您可以使用google翻譯幫助了解 您可以使用google翻译帮助了解
或使用google工具列,滑鼠即時翻譯 或使用google工具列,滑鼠即时翻译
ONLINE COMMERCE. ON A DAY WHEN THE LATEST JOBS NUMBERS PAINT A DEPRESSING PICTURE OF A STRUGGLING ECONOMY. BUT FOR SOME PEOPLE, THERE'S ONE AVENUE AT LEAST THAT STILL SEEMS TO INTERSECT WITH EASY STREET. AND THAT'S THE AUCTION WEBSITE EBAY. THE SITE HAS MOVED FAR BEYOND ITS EARLY INCARNATION AS SOMETHING OF A SPRAWLING ONLINE RUMMAGE SALE AND IT'S BECOME A SLICK 8.7 BILLION MARKET. OUTLOOK FOR SELLERS WHO BUILT THEIR OWN BUSINESSES, ONE MOUSE CLICK AT A TIME. JOHN DONVAN HAS OUR REPORT. >> ALL OF THIS IS LISTED ON THE EBAY SITE RIGHT NOW, ALL FOR SALE. WE MOVED FROM 5,000 SQUARE FOOT SPACE TO NOW 12,000. >> Reporter: AND SO IT WAS THAT A ONE-TIME LAWYER TURNED STAY AT HOME MOTHER NAMED LINDA LIGHTMAN CAME TO BE RUNNING IN PENNSYLVANIA A FULL-TIME CONSIGNMENT CLOTHING OPERATION. >> THIS IS THE PHOTO ROOM. I USED TO GO OUTSIDE, BECAUSE WHEN I STARTED I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO USE A DIGITAL CAMERA. THIS IS THE SHOE ROOM. SHOES ARE PUT AWAY BY DESIGNER OR SIZE. THIS IS THE SHIPPING ROOM. BOXES COME IN AND THEN THEY GET INVENTORIED. >> Reporter: YOU USED TO DO THIS YOURSELF? >> I WAS A ONE-WOMAN SHOW. >> Reporter: ALL OF THEM USED TO BE JUST YOU, PROBABLY IN YOUR LIVING ROOM OR SOMETHING. >> THE ENTIRE HOUSE. BY THE TIME I WAS DONE. AND WHEN I STARTED -- >> Reporter: HOW LONG AGO? >> TEN YEARS AGO. SO, I'VE GROWN UP WITH EBAY.>> HELLO, EVERYBODY. WELCOME TO OUR 15th BIRTHDAY PARTY. HOW ABOUT THAT? HOW ABOUT THAT? >> Reporter: AND ON THE DAY THEY CELEBRATED 15 YEARS IN BUSINESS IN SAN JOSE, THE REAL CELEBRATION WAS NOT FOR THE SUITS BUT FOR ALL THE LINDAS OUT THERE, ALL THE MOM AND POP MOGULS WHO HAVE MADE EBAY WHAT IT REALLY IS TODAY. >> HEY, TONY, HOW ARE YOU? >> HOW IS IT GOING? >> Reporter: AND EBAY CEO, JOHN DONNA LOW, HE KNOWS A LOT OF THEM PERSONALLY. >> WHAT'S GOING ON? >> Reporter: AND MAKES A POINT OF GETTING TO KNOW THE REST. >> WHAT DO YOU SELL? >> AH, TREASURES. >> COMPUTER SOFTWARE. >> CUSTOM RHINESTONE APPAREL. >> Reporter: WHEN THEY ARE GATHERED TOGETHER HERE, IT STRIKES YOU THAT EBAY, ONE OF THE GREET PIONEERS OF CYBER COMMERCE, ACTUALLY HAS MADE ITS BILLIONS WITH THE RESURRECTION OF SOMETHING QUITE OLD IN AMERICAN LIFE, SO OLD IT HAD ALL BUT FADED FROM THE AMERICAN DREAM. >> SECOND GENERATION THIS IS MY DAUGHTER. >> OH, HEY! >> SHE'S GROWN UP WATCHING ME AND DOING HER OWN NOW. >> WHAT DO YOU SELL? >> CLOTHING. >> Reporter: AND THAT SOMETHING OLD IS THE FAMILY BUSINESS. WHICH, AT ONE TIME, DOMINATED THE GEOGRAPHY OF AMERICAN