Auction site eBay used to have a totally different name – and most people have no idea
WE’RE all very aware of eBay. The original online auction site, the recognisable brand has grown up in front of our very eyes.
But what if we told you it wasn’t always named eBay?
That’s right, fans of the secondhand shopping platform could be surprised to discover that it started life called something different.
The website was founded by Iranian-American businessman Pierre Omidya in 1995, and he decided called it AuctionWeb.
Two years later in 1997 he changed the name to Echo Bay because it “sounded cool”.
Sadly for Pierre, Echo Bay was already taken so he had to compromise and settled on eBay instead.
The first thing that was bought on the site was a broken laser pointer.
Pierre only intended the laser pointer listing to be a test, but was surprised to find that someone actually bought it.
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According to reports, the buyer collected broken laser pointers – what are the chances?!
And so started the story that is eBay, one of the world’s most popular sites for secondhand sales and sponsor of Love Island.