eBay gum!

IT HAS a population of 157 million people, an economy worth more than £66 million a day, and it has been visited by one in five people in Britain. And it all began with one man at his computer on a Bank Holiday.

Ten years ago this weekend, the internet's greatest success story was born when, on American Labor Day, computer programmer Pierre Omidyar created the auction site eBay.

A decade on, it has become Britain's most popular website, and the world's biggest online market place, attracting users from Bootham Bar to Buenos Aires.

At any one time, eBay contains 55 million items in 50,000 different categories, ranging from cars to cameras; from gramophones to greenhouses.

And with a global market three times the size of Britain, the effect on the retail industry has been phenomenal, for sellers and buyers alike.

:: The browser

For most people, eBay is a pastime rather than a business - and a chance to join in the world's ultimate bring and buy sale.

Donna Thorpe, of Acomb, started using eBay two years ago to buy toys for her sons Brendan and Niall, and is now an enthusiastic member of the site with a feedback score of more than 200.

Last year, she did almost all her Christmas shopping on the site, and she has also made friends with a number of other eBayers through the site's discussion groups.

Donna said: "One man's junk is another man's treasure. With some of the things that I have been getting rid of, I am glad of the space. But some people that have bought them have been over the moon."

Donna says the site is ideal for items no longer stocked in most shops, and says one of her most pleasing purchases was a bottle of Paula perfume, for which her mother had been searching for months. "She really liked it, and she asked everywhere we went if they had it, but they didn't make it any more," she said.

"But I finally found a bottle on eBay and she was over the moon."

Donna uses the site to buy computer games and accessories for son Brendan, six, and has recently started selling old toys, clothing and bric-a-brac as well.

"At first I was a bit afraid to sell, because I thought there would be loads to learn, but I have learned as I have gone along," she said.

Donna said the site also allows people who had never been to a live auction to enjoy the same excitement - and says those yet to try it should give it a go.

"If you just take the time one day to flick through the different categories, I think there is definitely something for everyone.

"No matter what you are into, there is always someone selling something."

:: The professional

Shane Coppock, of York, started using eBay when he took over Ace Videos in Heworth in 2002. Three years on, he is a full-time user of the site and his new firm, G4ME5 Ltd, has an annual turnover of nearly £400,000.

Shane said: "We have been dabbling on eBay since we opened. We started off doing it to get rid of the excess stock, but last year we got serious and set up a limited company.

"It does six to eight times as much business as the shop - we expect to make £350,000 to £400,000 this year on eBay."

Shane is one of eBay's powersellers - a status reserved for those whose online sales exceed £750 a month, and who have achieved a customer satisfaction rating of at least a 98 per cent.

Although he still runs Ace Videos as well, most of Shane's business is now done through eBay, selling DVDs, games, film posters and the like. The site gives him access to a market far larger than he could even dream of getting at a small shop in the suburbs of York.

"It has, without a doubt, taken us to the next level where we wanted to go," he said.

"We could close the shop tomorrow and it would not bother us in the slightest.

"We are providing something different now. We spend about £700 to £800 a week on postage, and we do about 1,500 to 2,000 items a month.

"We have taken on two full-time staff plus myself, and we have quite a few part-time staff putting listings on."

Shane understands many people's scepticism about buying online, but says the site's feedback system - where sellers build up a rating, according to how satisfied their customers are - is a simple way of minimising disappointment.

"Power is taken away from the retailer and given to the customer," he said. "If you do not behave, you have had it. You have to give a business service second to none.

"The feedback rating tells you everything. If someone has feedback rating of one or two, leave them alone. If they have got feedback over 2,000 you will be all right."

:: eBay bosses estimate there are 55 million items on their websites at any one time so it's no surprise that, among the usual collectables and curios, some more bizarre items have also appeared over the years. Here are a few of the strangest...

A handbag once owned by Britain's first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, sold for £103,000 on the site, and remains the most expensive item sold on eBay UK.

When fire gutted the Branston Pickle factory last year, there were wide-spread fears of a shortage of the product. People with spare jars listed them on eBay, with one going for as much as £16.

In 2004, a Dutch eBayer sold a 50,000-year-old mammoth skeleton for £61,000. The skeleton was one of the five most complete in the world, but the seller said he didn't have the space to keep it.

The most expensive item sold worldwide was a private Gulfstream Jet, which went for $4.9 million - equivalent to £3.2 million.

Updated: 09:33 Friday, September 02, 2005