1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer at 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works in a love all things tech. And 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: now that we get all the cell of Brayton out 6 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: of the way, we got the birthday cake cleared out 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: of the studio, all the balloons are out of here, 8 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: we can get back to business now. Before we started 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: celebrating tech stuffs tenth anniversary, I was talking about eBay 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: and I did a couple of episodes about it. So 11 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: let's do a quick recap before we continue our story. 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: eBay was created by Pierre A. Midier. Originally it was 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: called auction Web and that was underneath a larger website 14 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,319 Speaker 1: called eBay that had other stuff on it, including an 15 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: Ebola virus page. And a. Medier had created it as 16 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: sort of a hobby. He had not anticipate did it 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: becoming a business. He just wanted to create a fair 18 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: market place for exchanges for auctions because he felt that 19 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:11,919 Speaker 1: there was a need for that and he had a 20 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: cool idea of how to implement it. He had to 21 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: start charging a small fee for successful auctions in order 22 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: to offset his web hosting service. There was so much 23 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: traffic going to auction Web after the first few months 24 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: that his web hosting service said, Hey, we're gonna have 25 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: to charge you for a business website as opposed to 26 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 1: a personal one. So you're gonna have to pay two 27 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: U fifty dollars a month in order to keep this 28 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: site active. So in order to offset that, he started 29 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,800 Speaker 1: putting in a small listing fee for any successful auction, 30 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: so if an auction completed, he would take a small 31 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: percentage of that in order to offset those costs. But 32 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: he ended up making enough money from auction Web to 33 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: make that his full time gig, so he quit his 34 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: day job and auction Web a k a a became 35 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: his main job. It became his full time occupation. He 36 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: brought on a friend to help run the business, and 37 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: later they brought on Meg Whitman to run it. She 38 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: became the president and CEO of eBay. Whitman prepared eBay 39 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: for its initial public offering or i p O. That's 40 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: when you list on a stock exchange and you sell 41 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: shares in your company, and that i p O was 42 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: successful enough to turn a medier into a billionaire, so 43 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: he was wealthy beyond his imagining at that point. In 44 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: about a year after the company went public, eBay had 45 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: a site wide outage that lasted nearly twenty four hours 46 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: and required a quick response from the company. I'll talk 47 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: a little bit later in this episode about the infrastructure 48 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 1: they created to try and prevent that from ever happening again, 49 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: and some other quick backtracking that I need to do 50 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: because I got up to two thousand two in our 51 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: last episode, but I skipped over a couple of things 52 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: that I think they weren't mentioning. One thing I did 53 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: not mention in the last episode is how in two 54 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: thousand eBay created a class it calls eBay University. This uh. 55 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: This course teaches people the best practices for listing items 56 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: on eBay, how to sell them effectively, how to create 57 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: a business using eBay as a foundation. And this would 58 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: allow people to leverage eBay while eBay also is able 59 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:30,359 Speaker 1: to get an advantageous relationship out of it, so it's 60 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: kind of a symbiotic relationship. The user is able to 61 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: expand their reach and use eBay's tools like marketing and 62 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: listing and all this sort of stuff in order to 63 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: get their goods out to a wider audience. So let's 64 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: say that you actually have an antique store, and maybe 65 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: you're antique store is on a little like it's a nice, 66 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: little quaint antique store that's off a little road. You 67 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: know you're you're going to only get traffic occasionally from that. 68 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: People don't tend to go out of their way. But 69 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: by using eBay, you could have your entire inventory up 70 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: online as well, and even set things aside when you 71 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: decide to auction off specific things in your inventory that 72 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: could become your full time business. And you could use 73 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: eBay's tools to market, to reach out to potential customers, 74 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,799 Speaker 1: all this sort of stuff. So there's a big benefit 75 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: to the small business owner. But in turn, eBay benefits 76 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: because of course it takes a small portion of all 77 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: the sales. And of course there's also some other listing 78 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: fees that happened these days if you're listing a lot 79 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: of different items. I'll talk more about that in the 80 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: next eBay episode. So classes at eBay University are actually 81 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: held throughout the world. It's not a specific location that 82 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: you have to go to, and they're led by members 83 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: of the eBay community who have a lot of experience 84 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: in this. Also in two thousand, eBay acquired another business 85 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: called half dot Com. Half dot com allowed people to 86 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: sell certain things in limited categories like textbooks, video games, movies, 87 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: and music, and you had to do it at a 88 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: set price. So it's not an auction. It's