30 years of eBay: Inside the wacky world of the online auction site

Thirty years ago, if you wanted to make money from unwanted or unused items, the only real option was to get up at an ungodly hour for the best spot at the nearest car boot sale or forego any profits and donate items to charity or family and friends.

But all that changed when French-born computer programmer Pierre Omidyar founded eBay – originally known as AuctionWeb – on 3 September 1995 as a hobby to make some extra cash. Users were able to bid on listed products with the highest offer “winning” the item, which was then sent to them by the seller.

The first ever purchase was a broken laser pointer and when Omidyar contacted the winning bidder to ask if he understood it was faulty, the Canadian man surprisingly explained, “I’m a collector of broken laser pointers”.

While most people use the site to pick up a bargain, that wasn’t the case for former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. The Russian billionaire made the most expensive purchase in eBay history when he splashed out $168 million on a 405-foot-long luxury gigayacht.

As the site gained in popularity, user reviews became integral to sellers’ success and they can get a positive feedback point from a buyer by sending items quickly, having them arrive as advertised and helping to solve any issues that come up. Those positive customer points are offset by any negative ratings the seller receives.

In 2008, Jack Sheng, owner of LA-based eForCity Corp became the first user to surpass one million feedback points – to recognise his success, eBay made a special shooting star icon to put alongside his name as well as naming one of their conference rooms after him. 

The site wasn’t introduced to the UK until 1999 – with the first sale being a CD by German rock band Scorpions – and there are currently 19 million registered users. The most popular search words revolve around electronics and fashion items with “Nintendo Switch 2”, “Pokémon”, “Labubu”, “S5” and “iPhone” consistently ranking highly.

Although auctions and bidding wars might be what first comes to mind when thinking of eBay, thanks to the popularity of other selling websites such as Vinted and Depop, the platform has had to evolve.

The “New/Buy It Now” feature has become the preferred choice for more than 70% of its users and they have also scrapped selling fees for most products as they compete.

But it’s the weird and wonderful items put up for sale that give eBay its uniqueness and often prove that one person’s junk is another’s treasure.

The strangest things ever sold on eBay

• In 2000, a superfan splashed out $14,000 on a piece of gum chewed and spat out by Britney Spears while ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake’s half eaten French toast fetched $1,025 in the same year.
• A ‘ghost’ in a jar sold for $55,000 after the seller found it in an abandoned cemetery and wanted it to stop haunting him.
• Ian Usher was so fed up with his life that he decided to sell it on eBay, including his car, his house, his job, and even his friends. He pocketed $200,000 and got a fresh start.
• A cornflake shaped like the state of Illinois went for $1,350, while a Dorito that looked like the Pope’s hat sold for $1,209.
• Andrew Fischer sold the space on his forehead for $37,375 to snoring remedy, SnoreStop, for a non-permanent advert tattooed on his head for 30 days in 2005.
• A grilled cheese sandwich with the face of Virgin Mary sold for $28,000 in 2004.
• Selling human organs is illegal but that didn’t stop a Florida man auctioning off his liver with the bid reaching $5.7 million before eBay took it down.