Founded in 1995, eBay is the world's largest online auctioneer. The company has developed a web-based marketplace in which a community of buyers and sellers are brought together to browse, buy and sell almost anything. Its PayPal service enables any business or consumer with e-mail to send and receive online payments securely, conveniently and cost-effectively. EBay’s tens of millions of registered members around the world generated revenues of $2.17bn in 2003, a 78% rise on the previous year..