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EBay

American multinational internet corporation that manages eBay.com

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ58024
Source-derived summary

eBay Inc. ( EE-bay, styled as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. Sales occur either via online auctions or "Buy It Now" instant sales, and the company charges commissions to sellers upon sale. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in September 1995. In 2021, eBay had approximately 17 million global sellers; in 2023, it reported 132 million annual active buyers worldwide and handled $73 billion in transactions, 48% of which were in the United States. In 2023, the company had a take rate (revenue as a percentage of volume) of 13.81%.

eBay can be used by individuals, companies and governments to purchase and sell almost any legal, non-controversial item. Buyers and sellers may rate and review each other after each transaction, resulting in a reputation system. The eBay service is accessible via websites and mobile apps. Software developers can create applications that integrate with eBay through the eBay API. Merchants can also earn commissions from affiliate marketing programs by eBay.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “EBay” as american multinational internet corporation that manages eBay.com. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around EBay, American and multinational.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1995, 2021, 2023—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1995-09-03, 1995—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with EBay, American and multinational providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “EBay”, the useful work is to connect “american multinational internet corporation that manages eBay.com” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q58024. VIAF identifies the subject as 142166517. The Library of Congress control number is no00054109. 2 of 12 selected statements include explicit references; 8 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1995, 2021 and 2023.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “EBay”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow EBay primary sources, EBay archive and EBay research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “EBay”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from EBay” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.