Are you an eBay entrepreneur? Chances are there may be a few more in your neighborhood as well as new numbers from the online auction giant today reveal that over 2.2 million Americans use it for some form of income.
The survey, which was conducted by AC Nielsen for eBay in July, determined that more than 724,000 Americans use the service as their primary or secondary source of income. Additionally, another 1.5 million say they supplement their income by selling on a more casual basis.
The net result from all these sales? In the first six months of this year, eBay said, their American members alone sold enough products to collect $10.6 billion.
The AC Nielsen survey also showed that the number of people using eBay to make money has increased 68 percent since the last time it was conducted two years ago. Back in 2003, approximately 430,000 Americans were making some or all of their income off of selling things.
“eBay’s impact on job creation in the U.S. has been tremendous, and the health of our nation’s economy depends on employment,” said James K. Glassman, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, who has analyzed the survey results. “A considerable amount of jobs have been created and enabled through eBay in the last few years, making it an important employment creation engine that many never considered just five years ago. The potential for entrepreneurs to realize success through eBay is significant.”
