Minnesota

Overview

Founded in 1995, eBay provides a global trading platform where practically anyone can trade practically anything.

The eBay community includes 83.9 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 on eBay. People come to the eBay marketplace to buy and sell items in thousands of categories including antiques and art, books, business & industrial equipment, cars & other vehicles, computers & electronics, and home furnishings.

eBay State Presence

• Registered Users - eBay has over 1.9 million registered users in the state of Minnesota.

• Top Sellers - More than 5,500 of those users qualify as Top Sellers. Top Sellers are members of the eBay community who sell over $1,000 worth of merchandise or services each month.

Issue/Policy Updates

• 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.

• E-Commerce / Tickets - The Minnesota State Legislature recently amended the Ticket Sale and Resale Act to allow eBay users to sell and bid on above face value event tickets online. This revised legislation has opened a previously closed marketplace to enable millions of eBay users in Minnesota to buy and sell event tickets at fair market value on eBay’s online marketplace.

Success Stories

• eBay Foundation - eBay Foundation^TM works to build thriving communities by supporting targeted initiatives to improve the economic and social well-being of our communities both on and offline.

• Charitable Giving - Since 2000, more than $110 million has been raised for charity from items sold on eBay.

Education and Enablement

• eBay University - eBay University held seminars in Minneapolis on May 14, 2005 to educate new and existing users on how to buy and sell items and build small businesses using the eBay marketplace.

• 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, Minnesota was represented by Joel Holstad, a farmer from Forest Lake. Joel purchases the equipment for his two family owned farms on eBay. Purchasing equipment on eBay saves Joel both time and money, and allows him the liberty of spending more time with his family and less with tractor salesmen. In 2007, Minnesota sent Tom Maschhoff who has been selling sporting goods on the site since 1999. Tom’s philosophy is that work should be fun and that happy consumers are fun.

• 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 Q1 2008 totaled 83.9 million.

• In Q1 2008, Gross Merchandise Volume, the value of all successfully closed listings on eBay world wide, was $16 billion. Total GMV for 2007 was more than $59 billion. Currently, more than $2,040 worth of merchandise is sold on eBay every second.

• At any given time, there are approximately 115.3 million listings worldwide, and approximately 6.9 million listings are added per day.

• As of December 2006, 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.