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eBay

October

eBay isn’t as fun as it used to be. It’s less an auction site now, and more an online marketplace.

Ebay struggle’s to stay relevant

It’s become just another online marketplace, as the auctions that once added to the thrill of the chase now make up a small fraction of transactions.

  • Ben East
PayPal founder Elon Musk, right, with chief executive Peter Thiel, in Palo Alto, California, in 2000.

Elon Musk, enemy of open borders, was an illegal immigrant

Investors in his first company worried about “our founder being deported” and gave him a deadline for obtaining a work visa.

  • Maria Sacchetti, Faiz Siddiqui and Nick Miroff

September

Fashion designer Michael Kors and Vogue boss Anna Wintour in New York this month.

A $12.5b luxury fashion merger turns ugly

Michael Kors was among those called to testify as US regulators try to block a blockbuster deal between the owners of Coach and his brand.

  • Amelia Pollard

July

An advert for

Why sneaker king Nike was kicked into an $18b black hole

The world’s largest sportswear maker is in crisis following a disastrous restructuring, and as its sneakers lose some of their cultural cachet.

  • Sara Germano

February

Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek with Guy Dempster, winner of eBay’s Circular Fashion Fund.

Plibersek says fashion industry must act on environment, or she will

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delivers a call to arms for fashion brands to rethink volume and speed of manufacturing.

  • Lauren Sams
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A screen with an AI-generated artwork at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

AI shock: Tech companies axe 34,000 since start of year

Microsoft, Snap, eBay and PayPal have each scrapped hundreds or thousands of roles since the start of January.

  • Camilla Hodgson

November 2023

Brooke Marks (left) and Lauren Kennedy, founders of High End, a new luxury resale app.

Secret is out in battle for $50b luxury resale market

Australia is flooded with sites for second-hand luxury items, but making a profit when buyer and seller want the best bang for their buck is difficult.

  • Lauren Sams

April 2023

A VHS tape of ‘Rocky’ at Heritage Auction, in Dallas, Texas on Jan. 19, 2023.

Yes, people will pay $40,000 for an old ‘Rocky’ tape. Here’s why

Collectors are finding that their childhood has a price – and it’s going up.

  • David Streitfeld

July 2022

Online shopping growth of the past few years has been a great opportunity for Amazon.

Amazon gains on Prime Day shopping event

The two-day shopping event is now a prominent day in the retail calendar, and the online giant’s website visits further increase.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

April 2022

Ms Blickstead says the ability to build trust at work has helped her climb the career ladder.

The most important attribute of a leader, according to this eBay exec

Amrita Blickstead says trust is essential – and shares the most valuable piece of career advice she received when she was being poached for another job.

  • Natasha Boddy
The only topic that is off limits at the lunch is what Warren Buffett might buy next.

Warren Buffett is auctioning one last private lunch for charity

Berkshire’s CEO held the annual dining date for 20 years before COVID-19. Every winner since 2008 has paid more than $US1 million. Ebay bids open on June 12.

  • Updated
  • Josh Funk
Domm Holland is the founder of Fast, an app that promises to automate checkouts across a user’s e-commerce sites.

Young Rich Lister’s fast rise and fall

Domm Holland raised $168 million from big names like Stripe, but his one-click online checkout hopeful Fast will close this week after less than three years.

  • Michael Bailey

March 2022

Gunther Vogelpoel, CEO of Dutch digital prepaid services firm Recharge.

Forget BNPL: this Dutch start-up wants Aussies to pay now, buy later

Recharge, which offers worldwide access to prepayment services like digital gift cards and mobile phone top-ups, is launching in Australia after raising $US35 million ($47.9 million).

  • Hans van Leeuwen

January 2022

Cyara CEO Alok Kulkarni (centre) founded the company alongside Bonny Malik (left) and Luan Tran.

Melbourne tech firm equals VC record with $US350m funding

Alok Kulkarni’s Cyara has cemented its spot in Aussie start-up legend, raising $US350 million ($500 million) from K1 and pressing pause on an IPO.

  • Yolanda Redrup

January 2022

Bitcoin does not have enough users to start the next technology revolution.

If crypto disappeared would anybody actually notice?

The idea that a whole new crypto-based version of the World Wide Web is coming down the track does not hold up in the numbers.

  • Leonid Bershidsky
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September 2021

While it does not require excessive sleuthing to understand why commodity and bank stocks are quaking in the vortex surrounding Evergrande, the link with a stock like Twitter or eBay is harder to see.

Evergrande meltdown ensnares stocks with very few China links

Though there may not be an obvious connection between some US tech stock and China, that does not mean the selloff makes no sense.

  • Vildana Hajric and Katie Greifeld
Mark Harbottle, Co-Founder, Flippa (left) with CEO Blake Hutchison.

Selling a company as easy as posting an eBay listing

Melbourne-based company Flippa, which runs an online marketplace for people to buy and sell online businesses, has raised $15 million in a round led by Sydney-based venture firm OneVentures. 

  • Natasha Gillezeau

August 2021

RACGP president Dr Karen Price

Anti-vaxxer ‘rubbish’ declining on Facebook: GPs

Australia’s general practitioners say they are seeing less COVID-19-related disinformation on Facebook than a year ago.

  • John Davidson

July 2021

Werner Liu, left, and Fung Lam, founders of e-tailer New Aim, have parted ways in a $101 million deal.

E-commerce Young Rich Listers in $101m split

A Young Rich Lister behind one of Australia’s most successful e-commerce businesses has bought out his co-founder, for what on some measures looks like a steal.

  • Michael Bailey

May 2021

eBay managing director Tim MacKinnon.

eBay’s revenue growth slows despite e-commerce boom

eBay’s Australia and New Zealand revenue rose 2.5 per cent in 2020, a fraction of the 55 per cent growth in online retail sales.

  • Updated
  • Sue Mitchell

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/ebay-hqu