Bankruptcy And Debts

Small Business is the Real Internet Success Story, eBay's Meg Whitman Tells National Press Club

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2004--According to eBay's Meg Whitman, the best place on earth to start a small business is the Internet, which is revolutionizing the face of global commerce. Whitman, President and CEO of eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY), told guests at the National Press Club's Newsmaker Series Program today, that "although the news media mostly focuses on big brands like Google, Yahoo and eBay, the real story of the Internet is small business."
"The Internet has leveled the playing field between entrepreneurs, small businesses and big brands," she said, by providing the leverage for small businesses to compete without large initial investments of time or money, and delivering millions of customers from around the world to small business storefronts.

Whitman stated small Internet businesses are creating "hundreds of thousands of jobs at a time when the U.S. economy needs them most. Not just in Silicon Valley, but on Main Street and in communities sometimes forgotten long ago by our service-dominated economy." On eBay alone, the company estimates more than 430,000 Americans make a substantial part of their income by selling on the site. Keeping in mind some of these business owners employ others to help their eBay operations, that number may be a lot larger.

"The success of e-commerce is the success of millions of invisible pioneers in garages and spare bedrooms from New York to St. Louis, from LA to Sioux City. They have discovered the Net is the best place to start a small business, and they are going after their dreams of entrepreneurial success with a vengeance."

Creating an opportunity to celebrate small businesses success, eBay held its first United States of eBay Small Business Summit on May 5th. The summit brought together exemplary small businesses of the eBay community to recognize their entrepreneurship, learn about their experiences, and discuss the important issues that face small businesses. eBay hoped to generate valuable discussion among policymakers about the real businesses and real jobs being created on eBay. One of the topics discussed was that of Internet taxation.

"The Internet is still a young platform for job creation and economic success. I believe we should do everything possible to nourish its growth," said Whitman. She voiced concern that instead of taking steps to spur Internet growth for the good of the economy, policymakers are threatening the future of small businesses on the Internet with tax proposals like the Streamlined Sale Tax Project (SSTP).

"The red tape would be enormous," she warned when speaking about what impact the SSTP guidelines would have on small businesses on the Internet. "Were SSTP adopted it could double or even triple the nation's taxing jurisdictions. SSTP would force businesses that operate over the Internet to collect and remit sales taxes in thousands of cities and counties across the country in which they lack any physical presence. It would also mandate onerous monthly or quarterly, state-by-state filing requirements." The resources needed to comply could force small businesses to shut their doors, she predicted, putting thousands of local jobs at risk.

"The small business sector is where economic growth and job opportunity exist in America today," said Whitman. "At eBay, we're doing everything possible to help small businesses succeed. This includes building the best platform with the best features for our users. It also includes providing the important services small businesses need."

As an example, Whitman highlighted eBay's new agreement with GE Business Credit Services that will provide financing to help small businesses deal with unexpected or seasonal expenses and replace high interest loans or credit card debt.

"The Internet has turned out to be the most important, most useful invention for small business of the past century," said Whitman, adding that eBay will continue to expand its offerings to small business in order to "create a level playing field where every business has the same chance of success."

About eBay

eBay is The World's Online Marketplace(R). Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world. Through an array of services, such as its payment solution provider PayPal, eBay is enabling global e-commerce for an ever-growing online community.

Editors Note: Full text of speech available upon request. Please contact Leah Schmerl, leahs@kaplowpr.com; 212-221-1713

Contacts


eBay Inc.
Hani Durzy, 408-376-7458
or
Kaplow Communications
Leah Schmerl, 212-221-1713

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