RETAIL. FAMILY-OWNED PET STORES AND BOOK SHOPS AND FURNITURE SELLERS AND ROADSIDE HAMBURGER JOINTS. YOU COULD MAKE A DECENT LIVING SELLING TO YOURR NEIGHBORS. YOU, MOM, AND YOU, POP. THEN WHAT HAPPENED? >> IN THE '80s AND '90s, LARGE RETAILERS GREW IN SCALE AND IN ESSENCE PUSHED THE LITTLE GUY OFF INSTREET. >> Reporter: THEN EBAY CAME ALONG AND GAVE THE LITTLE GUY ONE MORE CHANCE. >> EBAY WAS THE FIRST PLACE WHERE ALL OF A SUDDEN THE LITTLE GUY, WHETHER THEY'RE IN A RURAL LOCATION OR URBAN LOCATION IF THEY WERE CREATIVE, ENTREPRENEURIAL, YOU COULD START A BUSINESS. >> Reporter: IF YOU STILL THINK OF EBAY AS TRADING US VIA ONLINE AUCTION, YOU ARE ABOUT A DOZEN YEARS OUT OF DATE. AND WAY BEHIND A STARTLING STATISTIC. >> OUR LATEST ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE, ROUGHLY 1.4 MILLION PEOPLE MAKE THEIR PRIMARY OR SECONDARY LIVING ON EBAY. >> Reporter: YOU'RE THE SOLUTION TO THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM? OKAY, MARK THAT EXAGGERATION. BUT IT IS A FACT THAT LOGTS OF PEOPLE OUT THERE HAVE FOUND THE KEYS TO ECONOMIC SURVIVAL AND THE SATISFACTION OF BEING THEIR OWN BOSSES BY MASTERING THE MERCHANDISING ME CAB ICKES OF EBAY. >> WE TAKE PICTURES OF THE LABEL, THE FRONT, THE ZIPPER. >> Reporter: WHICH BRINGS US BACK TO LINDA. FOR HER, IT STARTED ACCIDENTALLY. >> MY SON SAID, WAIT, THERE'S THIS THING CALLED EBAY. TAKE PHOTOS AND PUT THEM UP. WE DID. WE GOT $20, $50. >> Reporter: AND FROM THAT, SHE BUILT A LITTLE EMPIRE CALLED LINDA'S STUFF. SHE'S ON TRACK TO BRING IN $7 MILLION IN SALES THIS YEAR, WHICH IS MORE THAN DOUBLE WHAT SHE MADE IN 2007. HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU EMPLOY HERE? >> 56. TWO YEARS AGO, WE PROBABLY HAD 25. >> Reporter: WOW. YOU'RE THE SOLUTION TO THE RECESSION. OVERSTATING THINGS AGAIN, BUT IT IS A QUESTION OF REAL POSSIBILITIES. HOW MUCH OF THIS REALLY IS ANYBODY COULD DO IT? >> I THINK ANYBODY COULD DO IT. >> Reporter: YOU DO? >> I DO. I THINK ANYONE CAN DO IT. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO MAKE MONEY. I THINK I DO IT BETTER. I REALLY DO. BECAUSE I WORK REALLY HARD. I WAS A LAWYER BEFORE THIS. I AM PUTTING IN MORE HOURS HERE THAN I EVER DID AS AN ATTORNEY. >> Reporter: WHICH IS MORE SATISFYING -- I KNOW THE ANSWER. >> THIS, HANDS DOWN. I FEEL LIKE THIS HAS ENABLED ME TO REINVENT MYSELF. >> Reporter: OR IN RURAL MARYLAND, TO SELL SKIS, THIS IS CHRIS CHAPMAN'S E BUSINESS, HOUSED IN A 35,000 SQUARE FOOT FORMER TOBACCO WAREHOUSE. HE USED TO WORK BEHIND THE COUNTER IN A SKI SHOP. LOOK AT THIS PLACE. HOW MANY SETS OF SKIS DO YOU HAVE