Question
I know that some people find this forum very "dry", and this type of thread does nothing to allay that feeling, but I actually find some of the facts and figures found in the quarterly reports quite interesting and/or illuminating.
From the top center link on this page:
http://investor.ebay.com/earnings.cfm
Overview
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>eBay reported record consolidated Q4-03 net revenues of $648.4 million, up 57% year over year; record operating income of $203.1 million, up 78% year over year; and record pro forma operating income of $218.5 million, up 65% year over year. Operating income was 31% of net revenues and pro forma operating income was 34% of net revenues.
Consolidated net income in Q4-03 was $142.5 million, or $0.21 per diluted share. eBay’s pro forma consolidated net income, excluding certain items, was a record $157.0 million, or $0.24 per diluted share.
These results exceeded the company’s guidance of $590 million for net revenues, $0.19 for earnings per diluted share and $0.21 for pro forma earnings per diluted share.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The current trading price for Ebay (at the time of writing) is $69.35 per share.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>"eBay's outstanding fourth quarter demonstrates yet again the extraordinary power of our community." said Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay. "Across every important metric, eBay's global momentum is rapidly accelerating. The business is delivering tremendous results and our long-term prospects couldn't be brighter."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Answer
Figures and Comparisons which may be of interest to us as users:
FULL YEAR.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Consolidated Net Revenues - Consolidated net revenues totaled a record $2.17 billion, which represented an increase of 78% from the $1.21 billion reported in the full year 2002.
Listings - Listings totaled a record 971 million in the full year 2003, 52% higher than the 638 million listings reported in the full year 2002.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I guess it holds little relevance, but I wonder whether listings in two categories are deemed to be one or two listings. It is not particularly a fudge (for stockholders at least) if they are deemed to be two listings, since most fees other than the FVF are doubled when two categories are selected.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) - GMS, the total value of items sold, was a record $24 billion, representing a 60% year-over-year increase from the $15 billion reported in the full year 2002.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Figures For the 4TH QUARTER ONLY<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> • eBay U.S. Net Transaction Revenues - eBay U.S. net transaction revenues totaled $291.6 million in Q4-03, reflecting 38% year-over-year growth.
• eBay International Net Transaction Revenues - eBay International net transaction revenues totaled $210.5 million in Q4-03, representing 96% year-over-year growth.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Confirmed Registered Users - Cumulative confirmed registered users at the end of Q4-03 totaled a record 94.9 million. This was a record sequential organic increase of 9.4 million users and a 54% increase over the 61.7 million users reported at the end of Q4-02.
Active Users - Active users, the number of users on the eBay platform who bid, bought or listed over the trailing 12 months, increased to 41.2 million, a 49% increase over the 27.7 million active users reported in the same period a year ago.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
This means that 43.4% of user ID's are active. It does not identify how many are repeat ID's vs "unique" users. It also means that 53.7 million ID's previously registered on Ebay have not sold or bid on the site in the last 12 months - that is two and a half times the entire population of Australia.
PAYPAL<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Total Payments Accounts – The company’s PayPal business had 40.3 million total accounts at theend of Q4-03, a 73% increase from the 23.3 million reported in Q4-02.
Total Payment Volume (TPV) – TPV, the total payment volume in the company’s PayPal business, was $3.7 billion in Q4-03, a 74% increase in the $2.1 billion reported in Q4-02.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Surprisingly, as a percentage, the increased volume of turnover seems to have a direct correlation to the increase in number of PayPal accounts.
Fixed Price <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Fixed Price Trading - eBay’s fixed price trading contributed approximately $2.0 billion or 28% of total GMS during Q4-03, primarily from eBay’s "Buy It Now" feature.
eBay Stores – eBay hosts approximately 154,000 stores worldwide. However, the company initiated store fees for the first time for certain of its international websites in early Q1-04, therefore, the number of eBay stores worldwide may decrease in future periods.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Fixed price now represents about 28% of total Ebay sales. Being quarter 4, which covers Christmas, this figure may be slightly skewed, but from memory the figure was about 24% the last time I analysed a quarterly report, so I have doubts that it is skewed much at all.
