eBay

eBAY STORES OPENS FOR BUSINESS
Company Moves to Expand Buying and Selling Experience for its Users

San Jose, Calif., June 11, 2001 Ð eBay, the worldÕs online marketplace, today announced the launch of eBay Stores, customized shopping destinations on eBay that will significantly expand the way goods and services are traded on the site. For sellers, eBay Stores represents a supercharged way to reach eBayÕs community of nearly 30 million registered users. For buyers, eBay Stores will redefine the shopping experience, making it even easier and more exciting to participate in auction-style or fixed-price trading.

ÒeBay Stores is the next step in eBayÕs evolution,Ó said Meg Whitman, eBayÕs president and CEO. ÒOur sellers should realize increased sales as buyers become familiar with their stores. And our buyers will enjoy the added convenience of quickly being able to browse through the inventory of their favorite sellers.Ó

A select group of eBay Stores sellers are participating in a pilot program starting today. The majority of sellers in the pilot program are small business owners and individuals looking to expand their businesses including: Instrumentguy, a seller who specializes in musical instruments; Gemprof, a pearl importer; MoonBuz, seller of computers and electronics; and TexasBrit, a one-person company specializing in collectibles. In addition, larger companies such as IBM and Hard Rock CafŽ will set up shop at eBay Stores.

One of the pilot program sellers, Michael Pagliaro (instrumentguy) of Scarsdale, NY has sold musical equipment and instruments primarily on eBay since December 1998. ÒIÕm excited about the opportunity eBay Stores gives my business,Ó said Pagliaro. ÒThe new format should help attract more customers and keep them coming back to me for more products. My success really depends on creating loyalty and making it easy for buyers to shop.Ó

Beginning June 18, eBay Stores will be open to all qualified online sellers.

In the coming months, based in part on user feedback from the pilot program, enhancements will be made to eBay Stores, including a shopping cart feature, integration of Half.com listings, and additional customization options. Mid summer, the company will aggregate all Stores and launch an eBay Stores Hub, a convenient directory of eBay Stores, enabling buyers to browse and search among all stores or individual sellers. Grand opening activities will also take place once a larger community of sellers has had time to open their online ÒdoorsÓ for business.

Sellers can easily list items to eBay Stores directly through eBay or by using a number of software tools. The tools that currently support eBay Stores include: SellerÕs Assistant and Mister Lister, GoTo Auctions' ChannelFusion and FairMarketÕs MarketSelect. eBayÕs new partner, Microsoft bCentral, as well as Auctionworks and MyAuctionCo are also planning to build tools which support eBay Stores. These applications access eBayÕs commerce engine through eBayÕs API (Application Program Interface).

Pricing for sellers includes an initial monthly subscription fee of $9.95 and an initial fee of $.05 per item is charged to sellers. Final value fees range from 5 percent to 1.25 percent based on selling price. To encourage seller adoption eBay is offering a free trial period, charging only final value fees until September 1, 2001.

About eBay
eBay ( www.ebay.com ) is the worldÕs online trading community. Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful marketplace for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and small businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items listed on the site across thousands of categories. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with local sites in 60 markets in the United States and country-specific sites in the Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. With the acquisition of Half.com in July 2000, eBayÕs community now benefits from a marketplace combining traditional auction-style trading and Half.comÕs set-price trading.