First, I just wanted to share some history on online auctions and how it became such a large market. I heard this from a guest speaker in my Marketing class this past week on the discussion of entrepreneurial pursuits. His name was Paul Wetenhall and he was talking about how Ebay was launched. This is the story he told:
At the time, a man named Pierre Omidyar was with his girlfriend, who was an avid Pez collector (candy dispenser.) She was complaining how there was no way to trade/sell her Pez dispensers with anyone in a convenient way. So Pierre took this one idea of trading and selling Pez dispensers and broadened the idea into an online auction house. Hence, Ebay was born--a place where sellers and buyers could exchange goods in a safe and convenient manner.
Now, Ebay is a billion dollar company that has launched a brand new online market. From Ebay, many other companies decided to try their own hands at online auctions. These include: Quibids, OnlineAuction, Webbidz, uBid, and many more.
And it all started with a Pez collector wanting to broaden her collection.
Sources:
How awesome. Who would have known that ebay started from a Pez collection idea? No, not me. But Pierre Omidyar now knows, who's making some dough right now. I've tried to sell some stuff on their back in high school... wow I sound old. Yeah, so it didn't work out too well, but I'm sure many people are being successful selling some cooler items. I just bought a charger for my mom's laptop not too long ago, and soon I will buy a battery for my laptop. Darn HP batteries.
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