a fixed 89 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: price approach, but you get to choose what the prices 90 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,840 Speaker 1: as the seller um as a store with a bunch 91 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: of independent vendors. You can think of it that way. 92 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: So let's say that you wanted to sell a specific textbook, 93 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,559 Speaker 1: you could actually go onto half dot com and search 94 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: to find out if anyone else was selling that same 95 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: sort of textbook and what price they had said it at, 96 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: what the average price was, and this would help you 97 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: determine what price to set your textbook. Maybe you go 98 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: a little under because you really want to get rid 99 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: of this thing. Maybe you go a little overthinking eventually 100 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: someone's gonna pay for it. Half dot Com took a 101 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: commission for any sale, and sellers were responsible for shipping 102 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: the actual items within three business days of a sale 103 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: going through. And oddly enough, even though eBay would acquire 104 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: PayPal in two thousand two, eBay would not incorporate PayPal 105 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: into half dot com until twenty so that was kind 106 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: of weird that they delayed so long to put PayPal 107 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: functionality in half dot com. eBay stated it would operate 108 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:05,119 Speaker 1: half dot com as a separate entity, maintaining its business model, 109 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: which was pretty much true until when eBay shut down 110 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: Half dot com, so it is no more. In November 111 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: two thousand, eBay introduced the buy it Now feature that 112 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: allows buyers to purchase an item at a set price 113 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: rather than play the auction game. And of course it's 114 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: up to the buyer to set this, so if a 115 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: buyer doesn't set a buy it now price, it's just 116 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: a normal auction. But this gave buyers options. They could 117 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: try to purchase the item at less than the buy 118 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 1: it now price by going through the auction, but then 119 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: they could risk being sniped out of a purchase, or 120 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: they could just go ahead and buy it for the 121 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: asking price. So for example, I might have a lovely 122 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: Vause up on eBay and the minimum bid for the 123 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: auction is twenty dollars, but the buy it now price 124 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: is fifty dollars, So if you really like that Vause, 125 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: you could buy it for fifty bucks, or if you 126 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: felt I feel pretty good about this, I don't know 127 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: that a lot of people are looking at this. I'm 128 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and put in the minimum bid of 129 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: twenty bucks and you could just try and buy it 130 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: for that, and if the auction expires at the end 131 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: of the set time and you are the highest bidder 132 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: at twenty bucks, you just saved yourself thirty dollars. So 133 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: it's kind of a a game almost, or it's you know, 134 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 1: a bar of a risk sort of thing, depending on 135 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: how you want to look at it. But it gave 136 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: options to buyers. eBay also released an a p I 137 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: that is an application programming interface. They did that in 138 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: two thousand that lets developers create their own apps to 139 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: interact with eBay. So, uh, it lets you have some 140 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: functionality with eBay, and you can do it in different ways. 141 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: You can incorporate it into different websites, that kind of thing. 142 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: In two thousand one, and this is on eBay's own 143 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: corporate history, a special auction saw a pair of blue 144 00:07:54,360 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: jeans sell for more than forty six thousand, five hundred dollars. 145 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: Think about that, Dory, a pair of blue jeans that 146 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: cost forty sillars. What those genes. By the way, we're 147 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: the oldest pair of Levi's known to exist. The auction 148 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: was partly presented by the History Channel. And who was 149 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: the lucky bidder who put forward nearly fifty grand for 150 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: a pair of jeans? And he guesses, and he guesses. Try, 151 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: you're gonna guess. R is not guessing. Give me a guess. 152 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:30,480 Speaker 1: Who would put up fifty grand for a pair of 153 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: blue jeans? Levi's Vintage Levi's, They date from eighteen eighties. Tarry, 154 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: you gotta you gotta be faster than this. You gotta 155 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: be faster. People can't listen to this. It was actually 156 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: the Levi s. Trouss Company, the company that made the 157 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,199 Speaker 1: blue jeans, paid fifty thou dollars or nearly fifty thou 158 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: dollars to buy the blue jeans. That is the most 159 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 1: expensive refund I have ever heard. Actually, they just wanted 160 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,680 Speaker 1: it so that they would have these vintage genes, and 161 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 1: they planned on making replicas essentially of the genes and 162 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: selling them. The jenes, like I said, were dated to 163 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties, which means that Jack the Ripper could 164 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: have worn them, but he probably didn't because he probably 165 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: didn't wear blue jeans at all. eBay also launched the 166 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: eBay Store in June two thousand one that allowed sellers 167 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: to create a virtual storefront that would hold all their 168 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: listings as well as let them put branding on the 169 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: page to differentiate their stores from other people's stores, and 170 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: it eventually included marketing tools for users as well, like 171 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: email newsletters. So this gave people who had an eBay 172 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: account the chance to have their own virtual storefront. So 173 