Online shopping is a type of electronic commerce that allows customers to buy goods or services directly from a seller via the Internet using a web browser or a mobile application.
There are many online shopping sites that are easily accessible, but it can be hard to find legitimate sites. The most famous shopping sites are eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon.com.
eBay is a web-based shopping website that is most popular for its closeouts and internet deals. It’s additionally famous for online traders to use as a business channel.
eBay owns companies in China, India, Germany, and many other countries, which has helped make eBay so popular.
Due to eBay’s access in a wide range of nations, eBay has purchased companies such as Alando.com, Red laser, Shopping.com, Baazee, and many more.
| Acquisition | Company | Business Type | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Up4Sale.com | Online auction | United States |
| 1999 | Butterfield & Butterfield | Auction house | United States |
| 1999 | Billpoint | E-commerce payment systems | United States |
| 1999 | Kruse International | Car auctions | United States |
| 1999 | Alando | Auction house | Germany |
| 1999 | Blackthorne | Listing tool | United States |
| 2000 | Half.com | Online marketplace | United States |
| 2000 | Precision Buying Service | E-commerce payment systems | United States |
| 2001 | Internet Auction Co. | Online auction | South Korea |
| 2001 | iBazar | Online auction | France |
| 2002 | PayPal | E-commerce payment systems | United States |
| 2003 | CARad.com | Online auction | United States |
| 2003 | EachNet | Electronic commerce | China |
| 2004 | mobile.de | Vehicles classifieds | Germany |
| 2004 | Baazee.com | Online auction | India |
| 2004 | Craigslist | Classified advertising | United States |
| 2004 | Marktplaats.nl | Classified advertising | Netherlands |
| 2004 | Rent.com | Classified advertising | United States |
| 2005 | Loquo | Classified advertising | Spain |
| 2005 | Gumtree | Classified advertising | United Kingdom |
| 2005 | Shopping.com | Price comparison service | Israel |
| 2005 | OpusForum.org | Classified advertising | Germany |
| 2005 | Skype Limited | Software for voice | Luxembourg |
| 2006 | Meetup.com | Social network service | United States |
| 2006 | Tradera | Online auction | Sweden |
| 2007 | StubHub | Electronic commerce | United States |
| 2007 | GittiGidiyor | Electronic commerce | Turkey |
| 2007 | StumbleUpon | Browser plugin | Canada |
| 2008 | Fraud Sciences | Online risk management | Israel |
| 2008 | Bill Me Later | Electronic commerce | United States |
| 2008 | dba.dk & bilbasen.dk | Classified advertising | Denmark |
| 2009 | Positronic Inc. | Machine learning | United States |
| 2009 | G-Market | Electronic commerce | South Korea |
| 2010 | Magento | Electronic commerce | United States |
| 2010 | RedLaser | Mobile applications | United States |
| 2010 | Milo.com | Shopping engine | United States |
| 2010 | brands4friends | Electronic commerce | Germany |
| 2011 | GSI Commerce | Marketing/fulfillment | United States |
| 2011 | Where, Inc. | Local search | United States |
| 2011 | MissionFish | Nonprofit fundraising | United States |
| 2011 | alaMaula | Online classifieds | Argentina |
| 2011 | Zong | Payments | United States |
| 2011 | The Gifts Project | Group purchasing of gifts | Israel |
| 2011 | Zvents | Local event listings | United States |
| 2011 | BillSAFE | Billing technology | Germany |
| 2012 | Svpply | Social shopping | United States |
| 2013 | 2dehands.be | Classified advertising | Belgium |
| 2013 | Decide.com | Price forecasting | United States |
| 2013 | Braintree | Payments | United States |
| 2013 | Bureau of Trade | Content / commerce | United States |
| 2013 | Shutl | Rapid fulfillment service | United Kingdom |
| 2014 | PhiSix Fashion Labs | Virtual clothing | United States |
| 2015 | Vivanuncios | Online classifieds | Mexico |
| 2015 | Twice | Secondhand clothing retailer | United States |
| 2016 | Cargigi | Inventory management | United States |
| 2016 | ExpertMaker | Machine learning | Sweden |
| 2016 | Ticketbis | Online ticket marketplace | Spain |
| 2016 | SalesPredict | Online commerce | Israel |
| 2016 | Corrigon | Image recognition | United States |
| 2017 | Flipkart | Online commerce | India |
| 2017 | Terapeak | Data tools | United States |
| 2018 | Motors.co.uk | Online commerce | United Kingdom |
Alando.de
This company was founded by the Samwer brothers in 1999. Alando.de specializes in fashion, public goods, and other trade deals you usually would find online.
Being one of the biggest auction houses in Germany, eBay was able to make a deal with the brothers and buy it from them for $43 million.
It still serves as an auction house and is now part of eBay’s brand.
Internet Auction Co.
This company is known as Auction Co. which is a South Korean online auction corporation and was founded in April 1998.
Internet Auction Co. Allows you to sell and bid on products from the comfort of your own home or office using online auction seers.
Real estate, diamonds, business equipment, vehicles, and technology are among the items you can buy or sell. Both buyers and sellers are protected on Auction Co.
On January 8, 2001, eBay purchased it and it is now being used as an e-commerce website. The current CEO is Byun Kwang-yun and the headquarters are still located in South Korea.
EachNet.com
EachNet.com is used in China as an e-commerce website and the online trading platform allows users to buy and sell a variety of goods.
This Chinese e-commerce company is famously used to buy and sell a wide range of things in both auction and fixed-price forms, ranging from clothing and old calligraphy to computers and real estate.
This company was founded in 1999, Shanghai, China. EachNet.com was sold to eBay in 2003 for $153 million.