HERE? >> ABOUT 7,000PAIRS. >> Reporter: AND YOU HAVE BOOTS? >> BOOTS. SKIS, SNOWBOARDS. >> Reporter: CHAPMAN'S BUSINESS, IT'S CALLED SNOW SPORT DEALS, IS ABOUT RESELLING USED SKIS AND BOOTS. MY BREAD AND BUTTER IS USED SKIS. DEMOS, RENTALS. >> Reporter: HE BROUGHT IN $1.3 MILLION IN SELLS LAST YEAR ALONE. >> THIS IS ONE OF THE SKIS FOR SALE RIGHT NOW. EBAY IS SUCH A GOOD TOOL AND ALLOWED ME TO HAVE AESS TO ALL THESE PEOPLE. >> Reporter: CHAPMAN SELLS A LOT OF HIS SKIS THROUGH A COMPETITOR SITE, AMAZON.COM AND THAT'S FAIRLY COMMON. A FEW YEARS BACK, THERE WAS A GROWING SENSE THAT EBAY WASN'T SO SPECIAL ANYMORE. >> EBAY MAY HAVE BEEN THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE, THERE WERE LOTS OF ALTERNATIVES IN THE FIRST PART OF THE 2000s, AND, SO WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IS, TAKING THIS CORE VALUAND UPDATING AND ENHANCING THE USER EXPERIENCE SO THAT IT'S CONTEMPORARY AND INNOVATIVE. SO, THIS IS OUR iPHONE APPLICATN. 11 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DOWNLOADED IT. >> Reporter: IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING FOR EBAY. $8.7 BILLION LAST YEAR. AND THE COMPANY IS NOW ATTRACTING BIG WIGS LIKE FASHION DESIGNERS. >> THIS IS ONE OF OUR EBAY STANDARD STYLES. IT CALLED THE ALL IN ONE GOWN. >> Reporter: THE POINT BEING, SHE'S NOT SELLING USED CLOTHING. THIS IS STRAIGHT OUT OF THE DESIGN PSEUDOOWE. IN FACT, ABOUT 70% OF THE GOOMDS NOW SOLD ON EBAY ARE BRAND NEW. >> EVEN THOUGH THE OLD IDEA OF EBAY IS RESELL AND KIND OF RETICKET AND RESELL, HERE, YOU START WITH AN ORIGINAL THAT YOU CAN ONLY GET ON EBAY. IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN IN THE BUSINESS AS LONG AS I HAVE. OR A NEW DESIGNER WHO IS TRYING TO START A CAREER ON A SHOE STRING. >> Reporter: SHE'S WAY PAST MOM AND POP. BUT STILL, THAT THEY COULD PACK A PARTY WITH WHEEL WHO STARTED SMALL, AND SOME NOW ARE MILLIONAIRES. >> BIG SHOES HERE. >> Reporter: EBAY MAKES IT ABOUT ANY RETAIL BUSINESS YOU CHOOSE. SOMEBODY WHO HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING BUTTEN EMPLOYEE MIGHT BE HEARING YOU SAY, YOU CAN START UP A BUSINESS ON EBAY. THAT HAS TO SEEM SCARY. WHAT DO YOU SAY TO SOMEBODY LIKE THAT. >> FIND SOMEONE THAT'S DOING IT EBAY SELLERS WILL HELP OTHER EBAY SELLERS. THAT'S ONE OF THE WONDERFUL PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY. >> Reporter: AND WHO KNOWS. MAYBE WHEN EBAY TURNS 20, YOU'LL BE AT THE PARTY, TOO. ?AND I WILL BE THERE ? >> Reporter: I'M JOHN DONVAN FOR "NIGHTLINE" IN SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA.
沒有留言:
張貼留言