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eBay.co.uk is the largest online market place and is now the number one e-commerce site in the UK (Nielsen NetRatings May 2003). On any given day there are millions of items for sale on the site across thousands of diverse categories including antiques toys books computers sports photography and electronics amongst many others. The eBay community is made up of individual buyers and sellers who come to the site to do more than just buy or sell—they have fun, shop around, and get to know each other, for example, by chatting at the eBay Cafe. Through the bulletin boards, users meet and get to know each other, discuss topics of mutual interest, and petition one another for information. These bulletin boards are public forums that encourage open communication between users. eBay becomes a part of users' lifestyles. Many users have created second businesses, or quit day jobs altogether, by selling items on eBay. For hundreds of thousands of others, eBay is the place to share a passion for items that are special. The community is also self-policing, and users frequently form "neighborhood watch" groups to help guard against misuse or violations of site etiquette. eBay also encourages open and honest communication between the community and the company. Frequently, members of the community organise grassroots movements to improve the environment in which they work and play. The sense of community is alive and well offline too. In the past few months, eBay users have planned vacations together, chipped in and bought a special item for another user, and have even spent vacation time doing home repairs for a fellow eBay user. |