Collectors may have been the first to come to eBay, but according to eBay CEO, Meg Whitman, by January, 2001, practicals comprised almost 50% of the sales on eBay, automobiles made up 15% of sales, and while collectibles grew rapidly, computers, practicals and automobiles grew even faster. "The entire complexion of the site has changed" stated Whitman.

To underscore her statement, Whitman quoted Gross Merchandise Sales statistics for Q4 in 2000: $258m in antiques and arts $198m in coins/stamp $877m in collectibles $590m in books/movies/music $682m computers $836m photography equipment and electronics $679m in autos

eBay's Whitman gave the keynote address last night at the Second Annual Goldman Sachs Internet New Media and e-Commerce Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. The conference theme was Internet Roadmap 2001: Shifting Gears. Whitman also said that eBay is looking for a partner to mine the pricing information found in its completed auctions. Doing searches of completed auctions is a way to get real-time market-value pricing on collectibles. With international and category expansions a top priority, however, the pricing guide is not on the top of the list, Whitman said.

To listen to the entire 45 minute address go to: https://www.gs.com/ir/conf/audio/pcsResGD.ggi?parms@ir/ecomm2001/ec_ebay_audio.rm

username: conference/conf3 password: internet You must have RealPlayer to listen.