eBay`s merchandise sales rise 68% in Q4 to $4.6 billion
Things are continuing to look up for eBay Inc. The online auction and fixed-price marketplace said the value of fourth-quarter merchandise sales transacted on eBay.com, including auctions and fixed-price sales, rose 68% year-over-year, to $4.6 billion from $2.74 billion.
Meanwhile, it said five product categories generated more than $1 billion in merchandise sales transactions for 2002: motor vehicles, $4.3 billion; computers, $1.9 billion; consumer electronics, $1.8 billion; books/movies/music, $1.4 billion; and sports, $1.2 billion.
EBay also said that fixed-price transactions accounted for 24%, or approximately $1.1 billion, of total Q4 merchandise sales. It said most fixed-price transactions were tied to eBay`s Buy it Now feature, which enables shoppers to bypass a live auction to purchase at a pre-set price. Other fixed-price sales occur in transactions for which there is no option to purchase at auction, an approach being used by an increasing number of branded retailers. EBay has said that it expects the number of fixed-price transactions to continue growing, but that it also expects to remain at about 22% of overall merchandise sales.
In nearly all other measurements, eBay showed sharp increases for both the quarter and the full year 2002. It said it hosted a record 195 million listings of products and services for sale during Q4, an increase of 55% over the year-ago period. Meanwhile, the number of active eBay users -- including those who bid, bought or listed products or services during 2002 -- reached 27.7 million in Q4, up 56% over the 17.8 million active users in Q4 of 2001. Its number of registered users at the end of Q4 totaled a record 61.7 million, up nearly 10% over the prior quarter and 46% from the year-ago period.
EBay said it more than tripled its fourth-quarter net income to $87 million from $25.9 million a year ago, as Q4 net revenue from transactions grew 122% to $396.5 million
Total consolidated net revenue for full-year 2002 reached $1.21 billion, up 62% from $748.8 million in 2001. For 2003, eBay is projecting that revenues could reach $1.9 billion, about $70 million more than its earlier upper-end guidance. It attributes the more aggressive projection to continued growth in its international transactions and payments operations. It said Q4 net revenue from transactions conducted outside the U.S. totaled $107.4 million, up 173% year-to-year. And it said its PayPal payments system, which it acquired last year, recorded Q4 net revenue of $74.7 million, up 86% year-to-year, on total payment volume of $2.14 billion, up 77%.
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