How eBay Stopped Being Recession-proof

[Kristijntje]

What’s happened to eBay?

During the previous recession, the company thrived, partly because it was still young and growing, but mostly because it offered a place for some people to raise a few bucks quick by selling off their stuff and for others to find bargains that were often better than Amazon — or anywhere else, for that matter.

Take a look at this chart. It shows eBay’s stock against the Nasdaq in 2001 and 2002. This was eBay just before its peak, when it was a freewheeling, town square bazaar where entrepreneurs, hucksters and oddballs met and in many ways, a cultural phenomenon. Hardly a week passed when some bizarre item for sale didn’t make headlines...

full article: http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/how-ebay-st...ion-proof/