Over the past decade, 173 million items have been sold on eBay.com.au which makes for an item sold every 1.8 seconds.

Some other fun facts:
– In 1999 there were only 9,041 Australian registered users
– There are currently over 8 million Australian registered users
– Over 1.8 million Australian members have sold at least 1 item in the past 10 years
– In 2008, 87 sellers each generated over $1 million in total sales
– The site reached 1 million Australian registered users in August, 2003
– 2 million in May of 2004
– 5 million in August, 2006

I have yet to make it to Australia (the closest I ever got was when I proposed to my wife in New Zealand back in 2002) but have always wanted to. If and when I do make it down there, I’m looking forward to checking out the eBay office and meeting folks in-person.

For now though, happy birthday and cheers!
RBH

Expressing regret and citing a desire to avoid further confusion and disruption among the eBay community, eBay Australia has withdrawn its notification to the ACCC regarding PayPal-only. Obviously eBay is standing by its contention that PayPal is the safer payment choice for users on eBay.com.au (and for eBay overall for that matter) – and that the goal is always to provide members with a safer shopping experience – but I get the impression that this process went on much longer than originally anticipated.

There was speculation that the Australian market was a trial run for an initiative that could be rolled out in other markets… I would think this decision puts a severe dent in that probability. The full public statement is below.

Cheers,
RBH

eBay Australia made the following AB post:
Existing payment methods to remain on eBay.com.au

eBay has withdrawn its notification to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) about removing other payment methods. Instead eBay will continue to allow all existing payment methods on eBay.com.au.

We have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay Community.

eBay regrets any uncertainty that this process has caused among the Community and believe that today’s decision will remove further doubt.

eBay’s goal has always been to provide members with a safer experience. Under the current circumstances, we will continue to look for ways to do that while still offering a variety of payment choices.

eBay requires all sellers to offer PayPal as a payment choice on eBay.com.au along with other permitted payment methods of their choosing.

Although we have decided not to move ahead with the further planned changes, eBay is pleased that all buyers can now choose PayPal along with other permitted payment methods of their choice.

Other recently introduced safety measures, such as PayPal Seller Protection and increased PayPal Buyer Protection (now up to $20,000) will also remain.
Regards,
The eBay Team