Pointing the Way

Pierre did …

Pierre was a software developer who liked to try things. After graduating with a degree in Computer Science he worked developing software for the MacIntosh and a couple of online shopping websites. He even started his own consulting company called Echo Bay Technology Group.

One long holiday weekend, fascinated by online commerce, Pierre spent all of it writing some code to add to his personal webpage. By Monday, next everything else on his site, he added what he called Auction Web.

One of the first items he put up for sale on the page was … a broken laser pointer. Amazingly someone bought it for about $15. Pierre was shocked and he emailed the person to make sure they knew that the laser pointer was indeed broken. Yes came back the answer … I collect broken laser pointers.

Pierre realised there might be a market for helping people buy collectibles and started charging a small fee to cover his costs. And he expanded his site.

Today, Pierre’s company helps 100 million people worldwide sell over $68 billion in goods annually. Early on he changed the name from Auction Web. He’d wanted to name it after his consulting company but EchoBay.com was taken … so he just shortened it … to eBay.

eBay is a Great Idea because once you have figured out what people want, sell it for all its worth.