eBiz: eBay India - A Winning Bid

In spite of spending millions of rupees on advertising, branding and high
profile acquisitions, the online auction site Baazee.com was not able to break
even after four years of operations. That's when eBay in 2004, decided that
India was the place to be in. eBay acquired Baazee for $50 mn and re-christened
it as eBay India.

The past two years have brought windfall gains for eBay. The market has grown
quite significantly. All the investment that erstwhile Baazee had made in
advertising and promoting the concept of bidding reaped fruit.

Agrees Gautam Thakar, country manager, eBay India (Marketplace). “The
Indian consumer's attitude towards the Internet and online shopping has become
increasingly positive over the years. As more and more Indians get comfortable
with e-commerce, there is increased awareness and trust in shopping online,”
he says.

The business model has evolved from merely being an online marketplace to an
engine that encourages entrepreneurial spirit. To that end, eBay has set out a
host of offline activities like eBay Academy, phone-based training, video
conferencing to educate the seller community and make them aware of the immense
benefits that accrue out of Internet training.

Shashwat Chaturvedi