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: instead of just listing things on eBay, so you have 174 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: maybe you've listed twenty different things on eBay, but they're 175 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: all kind of just random and they don't appear in 176 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: any one location. It's just if people happen to be 177 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,439 Speaker 1: searching for that particular type of item, then you're listing 178 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: might pop up. But having a virtual storefront, people could 179 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: actually go through all the things you have listed on 180 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: eBay and it's almost like you are your own little, 181 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: tiny store. And in fact you could be if you 182 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: had stuff that you were making, for example, and you 183 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: wanted to make it available on eBay, you could have 184 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: your own little storefront. So this really changed things up 185 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: a lot too. Now we're finally back up to two 186 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: thousand two, and I realized that was a lot of 187 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: stuff I left out of my last episode. But during 188 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: that last episode I felt the trajectory toward the PayPal 189 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,959 Speaker 1: acquisition was really important. As for that acquisition, David O. Sachs, 190 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: who was the CEO and the product leader of PayPal 191 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: at the time of the acquisition, wrote a great piece 192 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: on Cora That's the Question and Answer website about why 193 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: PayPal chose to sell to eBay, Why why did PayPal 194 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: want this acquisition to take place? Well, at the time, 195 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:50,680 Speaker 1: PayPal was working hard to scale up because payment processing 196 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: businesses are only really profitable if they scale, and eBay 197 00:10:55,440 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: represented the majority of all payment volume on PayPal, two 198 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: thirds of all transactions. eBay also had other payment solutions 199 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: connected to its service, not just PayPal, so you could 200 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: pay through credit cards, their eBay had its own proprietary 201 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,679 Speaker 1: approach and others, and so there was a possibility that 202 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 1: eBay could end up taking PayPal off that list or 203 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: push other people to use its own proprietary approach, and 204 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: that PayPal would suffer as a result. Eventually, now eat 205 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,320 Speaker 1: paypals off eBay volume. The stuff that people are using 206 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,199 Speaker 1: PayPal four that doesn't involve eBay at all would be 207 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: larger than their eBay volume. But in two thousand two 208 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 1: it was a different story. So if eBay were to 209 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: flip that switch, if they were to say, let's really 210 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: push people to this other proprietary approach, that could have 211 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: possibly hamstrong PayPal enough so that the company would have 212 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,520 Speaker 1: failed because two thirds of their volume was going through eBay, 213 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: so they were really dependent upon eBay. In addition, according 214 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 1: to Sachs, PayPal was anticipating some legal battles over the 215 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,439 Speaker 1: use of the service in association with stuff like gambling sites. Now, 216 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: there was nothing illegal about the arrangement that PayPal had, 217 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: but there was a perception that politicians in the United 218 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: States in particular were arming up to take a swing 219 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: at online gambling and that they might argue that PayPal 220 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: was enabling gamblers. And so when the opportunity came, PayPal 221 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: ended up agreeing to this acquisition deal with eBay in 222 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: order to join forces with the company so that PayPal 223 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: could survive and grow. eBay would benefit from that as well. 224 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:38,960 Speaker 1: Of Obviously, now it's gonna be fun to revisit that 225 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: topic when I get up to two thousand fourteen, because 226 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: that's when PayPal and eBay parted ways. And I'll explain 227 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: all about that and why it happened in the next episode. 228 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: In two thousand three, eBay continued making acquisitions of other 229 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: auction and commerce online companies, including a Chinese commerce company 230 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: called each Net, and it continued to grow and add 231 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: more users. At this time, and play Jim Uncle Griff 232 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: Griffin published a book called the Official eBay Bible, which 233 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: was a manual to help buyers and sellers make the 234 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: most effective use out of eBay. Oh and also that year, 235 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: weird Al Yankovic came out with a little ditty called 236 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,959 Speaker 1: eBay and it was a musical parody of the song 237 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: I Want It that Way by some group called the 238 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:31,959 Speaker 1: Backstreet Boys. Now I'm not gonna sing that song because 239 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: you guys have done nothing wrong and don't deserve to 240 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: have that happen to you. But I am going to 241 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: read some of the lyrics to you just so that 242 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: you can kind of get a feel for this song. 243 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: So the song opens like this, A used pink bathrobe, 244 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: a rare mint snow globe, a Smurf TV tray I 245 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: bought on eBay. My house is filled with this crap 246 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: shows up in bubble wrap most every day. What I 247 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: bought on eBay? Tell me why I need another pet rock, 248 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: Tell me why I got that alf alarm clock. Tell 249 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: me why I bid on Shatner's old to pay they 250 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,520 Speaker 1: had it on eBay. And a little bit later in 251 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: that song, he has this bit, I am the type 252 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: who is liable to snipe you with two seconds left 253 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: to go? WHOA got PayPal or visa? Whatever will please 254 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: you as long as I've got the dough. So he 255 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: did a really great job making jokes out of the 256 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: stuff that was very much part of eBay culture. In fact, 257 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: I haven't really talked about what sniping is yet in 258 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: these episodes about eBay, and I guess I probably should. 