Answer
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Key Category Performance - Based on Q4-03 GMS, eBay now has ten categories that deliver $1billion or more in worldwide annualized GMS:
eBay Motors at $7.5 billion;
Consumer Electronics at $2.6 billion;
Computers at $2.4 billion;
Books/Movies/Music at $2.0 billion;
Clothing and Accessories at $1.8 billion;
Sports at $1.8 billion;
Collectibles at $1.5 billion;
Toys at $1.5 billion;
Home & Garden at $1.3 billion;
and Jewelry & Gemstones at $1.3 billion.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The Quarterly report 6 months earlier stated:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Key Category Performance - Based on Q2-03 GMS, eBay has nine categories that deliver more than
$1 billion in worldwide annualized GMS:
eBay Motors at $6.3 billion;
Consumer Electronics at $2.0 billion;
Computers at $2.0 billion;
Books/Movies/Music at $1.6 billion;
Sports at $1.5 billion;
Clothing and Accessories at $1.3 billion;
Collectibles at $1.1 billion;
Toys at $1.0 billion;
and
Home & Garden at $1.0 billion.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The Quarterly report 12 months earlier stated:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Key Category Performance -- Based on Q4-02 annualized GMS, eBay has five categories that generate more than $1 billion in worldwide GMS:
eBay Motors at $4.3 billion,
Computers at $1.9 billion,
Consumer Electronics at $1.8 billion,
Books/Movies/Music at $1.4 billion,
and Sports at $1.2 billion. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Answer
So many stats, so little time. One can go on and on.
Most glaring, the lack of major jumps in the old core categories. While they seem to increase by 15 to 25%, this is far lower than the overall growth of the eBay site.
Also, not sure if any of the growth is due to additions of International eBays. I think eBay also ran more promotions in Q4-03 than in other Q4s.
One other glaring stat in the total for collectibles. It is about 5% of eBay totals. eBay is really not a true collectible site but more of a mass merchandise site.
Answer
Kevin_T
Thank you for taking the time to post the figures. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_smile.gif
Very interesting reading!
Answer
Thanks for posting
Answer
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> It also means that 53.7 million ID's previously registered on Ebay have not sold or bid on the site in the last 12 months <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Personally, I would spend a bit of time and manpower on focusing on getting a percentage of these 53 million users bidding again.....bring back the lost sheep.
those figures look mighty handsome to a non-user.....however..
1} in reality a fine performance, but a far cry from her 100% increse prediciton.
2} yes, double category counts as 2 items, I forget who posted this info when they first started two categories
3} I see ebay going to get desparate to hold these numbers, hence more promos in the last month of every quarter to "pad" the numbers. Those of you who hate promos better watch the calender. MOO... http://community.here.com/infopop/em...on_biggrin.gif
4} Collectibles is a far cry from where it should be, number wise, I see it as falling off, those of us who sell collectibles better pay attention.....move on or move over. The end is in site, unless ebay splits the site or swings focus.
5} anyone figure out the number of items listed versus the total sales dollars to calculate the average sell price per item??? just curious.
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Answer
Thank you for taking the time to prepare and posts these numbers.
Many retail businesses report same store sales results which gives a certain insight as to whether individual sites are increasing sales or the total numbers are a result of new locations or acquisitions.
I would be interested in seeing a knowledgeable, impartial source report on what these numbers really show as it impacts us.
What is happening to average prices, sell through rates and fees per dollar of sales per category and site?
I'm often amused when I see reporting bureaus release summaries of the duration of time users stay on commercial sites. eBay often ranks high as a site where people stay for an extended time per visit. This is seen as a good thing and suggests shoppers like buying at these sites.
My reactions is, H*ll yes, I spend a lot of time on eBay. Between the ever increasing problems and complexity of listings and the difficulty doing research, I spend an ever increasing amount of time on their site trying to accomplish an ever decreasing amount of business.
Count that as a plus if you want but I don't see it that way.
I've never sold on eBay Motors but they have become the largest dollar category in the eBay sales report.