Buying EachNet.com helped eBay get into the Chinese e-commerce business smoothly and successfully. Today, eBay still profits off of EachNet.com.
Click here to visit eachnet.com
Mobile.de
Mobile.den specializes in the selling of automobiles. It is Germany’s largest online vehicle marketplace, and you’ll find new and used cars, as well as RVs, motorcycles, and utility vehicles. eBay bought Mobile.de for $152 million in 2004.
Baazee
Baazee is an e-commerce site that was created in 1999 by founder Suvir Sujan. This e- commerce site is in Mumbai, India.
Buyers and sellers in India and around the world benefit from the merger of Baazee.com and eBay since they have more options and can shop with ease.
Baazee.com provides a diversified online marketplace for a variety of consumers and sellers across India.
eBay paid $50 million in cash for Baazee.com Inc and its subsidiary, Baazee.com.
This was completed in 2004, and eBay bought the company’s present stockholders as well, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (the largest stakeholder), ICICI Ventures, Bid or Buy, Global Bridge Ventures, and E-Vision Partners.
Shopping
Shopping.com is an eBay-owned price comparison service with websites in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and France.
In October 2004, the company went public, and eBay bought it in June 2005 for $21 per share in cash or a total value of $634 million.
It is now a semi-autonomous part of eBay that continues to operate the shopping.com website. Click here to visit Shopping.com
Tradera
Tradera.com is a Swedish-based internet marketplace. It receives over 4 million weekly views, with topics ranging from fashion to interior design to technology and collectibles.
Tradera has members from all around the world, but the majority are Swedish.
This online shopping site was founded entirely on auctions, but currently, visitors can buy new and used products through auctions as well as fixed-priced items.
Tradera was created in 1999, but it was bought out by eBay in 2005. Click here to visit Tradera
GittiGidiyor
GittiGidiyor is a Turkish e-commerce site that was founded in 2001 by Tolga Kabataş and three other members.
With 6.4 million registered users, 500 thousand daily visits, and 2.5 million current listings, GittiGidiyor.com is Turkey’s leading online marketplace.
More than 10 million e-commerce transactions have been completed successfully thanks to the required escrow service created by the company’s founders.
This company was purchased by eBay in 2007 for $217 million and is still being used by millions today.
Click here to go to Gittigidiyor.
Dba.dk & Bilbasen.dk
Den Bla Avis is the owner of dba.dk, a Danish online classifieds site that is one of the country’s most popular.
With around 120 million page visits every month, it currently attracts about 25% of the Danish population.
Bilbasen, bilbasen.dk, is Denmark’s most popular automotive classifieds site, with over 66 million monthly page views.
Den Bla Avis and Bilbasen, are the two top online classifieds sites in Denmark and were purchased by eBay for around USD 390 million.
The acquisition represents eBay’s entry into the Danish e-commerce industry and gave the company the potential to launch a national classifieds operation in the country.
Click here to visit Dba.dk Click here to go to Bilbasen.dk
RedLaser
RedLaser is a mobile-based barcode scanning application for comparative shopping and product information.
The cutting-edge barcode scanning technology was developed specifically for non-autofocus cameras and continues to improve with new mobile visual capabilities.
eBay bought RedLaser in June 2010. RedLaser’s barcode-scanning technology has been integrated into eBay’s iPhone applications, such as the eBay Marketplace.
Click here to download RedLaser
Milo
Milo is a major local shopping engine that gives customers access to precise, real-time local store inventory and price, expanding their online purchasing options.
Founded in 2008 by Jack Abraham and John Evans and was later sold to eBay for $75 million. Click here to visit Milo
Brands4friends
Brands4friends, Germany’s largest online shopping club, distributes high-quality goods from recognized fashion and lifestyle brands at considerably reduced costs to people daily through limited special offers.
Since it began in 2007, brands4friends has grown to over 3.5 million members in Germany and has run campaigns with over 600 leading brands, including international fashion brands.
eBay bought Brands4friends for $200 million and has since expanded the e-commerce fashion market in Germany.
Click here to visit Brands4friends
Zong
Zong, a prominent provider of payments through mobile carrier billing, agreed to be acquired by eBay in July 2011, for a total value of roughly $240 million.
Zong works with over 250 mobile network operators across the world to supply customized, secure, and simple payment solutions for digital goods and services.
Zong allows consumers to easily pay for purchases from their mobile phones or computers through direct carrier billing.
Click here to use Zong as a payment method
The Gifts Project
Appchee Applications Ltd, which was acquired by eBay in 2011, produced the Gifts Project, and its headquarters are now in eBay’s Israel Innovation Center.
The Gifts Project is a social e-commerce platform for “group gifting,” allowing customers to celebrate special moments with their social circles while shopping at their favorite online store.
The white-label solution allows online merchants, marketplaces, and gift shops to improve the social side of their customers’ shopping experiences by combining social media and online shopping.
Click here to visit The Gift Project
Since there is such a high demand for e-commerce, eBay has sought to expand its company globally to help ensure people around the world have access to online goods and services.
Due to the nature of eBay and how big it has expanded, the company has regularly bought and sold companies throughout the years.
Here is the list of companies eBay has bought and recently sold.
- iBazar
- Half
- Marktplaats
- Rent
- Fraud Sciences
- Stubhub
- Bonhams and Butterfields
- Craigslist
List of Brands Owned by Big Companies
| Kroger | List of Owned Companies |
| Expedia | List of Owned Companies |
| Apple | List of Owned Companies |
| Albertsons | List of Owned Companies |
| Comcast | List of Owned Companies |
| Estee Lauder | List of Owned Companies |
| CVS | List of Owned Companies |
| Enterprise | List of Owned Companies |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | List of Owned Companies |
| eBay | List of Owned Companies |
| Volkswagen | List of Owned Companies |