259 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: Sniping was this practice of sitting on an auction and 260 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: watching the time run down and then placing a bit 261 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: just before the auction expires, and you were said to 262 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: snipe it because you would outbid the previous bidder just 263 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: before the auction ended. But this is actually a little 264 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: more tricky than it sounds because the way eBay allows 265 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: for automatic bidding. I'll explain that more in just a second, 266 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: but first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. Alright, 267 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: so we're back, and let's talk quickly about how bidding 268 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: works on e basis. I haven't really covered that yet 269 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: before we jump back into the history of the company. 270 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: In an eBay auction, the auction will last a set 271 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: amount of time, and you get to choose what that 272 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:32,560 Speaker 1: time is. The seller can select an auction to last one, three, five, seven, 273 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: or ten days, and typically the seller will also create 274 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: a reserve price that's the minimum bid the seller will 275 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: accept as a purchase price for the item. And the 276 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: seller can also choose a buy it now price, which 277 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: would allow someone to outright purchase the item for that 278 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: price rather than bid on it and start up in auction. 279 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: Or you might not set a buy it now price, 280 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: and you might not do it in the hopes of 281 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: people going bonkers and bidding up the price to a 282 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: really high amount, much higher than what you would have set. 283 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: So it's kind of a a risk versus reward thing now. 284 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: In normal auctions in the real world, like physical auctions, 285 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 1: typically the auctioneer, who I think, by law must be 286 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: able to speak at a speed that defies belief, will 287 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: call for bids until the bids trickled down to a halt, 288 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: at which point the auctioneer calls for the end of 289 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: the auction of that particular piece, and the person who 290 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: made the final bid wins. So you just keep going. 291 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: And so an auction can last a really long time 292 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: or be really short, And of course by wins, I 293 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: mean the person now has to cough up the actual 294 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: dough to buy the thing that was being auctioned off. 295 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,880 Speaker 1: Now an eBay auctions have a predefined end time. They 296 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: don't just go when the bids trickle out, So the 297 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: auction will continue to go until it reaches it's cutting 298 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: off point, or the seller chooses to ind the auction early, 299 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: and at that moment, whomever made the highest bid wins 300 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: the auction. Moreover, you can make a bid on an 301 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: item and to side what you're willing to pay for 302 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,640 Speaker 1: it at max. From the very beginning, let's say I'm 303 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: on eBay and I see a listing for an original 304 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: Deities and Demi Gods source book for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 305 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: and I think, holy cow, that's the source book that 306 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: still has Lovecraft monsters in it has characters from Michael 307 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: Moorecox l Rick Saga in it. This was before the 308 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,439 Speaker 1: copyright lawyers forced TSR to change it. I have to 309 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: have this book. I decide that I am willing to 310 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: pay up to a hundred dollars for this source book 311 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: because I'm a collector and the current bid is let's 312 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,480 Speaker 1: say thirty five dollars. Now, my new bid does not 313 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:41,080 Speaker 1: automatically make the price jump from thirty five dollars to 314 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars. Instead, eBay will reference whatever the maximum 315 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: bid was for the person who set the thirty five 316 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,240 Speaker 1: dollar amount, and if thirty five dollars was the maximum, 317 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,160 Speaker 1: eBay will bump up the price to a small amount 318 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: above thirty five dollars. Let's say it's in five dollar increments. 319 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,679 Speaker 1: So if someone else bids again to you, but they 320 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:05,439 Speaker 1: bid below your one dollar maximum, you will automatically outbid 321 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:08,640 Speaker 1: them a little higher than their bid. So let's stick 322 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: with my example to explain this better. And let's consider 323 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 1: this scenario. Um, Matt Frederick and I are in a 324 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: bidding war for this a D and D source book. 325 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: This is a totally believable scenario. By the way, he 326 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: has placed a bid on the item before me. I 327 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: haven't even seen it yet. He saw it any bid 328 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,159 Speaker 1: on it, and when I go to the item, I 329 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,880 Speaker 1: see that the current bid price is thirty five dollars. 330 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,440 Speaker 1: Now what I don't know is that Matt Frederick's full bid, 331 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: the maximum bid is actually fifty dollars. It's showing me 332 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:42,200 Speaker 1: thirty five dollars because that's the lowest increment above whatever 333 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: the reserve price was. So I place my maximum bid 334 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: of one hundred dollars, and this is what I am 335 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: willing to pay for that source book. It's kind of 336 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:53,840 Speaker 1: what I feel like is my maximum. I don't want 337 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,320 Speaker 1: to go over a hundred. When I place my bid, 338 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 1: it's as if Matt and I are in a really 339 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: fast paced bidding war. So his bid of thirty five dollars, 340 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 1: I up it up to forty dollars, but because he's 341 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 1: has maximum said it fifty, it automatically bumps up again. 