eBay helps entrepreneurs control costs while ramping up

According to eBay estimates, small business owners purchased $2 billion of merchandise on its site in 2003, double the amount in 2002. To get a better understanding of just who these users are and how they use the site, eBay hired market research firm AC Nielsen to survey 400 small business owners and find out.

Some of the more interesting findings:

• Half had made a purchase on eBay in the last 12 months.
• Almost half are run out of a home, compared to 26% of small businesses not using eBay
• 40% have only one full-time employee, and another 20% only two.
• 77% of the entrepreneurs using eBay are male, compared to 64% for those not using it.
• Almost 40% are under the age of 40, compared to only 25% for those not using it.

The conclusion? According to Jordan Glazier, general manager of eBay business:

You see companies in the early stages and they can't afford to buy an original set of capital equipment. They are more often price sensitive and capital constrained and more concerned with making their nest eggs go as far as they can go. [...] Where we see businesses reducing the use of eBay is when they grow to a size when they have a purchasing department or they have vendor contracts.

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