People are only just realising what eBay really stands for after 28 years

After 28 years, it's come to light that many people are only now uncovering the real significance behind the name of the well-known online marketplace, eBay.

Originally launched as AuctionWeb in September 1995, the American multinational e-commerce corporation was the brainchild of Pierre Omidyar, who aimed to establish a site "dedicated to bringing together buyers and sellers in an honest and open marketplace". Pierre himself became the first seller on the platform, listing a broken laser pointer for sale, which to his delight was purchased by Canadian Mark Fraser.

During this period, a rumour spread suggesting that Pierre had set up the website to help his wife with her Pez candy dispenser collection. This anecdote has been refuted by eBay, with a spokesperson clarifying: "It's revealed that the story was a fabricated one".

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In just a year's time, AuctionWeb saw goods worth $7.2million sold through its platform, marking the start of its meteoric rise, reports the Express.

The 'beanie babies craze' hit about 10 months later, and eBay found itself at the centre of the storm. The company reported: "Beanie Babies, Ty Warner's line of cuddly stuffed animals, take the world by storm. $500million worth are sold on eBay alone, representing more than 6% of our total volume."

In a surprising turn of events, AuctionWeb rebranded itself as eBay in September 1997, leaving many internet users puzzled about the reason behind this change. This led to one baffled Quora user asking: "What is the full form of eBay? , while another queried: ", while another queried: "What does the name eBay mean? ".

The company revealed that it adopted the name eBay after Echo Bay Technology Group, which was Pierre's consulting firm. However, since the domain name echobay.com was already taken by a gold mining company named Echo Bay Mines, Pierre decided to abbreviate it to eBay.com.

As of May 2024, with a market cap of $25.36billion, eBay ranks as the world's 782th most valuable company, according to Companies Market Cap.