brand eBay has used many advertising forms and formats to advertise itself. eBay utilizes advertising media like television, print, online advertisements, announcements, and many more to create brand awareness among people.

eBay went for some modifications in its logo in the year 2012. The logo did not undergo any major changes. However, there were some marginal changes to satisfy the demands and the suggestions from the clients. The first logo was not satisfactory, and later, it was changed to the present brand logo. 

eBay positions itself as the one-stop website for selling offbeat, vintage products and other remotely available products.

eBay has enabled and promoted online payment domains and platforms with the goal that an ever-increasing number of clients could stick to the online market and make seamless purchases without any hurdles. 

It has created a virtual shop for customers worldwide and ships products domestically and internationally.

  • Mark Fraser Purchased the First Item that E Bay Founder Pierre Omidyar Listed on The Site in 1995: A Broken Laser Pointer

Conclusion

eBay has been the pioneer in the eCommerce world. It has revolutionized how we buy things today and popularised the online market. It has challenged the traditional barter system of selling and buying and converted the internet platform into a virtual market. 

In spite of the tough competition in the market these days due to the rise of brands such as Amazon, eBay has still managed to hold its spot and continues to be successful in its journey.

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