Daniel Gross takes some air out of the eBay balloon:
Of course, there's a big difference between making a buck and making a living, between a sometime-thing and a steady gig. The notion that 630,000 Americans—a number roughly equal to the population of North Dakota—are making something approaching a living wage selling on eBay is a little rich. I've been paid a few times to play the piano—it doesn't make me a professional musician.
The whole piece at Slate is well done (ht: realclearmarkets).
Keep in mind that I am skeptical of the traditional job count, and have faith in the new economy. But I agree with Daniel ... always thought the eBay line in response to job worries is ineffective. But let's not be too hasty. The company just posted profits of $459.7 million on sales on $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 08, which represents fraction of the value of transactions by eBay's sellers. My sense is that the most powerful economic contribution of eBay is the creation of economic surplus in matching obscure wants with rare goods, markets that were too thin to even exist 10+ years ago.
Are eBay sales tracked anywhere? Does Commerce include that when figuring GDP? Same question applies to Craigslist and the rest of the buyer/seller sites.
Posted by: Remo | May 23, 2008 at 02:17 PM