The owner of the repair shop where I have work done on my van approached me recently about the possibility of listing cars for him. He supplements his income by buying used cars, completing needed repairs and selling them to the local market.
I took a four year old P/U truck he has available as a specific item to use for research.
I'll be the first to admit it was an extremely narrow view of eBay Motors but I felt I was in an alien world.
There were over a dozen present listings for the same truck and a larger number of recently closed auctions.
The sellers seemed to be mostly established new or used car dealers. Their templates were extensive with more than twenty pictures showing every angle of the truck including under the hood, close ups of the tires, of floor mats and the undercarriage of the truck.
There was a great deal of boilerplate information about their dealership and terms, all done in complex designs and multi-colors.
I was very impressed with the effort put forth and a little intimidated by the possible level of competition I might face.
It was awhile before I came to realize that nearly nothing sold as an eBay listing. Most listings opened at a $100. or $500. starting amount, had numerous bids but never reached the reserve price.
Some auctions were relisted several times and others disappeared, sellers and bidders usually had excellent feedback, often repeat feedback from multiple same party transactions, and everybody seemed busy but few auctions that closed with a winning bid.
I felt I was out of my league, whatever is happening was beyond me and that combined with local issues led to my conclusion not to become an eBay Motor's seller.
The following is a news story from today about an eBay purchase. Not sure what it means but it is certainly heading away from the traditional auction format.
"EBay pays $152 mln for German classified ad Web site (EBAY) By Steve Gelsi
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- EBay (EBAY) shares are down 2.2 percent to $67.82 after the company said it'll pay $152 million to buy mobile.de, a provider of online classified listings in Germany. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter. "The acquisition will allow EBay Germany to enhance its existing online marketplace," the company said in a statement. EBay said the purchase will have a "nominal" effect on 2004 revenue."
eBay Nation grows and their reports are ever more wonderful. I can't see that from my window but then, what do I know?
eBay Items
Yahoo Items
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Very interesting information. Thanks everyone for posting!
Lynn
Lynnber almost everywhere
selling books and other stuff
Lots and lots of my Ebay Auctions
Answer
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I'm often amused when I see reporting bureaus release summaries of the duration of time users stay on commercial sites. eBay often ranks high as a site where people stay for an extended time per visit. This is seen as a good thing and suggests shoppers like buying at these sites.
My reactions is, H*ll yes, I spend a lot of time on eBay. Between the ever increasing problems and complexity of listings and the difficulty doing research, I spend an ever increasing amount of time on their site trying to accomplish an ever decreasing amount of business.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
There is a two way street here, Ray. Like you I have mentioned the productivity failures of Ebay many times. It definitely has become a quagmire for users on dial up, particularly if they sell using SYI 2.0 (and I was down to some pages hanging for 3 minutes as I listed yesterday, while other pages loaded properly).
The crap that Ebay loaded onto the search about June also caused serious problems for users - and again particularly those on dial up. Everyone that I know who bought their computer *specifically* for Ebay, uses dial up, but all of those people are also there for the (now somewhat obsolete) collectibles aspect of the site. But.... almost all of those that are buyers now spend far less time on the site. They used to search for their specific items and then go trawling for other stuff. Once it became slow and tedious to search, many who I spoke to continued to search for their core interests, but stopped doing the broader searches that they were previously doing. Until Blanche showed me the fix for speed issues (and most people do not get this advantage) it took me an extra 40 minutes to do my own regular core searches.
Once I restored the speed issues for searching, I went back to spending many hours "ferretting" around on Ebay, both looking for things to buy and things to find to sell. Those who are on broadband type connections are not noticing the slow downs - if they are buyers and spending long periods on site (and not just having a window open) then their visit time has meaning, but for the figures you mention to have any relevance, they need to split buying visits from selling visits, and broadband from dial up connections. Yes, I can still spend many hours enjoyably on site when all is running smoothly. I will then bid, and I will learn, but the site has become so slow and clunky that some visits do become a waste of time, or I just spend hours more than necessary to list less lots than I would if things ran properly.
Kind Regards, Kevin