strategic-management

By 2009, eBay has attained customized local sites across four major areas of the
world in the following regional markets:
World Market Regional Markets
Asia Pacific Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan
Europe Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands,
Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
North America Canada, United States
Latin America Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay
and Venezuela, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Panama
Vision and Mission
What is eBay’s plan? Although eBay Inc. does not have a formal mission or vision statement,
the following statements can be found in eBay’s yearly annual reports.
We intend to achieve our mission of creating the world’s online marketplace by
improving and expanding across three main areas: categories, formats, and geographies
(2005 Annual Report)
We intend to achieve our mission of creating the world’s leading e-commerce
franchise by building upon our core Marketplaces business and building our adjacent
businesses. (2006 Annual Report)
We intend to continue to work toward our mission of creating the world’s leading
ecommerce franchise by investing in our core Marketplaces segment and continuing
to build our adjacent Marketplaces businesses. (2007 Annual Report)
eBay Inc. (EBAY)
EBay common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market exchange under the
ticker symbol EBAY. As of February 11, 2009, there were approximately 4,800 common
stock owners. To date, eBay has never paid a cash dividend on stock and specifically states
that there are no anticipated cash dividends forthcoming in the future. The stock price for
2005 through 2009 ranged from a high around $60 per share to a low near $10. Year-end
stock price values were $58.17 at 2004, $43.22 as of 2005, $30.07 by 2006, $33.19 in
2007, and 13.96 at the end of the calendar year 2008.
Business Segment I: Marketplaces, Platforms, and Services
EBay Inc.’s Marketplaces platforms and services segment includes eBay.com, StubHub,
Online Classifieds, Online Advertising, Shopping.com, and Rent.com.
eBay.com Platform
Buyers and sellers enjoy trading among a wide selection of goods and services in a secure,
trusted, and efficient commerce environment. Listings of items for sale have exceeded
140.0 million per day. The key to success is eBay’s user support, such as announcements,
bulletin boards, customer support, personal pages, and more. EBay’s Marketplaces platform
brings buyers and sellers together through fully automated online Web sites 24/7. As
of December 2008, approximately 516,000 online storefronts were listed in locations
across the globe. The Marketplaces platform is the core online commerce platform
eBay.com. Other marketplaces platforms consist of classified Web sites, StubHub,
Shopping.com, Half.com, and Rent.com.
In the Marketplaces platform, eBay.com, traditional auction-style or fixed-price
options are offered in 39 markets. Auction-style listing allows a seller to select a minimum
price for opening bids that stay open for a period of time. Alternatively, the fixed-price format
allows sellers to name a sale price upon listing instead of waiting for the auction
period to expire.
CASE 10 • EBAY INC. — 2009 101