342 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: So his final bid of fifty dollars finally gets up there, 343 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: and then my bid, because I said my maximum is 344 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 1: a hundred, would go out to fifty five dollars. eBay 345 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: handles all this automatically. I don't have to do anything 346 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 1: except set what my maximum bid is. So the new 347 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: price to beat appears to be fifty five dollars. Now, 348 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: let's say Matt checks in on the auction and he 349 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: sees that he's been outbid and by me, of all people. 350 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: So he sees the new price is fifty five dollars, 351 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 1: and he thinks, well, and I'm willing to go out 352 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,640 Speaker 1: to sixty, so he bids sixty dollars. eBay processes this, 353 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,360 Speaker 1: but it sees that I have already said a maximum 354 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,679 Speaker 1: bid of one hundred dollars. So the price bumps up 355 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: to sixty dollars for Matt, but then automatically bumps up 356 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,880 Speaker 1: again to sixty five dollars for me, and it would 357 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: keep doing this until it hit my maximum of a 358 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 1: hundred dollars. If someone bid more than that. Let's say 359 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: that Matt goes crazy and he decides to bid a 360 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: hundred and five dollars, then I would be outbid and 361 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: I would be out of the auction unless I came 362 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: back to continue this bidding war. The nice thing about 363 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 1: this is you can set an amount you're comfortable with 364 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,360 Speaker 1: and then just walk away. So if you win the auction, 365 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,960 Speaker 1: chances are you're going to win at a level below 366 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,840 Speaker 1: your maximum, like in that example. I was just giving. 367 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: If I bid a maximum of a hundred dollars but 368 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,680 Speaker 1: Matt was not willing to go above sixty five, I 369 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: would not be charged the full one dollars. I would 370 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: be charged sixty five dollars for that. That That would be 371 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: the winning bid. So that's nice. You actually would quote 372 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: it not really save money, but you wouldn't spend as 373 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: much as you were willing to spend. And if you lose, 374 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 1: you don't end up spending more than you wanted to 375 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: on the item because you had already set your maximum, 376 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: assuming that you just said it and walked away. However, 377 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: winning is a pretty awesome experience, and so a lot 378 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: of people may find themselves returning to the auction to 379 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,919 Speaker 1: increase their bids over what their maximum was as they 380 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,199 Speaker 1: see an auction start to get away from them. And 381 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: that happens all the time, and it's also kind of 382 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: dangerous behavior, so you gotta be on the lookout for that. 383 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: And because that's how bidding works, it makes sniping a 384 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: little tricky. Because let's say that I see that the 385 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: current bid is thirty five dollars for this sourcebook, and 386 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: Matt Frederick has set that that winning bid, so far, 387 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,560 Speaker 1: and there's only two minutes left in the auction, and 388 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: I think, perfect. Now I'm gonna go in snipe it. 389 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,119 Speaker 1: I'm gonna put in forty dollars. I'm gonna win, but 390 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: I don't know that Matt has already put in a 391 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: fifty dollar maximum. If I wait too long to snipe, 392 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: then all I'm really gonna do is drive the price 393 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 1: up a little bit and make Matt pay more for 394 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: the source book than he thought he was going to 395 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: have to, which I admit has its own sort of 396 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 1: sweet poetry. Making Matt Frederick have to spend more money. 397 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: It warms my heart a little bit, but it doesn't 398 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,920 Speaker 1: get me that source book. So that was also part 399 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: of the strategy, as if you were going into snipe 400 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,360 Speaker 1: and item, you had to be ready to go quickly 401 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,680 Speaker 1: because if you did a higher bid and then found 402 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,840 Speaker 1: out that the person's automatic maximum bid was still higher, 403 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: you had to keep going up until you reached a 404 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: point where you were no longer comfortable bidding. So before 405 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 1: I get back into the history, let's talk a little 406 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: bit about how stuff works on the back end at eBay. 407 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: Because I mentioned earlier than they had that outage. Well, 408 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 1: eBay now depends upon a grid computing system to support 409 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:30,200 Speaker 1: their service. They have several hundred database servers in several 410 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 1: different areas and they store all the information on the 411 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: site and there's redundancy in the system, so you have 412 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: multiple computers that are actually holding the exact same information, 413 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: including all the listings that are on eBay. And that 414 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: is because if one server or set of servers were 415 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,680 Speaker 1: to crash, another could pick up the load and service 416 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: would not be interrupted. You would continue to have access 417 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,439 Speaker 1: to eBay even though entire servers were down because you 418 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: have this redundancy built in and they could jump in 419 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 1: to take the place of the servers that crashed. This 420 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: is one of the things the company did to make 421 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: sure alledges would not happen again like they did back in. 422 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 1: The database servers hold all the information, but two other 423 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: groups as servers support this. There are application servers. There 424 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: are search servers. These are the machines that handle the 425 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:22,360 Speaker 1: interactions between users and the data stored on the databases. 