Affiliate Marketing- A Freelance Affiliate Marketer's foretaste on Home Business Opportunities!!

EBay forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $2.02 billion to $2.17 billion, compared with $2.18 billion a year earlier. The value of goods sold on EBay's sites fell 1 percent in the third quarter, the first drop in the company's history, as international markets declined as much as the U.S.

EBay's marketplaces revenue rose 4 percent to $1.38 billion in the third quarter. New marketplace listings climbed 26 percent from a year earlier, the fourth consecutive quarterly increase, EBay said. Revenue rose to $2.12 billion from $1.89 billion, helped by growth in its PayPal Internet payments unit and global classified advertising. The company's PayPal unit logged much higher growth - 27 percent, with revenue rising to $597 million.

Gross merchandise volume, or GMV, the value of all goods that users sold on EBay's sites, fell 1 percent. The average selling price on EBay's Web sites fell 7 percent, as consumers globally were squeezed by higher fuel and food prices, job losses and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. They are buying ``fewer large ticket items,'' Donahoe said yesterday. Revenue from Skype, which added 32 million users in the quarter, climbed 46 percent to $143 million.

One thousand full-time employees and about 600 temporary and part-time workers will be fired by the end of this year, EBay said Oct. 6/2008. The job cuts will cost EBay $70 million to $80 million pretax, most of which will be recorded in the fourth quarter, and lead to annual savings of about $150 million.

EBay's number of new listings jumped 26 percent year over year to 700 million. But the number of active users - which is an important measure of how well it is doing bringing in new buyers and sellers - rose just 3 percent in the quarter to 85.7 million.

Courtesy: (Bloomberg.com)

Since eBay became more than just an online garage sale, many retail industry observers have wondered just how important eBay is as a selling force. A new survey by ACNielsen International Research for eBay provides an answer: very important. The survey reports that 724,000 Americans derive their primary or secondary income from eBay, a group which eBay characterizes as “professional eBay sellers.” Another 1.5 million say they supplement their income by selling on eBay.

In the first six months of 2005, eBay members in the U.S. sold merchandise worth approximately $10.6 billion. The number of eBay entrepreneurs in the U.S. has increased 68% since the last comparable study in 2003, when 430,000 Americans said they were making some or all of their income selling on eBay.

“In just 10 years, eBay has become the destination for Americans pursuing their visions of entrepreneurship,” said Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America. “We’re proud to play a central role in small business development in the U.S. and around the world.”

EBay hopes to increase that number by hosting eBay Days Small Business seminars in eight cities in the U.S. this summer.

Courtesy: Ahorre.com