EBay, one of the pioneers of global e-commerce, turns 20 today. The company was founded by French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar in September 1995, a time when start-ups were still not the flavour of the street. Back then it was called AuctionWeb and was renamed eBay in September 1997. A look back at the milestones in the history of eBay, to understand its evolution from an auction site to the marketplace we see today.
AuctionWeb’s first sale was a broken laser pointer that Omidyar himself had put up for sale. It fetched $14.83, and was purchased by someone who collected laser pointers.