426 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 1: So you can think of them kind of like employees 427 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,359 Speaker 1: who go from point of sale to a warehouse to 428 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 1: actually bring inventory to customers. And then you have the 429 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: web servers. That's the actual interface itself that users encounter 430 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: when they visit eBay, whether they are to trying to 431 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: list an item for sale or they're trying to bid 432 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: on something, or just visit their profile. But that's the 433 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: basic infrastructure, all right. Now, it's time to get back 434 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: to the history. And in two thousand four a few 435 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: things happened. One was that Jeff Jordan's became the president 436 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: of PayPal, which again was operating under eBay. At this point. 437 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,399 Speaker 1: Jordan's had been a scene year vice president and general 438 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,959 Speaker 1: manager for eBay's North America division for several years. He 439 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,399 Speaker 1: had played an instrumental role in acquiring PayPal back in 440 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 1: two thousand two, and he would be president of PayPal 441 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: for two years. He would step down in two thousand six. 442 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: He would later go on to be president and CEO 443 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: of Open Table, and today he's a venture capitalist. Also 444 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: in two thousand four, eBay purchased another company called rent 445 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: dot com, which is a website related to rental housing. 446 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: It was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, my hometown back in 447 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: nine of course, back then it was called Viva dot Com. 448 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: eBay made the purchase for four hundred fifteen million dollars 449 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 1: in an exchange that included cash and stock. But eBay 450 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: would eventually sell rent dot Com to another company that 451 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: today is called rent Path LLLC, but at the time 452 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: it was going by the name Prime Media Incorporated. The 453 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: sale was reported to be four round one forty five million, 454 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,119 Speaker 1: So yikes. You know they bought it for four fifteen 455 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,639 Speaker 1: million in two thousand four and then sold it a 456 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,399 Speaker 1: couple of years later for a million adds a loss. 457 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:08,639 Speaker 1: But finally, one other story I want to hit from 458 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: two thousand four is a very odd one. You know 459 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: already talked about blue jeans. Let's talk about grilled cheese sandwiches. Yep. 460 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: And two thousand four, a woman in South Florida sold 461 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: a partly eaten grilled cheese sandwich on eBay and it's 462 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: sold for get ready for this tari twenty eight thousand 463 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: dollars for a partly eaten grilled cheese sandwich. Now, the 464 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 1: reason why was because the grilled cheese sandwich had a pattern, 465 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,159 Speaker 1: or apparently had a pattern on it. It's really just 466 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 1: random coloration, but still it was. There was some colors 467 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: on this grilled cheese sandwich that gave a shape that 468 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,040 Speaker 1: suggested it could be the image of the Virgin Mary, 469 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: so I say to this sweet cheese is the buyer? 470 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,360 Speaker 1: By the way, was an online casino site called Golden 471 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,719 Speaker 1: Palace dot com, which bought several of the stranger items 472 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 1: that have been posted to eBay as part of a 473 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: museum of weird kind of thing. I think in our 474 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,560 Speaker 1: final episode on eBay, our next one, I will have 475 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: to conclude by talking about some of the strangest stuff 476 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 1: that's ever been bought on eBay, which honestly could probably 477 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,360 Speaker 1: be an entire series all by itself. I've got more 478 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: to say about eBay, but first let's take another quick 479 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: break to thank our sponsor. In two thousand five, eBay 480 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: brought on John Donahoe as the president of eBay market Places, 481 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: and he would later serve as the president and CEO 482 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: of the company after Meg Whitman's departure. eBay also created 483 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:49,159 Speaker 1: a classified business called Kigigi and I'm sure I'm mispronouncing that, 484 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: but it's from a Swahili word for village. This began 485 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: as a startup business within eBay itself. It was spearheaded 486 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: by employees of eBay, so it's kind of like a 487 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: startup incubator within eBay. It was bolstered by more acquisitions, 488 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: starting with a British online classified service called gum Tree 489 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: and a Spanish service called low Quo, and in the 490 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: United States this service would morph into eBay Classifieds. In 491 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 1: it's still called Kajiji in several countries, however, also just 492 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,439 Speaker 1: to stick with this for a little bit longer, the 493 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: division had a stake in a competitor classified site, a 494 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: little site that you might have heard of called Craig's List. 495 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: That stake amounted to about twenty eight percent ownership of 496 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:38,960 Speaker 1: the online classified site. But Craig's List and eBay have 497 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:44,200 Speaker 1: had a let's call it a contentious relationship over the years, 498 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: and each company has accused the other of various forms 499 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: of skullduggery in general shenanigans, and ultimately this resulted in 500 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: eBay selling back the ownership stake it