Founded in 1995, eBay Inc. connects hundreds of millions of people around the world every day, empowering them to explore new opportunities and innovate together. eBay Inc. does this by providing the Internet platforms of choice for global commerce, payments and communications. Since its inception, eBay Inc. has expanded to include some of the strongest brands in the world, including eBay, PayPal, Skype, Shopping.com, and others. eBay Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.

eBay offers four main ways to list items:

1. Standard Online Auction Format

The standard auction-style format is flexible and most of the auctions on eBay utilize this methodology. When you use it, you will be given many options, including giving buyers an opportunity to buy at a fixed price (Buy It Now), selling multiple identical items, and setting a hidden minimum-selling price (reserve price). This auction is probably the right format for you, unless you would rather offer your item only at your specified price, you are selling a vehicle, or you are selling real estate and want to advertise the property’s availability without running an auction for it. The auction’s duration can be specified and when the auction-style listing ends, the high bidder or bidders buy the item from the seller for the high bid.

2. Fixed Price Format

In the fixed price format, a seller lists a fixed price that he wants for the product and as soon as he finds a buyer who is willing to pay the price, he sells the product immediately. There is no bidding involved. You are offering one or more items for sale at a Buy It Now price. Many buyers prefer to buy in this fashion and the majority of these consumers prefer to utilize PayPal for payment. If you qualify, you can sell multiple identical items in one listing. You can also add the Best Offer feature to your Fixed Price listing. Best Offer allows buyers to suggest a price they are willing to pay for an item, and can be used with any listing that is not an auction-style listing. Best Offer is valuable if you selected Fixed Price to avoid low bids, but you are also willing to accept a little less money for your item. Potential buyers may submit only one Best Offer for an item, so you may receive offers close to your Fixed Price.

3. eBay Stores

An eBay Store allows individual sellers to showcase all of their items and tell potential buyers more about their business on their own customized pages. Buyers can learn more about sellers, their policies, and the items they sell in order to find great deals and make informed purchases. Many big-name retailers have eBay Stores and this methodology allows a buyer to compete right along side of them in this open marketplace. Based on data from an eBay Stores survey in June of 2005, 75% of eBay Stores sellers surveyed said that opening an eBay Store increased their sales.

4. Classified Advertisements

Many eBayer’s use classified ads to list items, services, or properties for sale in order to generate multiple leads. This format does not enable buyers and sellers to transact online through eBay nor is eBay feedback available. Interested buyers fill out a contact form and their information is sent to you. Please note that eBay’s privacy policy prohibits sharing the buyer’s information with third parties as well as use of the buyer’s information for any purpose other than communicating with the buyer about the item, unless expressly permitted to do so by the buyer. Failure to comply with this policy can result in the seller’s suspension or expulsion from the eBay community.

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