Massachusetts
Overview
Founded in 1995, eBay provides a global trading platform where practically anyone can trade practically anything.
The eBay community includes 85.7 million active registered users from around the world, making it the most popular shopping destination on the Internet.
Every day, there are millions of items listed for sale on eBay. People come to the eBay marketplace to buy and sell items in thousands of categories including antiques, art, books, business & industrial equipment, cars & other vehicles, computers & electronics, and home furnishings.
eBay State Presence
Registered Users - eBay has over 958,000 active registered users in the state of Massachusetts. Top Sellers - Over 6,700 of those users qualify as Top Sellers. Top Sellers are members of the eBay community who sell over $1,000 worth of merchandise and services each month.
Issue/Policy Updates
Tickets - eBay supports the elimination of restrictions capping the resale price of tickets to sports and entertainment events. Today, there are serious issues in the ticket resale market relating to fair business practice. With primary market ticket suppliers facing no serious competition, ticket prices are artificially driven up. These virtual monopolies ensure that ticket prices will remain inflated and that consumers will be left footing the bill . Allowing individuals to purchase tickets at fair market value in the secondary market results in increased competition in the ticket sales industry and better service to the event-going public. If done properly, the elimination of this barrier to e-commerce can result in increased competition, increased ticket availability, and better service to the event-going public. eBay supports provisions that expressly prohibit the ticket issuer to limits or restrict the after sale use of the ticket. Streamlined Sales Tax Project (“SSTP”) - The SSTP is an attempt by some state governments to require out-of-state businesses (including Internet sellers) to collect and remit sales taxes to the states of all their buyers. Even assuming the SSTP effectively streamlines some portions of sales tax collection, small businesses would be forced to collect, remit and account for sales tax to buyers in thousands of separate taxing jurisdictions across America, a prospect which is unrealistic to all but the largest companies. Changing state and federal law in this way would impose a costly and complex new burden on small businesses using the Internet.
Success Stories
The eBay Foundation - eBay FoundationTM works to build thriving communities by supporting targeted initiatives to improve the economic and social well-being of our communities both on and offline. Over the past two years, eBay Foundation has proudly provided support to Facing History and Ourselves in Brookline, MA, which engages students and teachers in thoughtful examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism in order to develop a more human society. Charitable Giving - Since 2000, more than $110 million has been raised for charity from items sold on eBay.
Education and Enablement
US of eBay -Every year eBay holds the United States of eBay, a small business summit featuring representatives from all across the country. These small business owners come to Washington D.C. to share their stories with their members of Congress. In 2004, Massachusetts was represented by Leigh Bader, owner of Pine Oaks Golf Course in South Easton. In the late 1990s, Leigh explored making a Web site for his pro shop but found it to be cost prohibitive. Instead, Leigh decided to list his products on eBay, a move that has given his business access to a much larger marketplace. Today, Pine Oaks Golf Course boasts one of the largest and most successful pro shops in the nation. In 2007, Massachusetts was represented by Traci and Jocelyn Myhrum of Provincetown. The two operate Massbuckles, which specializes in belt buckles and accessories. eBay Main Street - On June 13, 2007, eBay held a Main Street Meeting in Boston, MA. eBay Community Members from the Boston area learned about the public policy issues affecting their businesses and visited the state legislature to meet with elected representatives. eBay Live! Conference Program - Every year eBay holds a community conference that brings together people throughout the eBay community. In 2008, more than 15,000 buyers, sellers, and eBay employees will converge on Chicago June 19-21 for three days of classes, panels and exhibits aimed at creating a better online marketplace and more successful users.
Corporate Facts
Confirmed active registered users worldwide at the end of Q3 2008 totaled 85.7 million. In Q3 2008, Gross Merchandise Volume, the value of all successfully closed listings on eBay worldwide, was $14.3 billion. Total GMV for 2007 was more than $59 billion. Currently, more than $1,995 worth of merchandise is sold on eBay every second. At any given time, there are more than 112.3 million listings on eBay worldwide, and approximately 7.1 million listings are added per day. As of December 2007, eBay had approximately 15,000 employees. Over 768,000 professional sellers in the U.S. use eBay as a primary or secondary source of income. Another 1.5 million individuals sell on eBay to supplement their incomes. Thousands of additional businesses save money by purchasing equipment and supplies on eBay.
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