had in Craig's List. 501 00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,959 Speaker 1: In in September two thousand five, Eba turned ten years old. 502 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:04,199 Speaker 1: I know what that feels like. In an effort to 503 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,640 Speaker 1: protect their business model and help people who depend upon 504 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: eBay for their own businesses, the company created a division 505 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: called main Street. The purpose of main Street is to 506 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 1: educate communities about the various legislative moves that could impact 507 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: the way online commerce works. It's kind of a grassroots 508 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: campaign to get people involved in that sort of stuff, 509 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:31,399 Speaker 1: and it's an advocacy group which is definitely serving eBay's interests, 510 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: but at the same time it also helps those who 511 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: have built viable small businesses using eBay as their storefront 512 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: to protect themselves. So I could be all cynical about 513 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: this and say, well, here's a big corporation, multibillion dollar corporation, 514 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: and it's leveraging average people to advocate on its behalf, 515 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: and that's the cynical way to look at it. And 516 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: in fact, eBay does benefit from this. I mean they're 517 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: looking out for themselves. However, the name sure of eBay's 518 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,120 Speaker 1: business means that if eBay were to go away, a 519 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: lot of those average people would find themselves back at 520 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: square one. Their way of making a living would go away. 521 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: So I don't really get as cynical about this. I mean, 522 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: everyone has a stake in it, so I think it's 523 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: actually a pretty responsible move on eBay's part. In October 524 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 1: two thousand five, eBay, under the leadership of Meg Whitman, 525 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: made another big move. This one raised criticism at the time, 526 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 1: and perhaps in hindsight you could call it a foolish 527 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: move to make, although it wasn't nearly the kerfuffle that 528 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: some have made it out to be. That move was 529 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: to acquire the communications company Skype. Skype was founded back 530 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: in two thousand three as a telecommunications software product that 531 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,640 Speaker 1: focused on voice and video calls. You know, in case 532 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: you've never used it. The deal with eBay ultimately meant 533 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: Skype was acquired for about three point one billion dollars. 534 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: Two point five billion of that was in upfront hash 535 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: and stock, and the rest was in uh future transactions, 536 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: but ultimately it ended up being about a three point 537 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 1: one billion purchase price. Now, Whitman had hoped that Skype 538 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,840 Speaker 1: would create a new way for eBay users to communicate 539 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: with one another, that it could be built directly into 540 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: eBay's interface, and rather than emailing back and forth about 541 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 1: items that are up for auction or for sale, users 542 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: would be able to connect directly in a real time 543 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,640 Speaker 1: communication session. You could have potential buyers and sellers talk 544 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: face to face, Questions could be answered efficiently and personally, 545 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: and you'd be less likely to misinterpret something. Once you 546 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,760 Speaker 1: could detect stuff like tone and body language. But there 547 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: was one tiny little problem. Hardly anyone was using it. 548 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: It was a failed integration. Tech journalist Tom Keating said 549 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: in a piece that was published on PC World that 550 00:30:56,000 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 1: eBay users tended to want to be anonymous. They preferred 551 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: to keep things at a distance. They might contact a 552 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: seller to ask for more information, but typically they would 553 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:09,480 Speaker 1: do so in a way that did not involve direct 554 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: real time communication. And I can kind of get this 555 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 1: because when I call up a company, I'm actually relieved 556 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 1: to get an automated system where I can just push 557 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: a button and get the information I need. I know 558 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: that I'm not inconveniencing anyone, and that the system isn't 559 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: going to judge me for being dumb if I ask 560 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 1: a simple question. At least, I hope the robots aren't 561 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,480 Speaker 1: doing that yet, give me a couple more years, robots. 562 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:37,800 Speaker 1: The culture of both Skype and eBay was a big 563 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: clash as well. At that point, Skype was operating more 564 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:45,480 Speaker 1: like a loose startup, whereas eBay had already started to 565 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: establish a very corporate culture. Meg Whitman's leadership had really 566 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 1: transformed it from the wild West startup into more of 567 00:31:55,400 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: a departmentalized, compartmentalized corporation, and so those two things were 568 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 1: clashing quite a bit, and eBay kept shuffling around the 569 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 1: management team over at Skype while trying to find the 570 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: best fit, and that meant Skype was really struggling to 571 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: find itself, to find a rhythm and an identity. Ultimately, 572 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: eBay decided to sell most of its ownership of Skype 573 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: in two thousand nine to a group of private investors, 574 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: and the investors bought about six of the ownership of 575 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: Skype and eBay retained the rest of it. They paid 576 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,360 Speaker 1: one point nine billion dollars to buy that part of Skype, 577 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 1: and Brad Stone of The New York Times wrote that quote, 578 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 1: the online calling service Skype has thrown off the last 579 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,280 Speaker 1: of the shackles that limited its growth and potential as 580 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 1: a unit of eBay end quote. Ouch