ME and Ophelia

eBAY TRADERS FIND AUCTION GOLD IN THE AMERICAN DREAM
Oregon based Craig Solomon's setting up warehouses across the American west

Extracts from "eBay traders find auction gold" article in today's Sunday Times:

An estimated 150,000 people across the world make a living on eBay, the internet auction site, by selling everything from old postcards to shopping centres. The true elite are 500 "top power sellers" who will be invited to join a millionaires' circle this Easter.

Oregon-based entrepreneur Craig Solomon, 40, is setting up warehouses across the American west to hold goods to sell on behalf of more cautious clients.

San Jose-based eBay, like Amazon, the bookseller, and Google, the internet search engine, is a survivor of the dotcom bubble that burst four years ago. Pierre Omidyar (see his blog Pierre's Web), who founded it in 1995 as an online jumble sale for Silicon Valley geeks, has amassed a fortune estimated at £4.2 billion.

The website has become a part of popular culture. "Pop songs mention it, and it has become a verb - to ebay. This is a hallmark of true influence," says Dennis Price, author of several guide books to making a fortune on the site.
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eBAY HAS BECOME A BAROMETER OF PUBLIC TASTE
The virtual market knows before any media pundit what's cool - or not

For sociologists, eBay has also become a barometer of public taste, Marc Smith, employed by Microsoft to analyse such trends, says the virtual market knows before any media pundit when a pop idol ceases to be fashionable or a once-neglected brand such as Hush Puppy shoes becomes cool again.

"This community is at the cutting edge of contemporary pop culture," says Smith. "With nearly 70m registered bidders around the world, more people watch eBay than any one TV programme. And often it's a lot more entertaining, too."

Further links:
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
For UK readers: eBay UK
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Quote by the geneticist Lord Winston:

"THE KIND OF CHILD YOU HAVE DEPENDS ALMOST ENTIRELY ON HOW YOU BRING IT UP. GENES AND INHERITED DISPOSITIONS ARE PIECES OF TRIVIA REALLY"

Lord Winston, 59 Professor of fertility studies, London: A pioneer of in-vitro fertilisation techniques, Lord (Robert) Winston passionately advocates giving scientists reasonable freedom to carry out embryology research and so develop appropriate techniques for improving the treatment of infertility. Winston is also familiar to the wider public as the presenter of the recent BBC TV series The Human Body.
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Source courtesy of The Sunday Times, January 11, 2004.