Ebay Evolution

Hey readers, it is Throwback Thursday again. Time to look back and see what’s changed in internet marketing.

Today’s focus – ­­­­­­­­­­­­A Look Back at eBay’s Website over the years.

Do you remember your first purchase from eBay? Remember that enlightening feeling, when you realized you are now being able to buy almost everything without leaving your house?

Well I do. It was “a must have” jacket from China. I was waiting for it to arrive, more than a month, but it was well worth it.

Founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, eBay became multi-billion dollar business with operations localized in over thirty countries.

But let’s look at its beginnings and how much it evolved over the last 10 years?

Back in 2004, eBay had a really straight forward policy: Find – Buy – Pay, or GET OUT!

Though the most important info was laid out, there weren’t any side links to keep you interested in the site. In a way this design sounds to me like: “If you can’t follow these 3 simple rules, you might as well leave now! Thanks.”

By 2010, eBay’s user experience was drastically improved.

Paying more attention to the design details, inviting images, visible categories, and link to special offers.

On the top of the page there is a “eBay Buyer Protection” button, that sounds really reassuring. The Deal of the Day is always inviting, as we all love discounts.

In my experience, eBay has been an amazing service so far, and as an Internet marketing consultant, I can’t wait to see how they will advance in the future.

And just for laughter, imagine having set up a website like 2004 eBay nowadays.

With a competition so dense, internet marketing consultants are going in such depths of providing great designs and content to the websites. A simple site like that will drown in the WWW.

Or maybe it will be so hipsterish, that people might actually like it ?

Like this site for example http://www.throwbackwebsite.com/ ; can’t really find the purpose of it, though it clearly states it’s a Throwback website.

Remember something ‘awesome’ from the Internet’s early days or want us to do a #TBT on your website? Leave a message in the comments.

Take care …till next Thursday.