What your favourite Web sites say about you

By Rory Reid on 10 September 2007, 5:27pm

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EBAY
What's the story?
eBay was founded in September 1995 by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar. It was rumoured that Omidyar founded the site to help his fiancée trade Pez candy dispensers, though this was later denied in Adam Cohen's book The Perfect Store, published in 2002. The site was originally known as AuctionWeb but was renamed eBay in September 1997. Omidyar based the new name on that of his consulting firm -- Echo Bay Technology Group.

The first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer for $14.83 (£7.38). Omidyar was so astonished he contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood that the item was broken. When the buyer explained "I'm a collector of broken laser pointers," Omidyar knew he had created something big. He later renamed the site 'brokenlaserpointerBay'. Only joking.

eBay went public in 1998, making Omidyar and president Jeff Skoll instant billionaires. The site has since acquired various smaller Web companies including PayPal, Skype, Stumbleupon, Gumtree, shopping.com and even a stake in Craigslist, the popular classified advertisement site.

Did you know?
A student from Coventry University once sold a single cornflake for £1.20. A man from Arizona sold an air guitar for $5.50. A man once tried to sell the whole of New Zealand for a starting price of $0.01AUD. Our favourite auction, however, is the June 2005 sale of British radio DJ Tim Shaw's Lotus Esprit sports car. His wife listed it with a Buy It Now price of £0.50 after she heard him flirting with model Jodie Marsh on air. The car was sold within five minutes.

What eBay says about you
eBay users are entrepreneurs. They grew up watching the Antiques Road Show and were inspired by the fact people can make a living selling useless, broken and even potentially dangerous goods to gullible members of society.

eBay users have a language all of their own. 'New' means 'worn only once'. 'Improved' means 'didn't work the first time'. 'Reliable' means 'we made it work long enough to ship it' and 'futuristic' means 'there's no other reason why it looks the way it does'.