EBay Value Stock - Dividend - Research Selection

eBay Inc. was formed as a sole proprietorship in September 1995 and was incorporated in California in May 1996. In April 1998, we reincorporated in Delaware, and in September 1998, we completed the initial public offering of our common stock. Our principal executive offices are located at 2025 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, California 95125, and our telephone number is (408) 376-7400. Unless otherwise expressly stated or the context otherwise requires, when we refer to “we,” “our,” “us” or “eBay” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we mean the current Delaware corporation (eBay Inc.) and its California predecessor, as well as all of its consolidated subsidiaries. When we refer to “eBay Inc.” we mean our Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms.

eBay Inc. is a global commerce leader, which includes our Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world. The technologies and services that power our platforms are designed to enable sellers worldwide to organize and offer their inventory for sale, and buyers to find and purchase it, virtually anytime and anywhere. Our Marketplace platforms include our online marketplace located at www.ebay.com, its localized counterparts and the eBay mobile apps. We believe that these are among the world’s largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. Our StubHub platforms include our online ticket platform located at www.stubhub.com, its localized counterparts, the StubHub mobile apps and Ticketbis. These platforms connect fans with their favorite sporting events, shows and artists and enable them to buy and sell tens of thousands of tickets whenever they want. Our Classifieds platforms include a collection of brands such as mobile.de, Kijiji, Gumtree, Marktplaats, eBay Kleinanzeigen and others. Offering online classifieds in more than 1,500 cities around the world, these platforms help people find whatever they are looking for in their local communities.

Our platforms are accessible through a traditional online experience (e.g., desktop and laptop computers), from mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablets) and by API (platform access for third party software developers). Our multi-screen approach offers downloadable, easy-to-use applications for iOS and Android mobile devices that allow access to ebay.com and some of our other websites and vertical shopping experiences. In addition, our platform is increasingly based on open source technologies that provide industry-standard ways for software developers and merchants to access our application programming interfaces, or APIs, to develop software and solutions for commerce.

Delivering the best choice, the most relevance and the most powerful selling platform

Our objective is to drive the best choice, the most relevance and the most powerful selling platform for our buyers and sellers. We continue to focus on customizing our buying and selling experiences to make it easier for users to list, find and buy items by offering formats dedicated to specific products or categories. On our Marketplace platforms, we have built specialized experiences such as eBay Deals, which offers a variety of products in multiple categories at discounted prices with free shipping. Other experiences include Fashion, Motors and Electronics.

One of the changes we are making to our Marketplace platform is the shift to better understand, organize and leverage the inventory on eBay. This initiative, which we call structured data, will allow us to expand new experiences to more traffic and drive data quality.

As one of the world’s largest ticket marketplaces, StubHub connects people through inspiring live experiences. Event-goers can find more than 10 million live sports, music, theater and other events in more than 40 countries on our StubHub platforms, and can browse, buy and sell anytime, anywhere through desktop and mobile devices.

As a world leader in online classifieds, eBay’s Classifieds platforms are designed to help people list their products and services generally for free, find whatever they are looking for in their local communities and trade at a local level. eBay Classifieds Group’s 11 global brands offer both horizontal and vertical experiences, such as motors, real estate and jobs.

Our business model and pricing are designed so that our business is successful primarily when our sellers are successful. We partner, but do not compete with, our sellers to enable their success on eBay’s platforms. Our eBay Top Rated Seller program rewards qualifying sellers with fee discounts and improved search standing for qualifying listings if they are able to maintain excellent customer service ratings and meet specified criteria for shipping and returns. We believe that sellers who fulfill these standards help promote our goal of maintaining an online marketplace that is safe and hassle-free.

eBay Money Back Guarantee covers most items purchased on our websites in a number of countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany and Australia, through a qualifying payment method and protects most buyers with respect to items that are not received or are received but not as described in the listing. Some purchases, including some vehicles, are not covered. eBay Money Back Guarantee provides coverage for the purchase price of the item, plus original shipping costs, for a limited period of time from the original date of transaction, and includes a streamlined interface to help buyers and sellers navigate the process.

The size and scale of our platforms are designed to enable our buyers and sellers to leverage economies of scale and capital investment, for example in sales and marketing, mobile, customer acquisition and customer service.

We believe that our sellers offer some of the best value and deals available for a number of consumer products. In the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, the majority of transactions included free shipping during 2016. We have developed a number of features on our Marketplace platforms in the areas of trust and safety (including our Seller Performance Standards, eBay Top Rated Seller program, eBay Money Back Guarantee, Verified Rights Owner Program and Feedback Forum), customer support and value-added tools and services, as well as loyalty programs (for both buyers and sellers). These features are designed to build trust and make users more comfortable buying and selling with unknown partners and completing transactions online or through mobile devices, as well as rewarding our top sellers for their loyalty.

For sellers in particular, in 2016 we implemented a number of changes to our seller policies to primarily help small- and medium-sized sellers be more successful on our platforms and better reward sellers who provide exceptional service to eBay buyers. These changes included providing more objective standards; giving sellers the ability to customize how they manage returns based on their specific business needs; and launching the Seller Hub, which puts a seller’s listing and marketing tools in one central place. 

We offer choice to buyers and sellers across a number of dimensions.

Sellers can choose to list their products and services through fixed price listings or an auction-style format on our platforms. The fixed price format on eBay allows buyers and sellers to close transactions at a pre-determined price set by the seller. Sellers also are able to signal that they would be willing to close the transaction at a lower price through the Best Offer feature. Additionally, our auction-style format allows a seller to select a minimum price for opening bids.

Sellers can list items that are new, refurbished and used, and common and rare on our Marketplace platforms.

Buyers can search for and purchase items that are new, refurbished and used, and common and rare on our Marketplace platforms.

Buyers also can have items shipped to them through shipping options offered by the seller and selected by the buyer on our Marketplace platforms. For certain items purchased from certain retailers, buyers can pick up items they purchased online or through mobile devices in one of the retailer’s physical stores (which we refer to as in-store pickup).

eBay was founded on the simple belief that people are basically good. Our technology has levelled the playing field by enabling people to connect and trade around the world, regardless of their circumstances or location. We believe that commerce should be not just transactional but rather transformational. Through our platforms, we are creating a better, more sustainable form of commerce that empowers people and creates opportunity. And we are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our platform by increasing efficiency, expanding our use of cleaner energy and using our global marketplace to extend the life of goods in a more circular economy.

We measure our footprint in our addressable market according to Gross Merchandise Volume (“GMV”). GMV consists of the total value of all successfully closed transactions between users on our Marketplace and StubHub platforms during the applicable period, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction.

At the end of 2016, our Marketplace and StubHub platforms had more than 167 million active buyers and over one billion live listings globally. The term “active buyer” means, as of any date, all buyers who successfully closed a transaction on our Marketplace and StubHub platforms within the previous 12-month period. Buyers may register more than once and, as a result, may have more than one account.

We generate revenue from the transactions we successfully enable and through marketing services, including classifieds and advertising. The majority of our revenue comes from a take rate on the GMV of transactions closed on our Marketplace and StubHub platforms. We define “take rate” as net transaction revenues divided by GMV. In 2016, we generated $84 billion in GMV, of which approximately 59% was generated outside the U.S.

For additional financial information as well as the geographic areas where we conduct business, please see “Note 6 - Segments” to the consolidated financial statements included in this report. Additionally, please see the information in “Item 1A: Risk Factors” under the caption “Our international operations are subject to increased risks, which may harm our business,” which describes risks associated with eBay Inc.’s foreign operations.

Source: www.sec.gov