Our History

Pierre hires employee #1, Chris Agarpao, to help coordinate the fast-growing company’s online operations. Over twenty years later, Chris is still an eBay employee.

Pierre quits his day job to devote himself fulltime to his innovative auction website and brings Jeff Skoll on board as President.

Beanie Babies, Ty Warner’s line of cuddly stuffed animals, take the world by storm. $500 million worth are sold on eBay alone, representing more than 6% of our total volume.

Business leader Meg Whitman joins as President and CEO.

The eBay Foundation becomes the first corporate foundation to be endowed with pre-IPO stock. Since then, it has given over $76 million to nonprofit organizations worldwide.

We hold our first eBay University course, teaching users how to become master sellers. The format proves to be a huge success, and eBay University classes continue to be offered around the world today.

We introduce a new fixed-price feature, "Buy It Now," which allows users to buy an item instantly at a set price.

The oldest known pair of Levi’s sells on eBay for more than $46,000 to Levi Strauss & Co., making fashion history.

A Gulfstream jet sells for $4.9 million, setting a new price record for eBay.

Anaheim, California hosts the first eBay Live! Conference, bringing together sellers, buyers, journalists, developers, and lovers of all things eBay for action-packed days of learning and networking. 

eBay transactions become even more secure as PayPal’s Buyer Protection services are implemented for all transactions on the site.

We launch the Dream Big, Save Big campaign to support small business buying on eBay.

Jeff Jordan, Senior Vice President and general manager of eBay North America, is named President of PayPal. 

We launch a local classified advertising site called Kijiji. Named for the Swahili word for “village,” Kijiji connects users with their neighbors in search of goods and services in almost a dozen countries. Kijiji is now a part of eBay Classifieds.

We celebrate our 10^th birthday!

We complete our acquisition of pioneering Internet communications company Skype. In 2009, we sell Skype to a group of investors while retaining a 30% stake in the company.

A Frank Mulder designed gigayacht becomes the most expensive item ever sold on eBay, auctioning off for $168 million, according to news reports.

Rajiv Dutta is the new President of PayPal. He previously served as President of Skype.

We purchase StubHub and become the world's largest online marketplace for tickets.

PayPal’s Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Scott Thompson, is named President.

The PayPal campus becomes the greenest building in San Jose with the opening of the city’s first LEED® Gold-certified building. At the time of opening, the campus was also home to San Jose’s largest commercial solar installation to date.

We bring in the leading web-based payment platform Bill Me Later, offering buyers even greater flexibility in their online purchasing. Soon after, eBay and PayPal team up to offer customers a “Bill Me Later” option during checkout. Today, the service is known as PayPal Credit, joining PayPal Working Capital to offer consumers and businesses a powerful range of flexible credit solutions.

eBay launches its Deals app, offering buyers and sellers great deals every day.

We announce that we will purchase a majority stake in Turkey’s principal online marketplace, GittiGidiyor.

We expand our mobile capabilities and announce our acquisition of Zong, a leading mobile carrier billing-based payments platform.

Entrepreneur David Marcus, who came to eBay via the Zong acquisition, is named President of PayPal.

We launch a Global Shipping Program, helping U.S. sellers grow their businesses by more easily shipping to international buyers. 

Our path-breaking Machine Translation Tools help drive cross-border commerce, enabling the company to reach consumers in markets like Russia and Latin America.

Proving that art isn’t only for the super rich, we join forces with Sotheby’s to offer mid-priced works of art in a virtual live-auction format.

eBay and PayPal trade as separate companies on Nasdaq stock exchange. 

Happy 20^th birthday, eBay!

In an effort to advance our structured data initiative, eBay acquired Expertmaker, a leading artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics firm.

eBay debuts the Seller Hub, a powerful tool that simplifies and streamlines the selling experience and helps sellers scale their businesses.

We are proud to join with the White House in pledging to close the gender wage gap.  Based on a 2016 internal study on gender pay equity, we determined that in the U.S., women employees earn 100% of what men make in the same role.

Powered by structured data and designed to drive highly personalized shopping experiences, the new homepage makes it easy for customers to find that perfect item and get inspired by products that match your style and interests.

In an effort to continue to increase the opportunities available to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs, eBay partners with Kiva.org, the microlending platform, to help expand their reach on our global platform.

We reach an agreement to acquire Giosis’ business in Japan. The acquisition expands our footprint in Asia, and bolsters the strength of the Qoo10.jp platform to offer more inventory to our Japanese consumers from all over the world.

eBay introduces eBay@Home, the company’s first formal work from home program within the Global Customer Experience organization.

Initially launched in the luxury handbags and watches categories, eBay’s Authenticate service now includes listings for necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets.

Increasing choice and flexibility for millions of buyers is a key priority as eBay expands its new managed payments experience.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, becomes the fourth U.S. city to join eBay’s Retail Revival program and eBay launches eBay@Home Baton Rouge, bringing 40 full-time customer-service jobs to the area.

The announcement is part of eBay’s commitment in working toward its 100% renewable energy goal across all offices.

We completed the sale of StubHub to viagogo for $4.05 billion in cash.

eBay continues to attract top sneaker sellers and bring the most coveted inventory to the marketplace at the most competitive prices by expanding its Authenticity Guarantee program to new and pre-owned collectible sneakers.

Using computer vision technology, the new tool will streamline listing creation for the marketplace’s massive trading card community.

McDonald’s and eBay announced agreements with Lightsource bp to purchase power from what will be Louisiana’s largest solar project.

Pop culture enthusiasts on eBay now have access to new and exclusive product releases from Funko.

In collaboration with the Gemological Institute of America, eBay expands its authentication services to its fifth category to foster even more confidence in the shopping and selling environment.

Bringing 3PM Shield to eBay is part of eBay’s ongoing commitment to provide sellers and buyers with a safe and trusted platform enabled by technology. 3PM Shield enhances eBay’s ability to address suspicious or harmful seller behavior, and potentially problematic items.