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San Jose, California, December 18, 2000 – eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY; www.ebay.com), the world's largest online trading community, has launched a new online trading web site for users in Austria, it was announced today. Part of the eBay Germany site, eBay Austria brings together in one dedicated theme area all the item listings that originate in Austria, thereby making it easier and more convenient for registered users who live in Austria to trade among themselves. The Austrian site can be found directly at www.ebay.at or accessed through eBay Germany (www.ebay.de) and the other eBay web sites.
The new site is part of eBay’s strategy to rapidly expand across Europe. Wherever possible, eBay can leverage common languages to enter new markets more quickly and efficiently with minimal investment in technology. eBay is using its German site functionality to create the dedicated area for Austria without launching an independent site with stand-alone features. The thousands of Austrian users registered on eBay can now more readily find one another, and eBay can use the site to directly promote online trading to current and new audiences in that country.
“Taking advantage of common languages is an even more efficient way to expand our global community,” said Matt Bannick, Senior Vice President, eBay International. “We are improving the experience for current users, and we are using the efficiencies of existing sites as launch pads into new geographic regions.”
With the new Austrian site, Austrian users can readily find and ship items located near them as well as browse through items of national interest such as Hapsburg coins, Tyrolean souvenirs and Mozart memorabilia. Also planned are special online promotions that feature Austrian items and experiences.
Trading on eBay Austria will be done in the currencies currently available on eBay. Most Austrian users now list their items on eBay Germany in German and with prices in Deutsch Marks, and they are likely to continue to do so. Items listed elsewhere on eBay, such as on ebay.com, will also be included on eBay Austria, but in the language and currency in which they are listed along with Deutsch Mark equivalents. In the short term, users will not be able to list items in Austrian Schillings.
eBay will continue to open fully functional, independent country sites where appropriate. A site in Italy is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2001.
About eBay
eBay is the world’s largest on-line trading community. Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful marketplace for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and small businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items for sale on the site across thousands of categories. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with local sites in 53 markets in the U.S. and country specific sites in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Japan and Australia. With the acquisition of Half.com in July 2000, eBay’s community now benefits from a marketplace combining traditional auction and fixed-price trading.
