From collectible music offerings, to DVDs, to books, to laptops, the founders of musicMagpie know how to turn entertainment into big business. The company, which was launched in 2007 in a garage by two friends in England, recently surpassed a positive feedback score of five million – the first eBay business in the world to do so.
From its humble beginnings, musicMagpie now employs 1,000 people and exports to buyers in 140 countries around the world. Co-founders Steve Oliver and Walter Gleeson have experience in the music industry, and the first item ever sold by the business was a refurbished copy of Abba’s Gold.
Their business offers an attractive trade-in model for exchanging one form of entertainment, such as DVDs, with another, such as books. musicMagpie has been described as working on a “modern stock exchange” model, and has recently been growing its sales of electronics, such as smartphones.
"musicMagpie enjoyed rapid growth in its first few years, but our launch on eBay really sent sales soaring,” Co-founder and CEO Steve Oliver recently told The Manchester Evening News. “It’s a huge marketplace for collectibles that has given us access to customers around the world who want to be part of the modern stock exchange.”
The company’s founders were recently honored on stage at eBay Leaders Week for their five million positive feedback milestone. In the video interview with Oliver seen above, he notes: “What eBay does really well is recognize how important sellers are. They respect them, work with them, and nurture relationships.”