analysts looked at 581 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: this move as one of eBay trying to make the 582 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: best out of a bad situation. Jeffrey Lindsay, who is 583 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: an analyst, called eBay's purchase of Skype a quote serious, 584 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,959 Speaker 1: a stake by Meg Whitman end quote, and an attempt 585 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:07,200 Speaker 1: to buy growth. Now, of course, a lot of companies 586 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: have bought growth in the past, like instead of trying 587 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 1: to develop new businesses or go into new markets, they 588 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 1: buy another company and they grow that way. This is 589 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: something that happens a lot in business. It's not uncommon, 590 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: so I don't really think of it as a valid 591 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,640 Speaker 1: criticism because plenty of companies have done this. But in 592 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 1: this case, it just didn't pan out. So in retrospect, 593 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,840 Speaker 1: sure you could say this was a bad choice, but 594 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 1: that's in retrospect. And at first it looked like eBay 595 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: was really going to take a bath on this acquisition 596 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: and come out with a loss because they had already 597 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: sold sixty of Skype, and at a much lower price 598 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,000 Speaker 1: than what they spent to buy Skype in the first place. 599 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:54,160 Speaker 1: But then in Microsoft stepped in to purchase Skype. They 600 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 1: wanted it outright, they wanted all ownership of Skype, and 601 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 1: they paid eight point five six bill in dollars total 602 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: for it, and that thirty or so that eBay had 603 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,640 Speaker 1: retained was suddenly worth a whole lot of money. After 604 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,000 Speaker 1: taxes and debts and all that other mess. It amounted 605 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,600 Speaker 1: to a bit less than a billion dollars, but it 606 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: meant that Ultimately, eBay was going to come out ahead 607 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 1: on the Skype deal once everything was said and done. 608 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,879 Speaker 1: It just took two different acquisitions for that to happen. Now, 609 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:29,279 Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that the deal was a great one 610 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,239 Speaker 1: for eBay, but it also doesn't make the Skype acquisition 611 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: one of the worst deals in tech history. It ultimately 612 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: didn't fit, but it wasn't a blown move like News 613 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: Corps buying my Space for five million and then selling 614 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,399 Speaker 1: it for less than fifty million. It wasn't as bad 615 00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: as all that. Now, I'm going to end this episode 616 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,080 Speaker 1: in two thousand six, and our next episode will bring 617 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: us from that point up to date with eBay and 618 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 1: how it's running today. But in two thousand and six, 619 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:00,680 Speaker 1: the most expensive item ever sold through through the auction 620 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 1: site was auctioned off kind of. I'll explain why kind 621 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,000 Speaker 1: of in just a second. But it was a giga 622 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:12,600 Speaker 1: yacht that sold for one hundred sixty eight million dollars. 623 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: That is insane. So what the heck was this giga 624 00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:20,720 Speaker 1: yacht like? And what the heck is a giga yacht? Well, 625 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,920 Speaker 1: a giga yacht is a giant yacht, and you probably 626 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,239 Speaker 1: gathered that from the name and I'm looking at a 627 00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 1: concept photo of this beast and I am flabbergasted. So 628 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:35,040 Speaker 1: it was designed by Frank Mulder, who is a naval architect, 629 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 1: and uh, at this point, it's still a design. But 630 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 1: here are some of the stats on this design. The yacht, 631 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:47,919 Speaker 1: if it's ever built, will measure four hundred five ft long, 632 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:52,160 Speaker 1: that's about a hundred twenty three meters. The design has 633 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: a multi level v I P state room as seven 634 00:35:56,200 --> 00:36:00,479 Speaker 1: guest rooms, including a children's stateroom. It has a spa 635 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 1: that includes a gym, and it has an office and 636 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: a movie theater and a glass elevator and a swimming 637 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: pool and a helicopter pad, and a garage that can 638 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,120 Speaker 1: actually have a ski boat and two tender boats in it. 639 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,320 Speaker 1: You can also launch a submarine from dry dock. And 640 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: according to one source, the master suite would be three 641 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: thousand square feet, which is insane. I don't know if 642 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: that's true or not, because it was just in this 643 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,320 Speaker 1: one source, And when I went to Molder's actual website, 644 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 1: I could not find any information about how big the 645 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: VIP suite actually is, so I don't know where they 646 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,879 Speaker 1: got that information. The purchaser on this auction is an 647 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:43,000 Speaker 1: oil tycoon from Russia named Roman Abramovich. He made the 648 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,800 Speaker 1: winning bid. Technically, the winning bid was for a fifty 649 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 1: down payment of eighty five million dollars on eBay. He 650 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,680 Speaker 1: was the second bid on that auction. The first bid 651 00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:57,120 Speaker 1: was ten dollars. I presume that did not meet the 652 00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,719 Speaker 1: reserve asking price. Now, according to Molder designed, this is 653 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:04,760 Speaker 1: still in that design phase and hasn't even started construction yet, 654 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,160 Speaker 1: so there's no I have no idea that this thing 655 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 1: is ever even going to be built or what the 656 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,040 Speaker 1: status is on the payment. It could be the whole 657 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: deal fizzled out, in which case the most expensive thing 658 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 1: ever purchased on eBay might be a little further down 659 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:21,160 Speaker 1: the list. Also in two thousand and six, Rajiv Duta 660 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:24,520 Speaker 1: would move over as president of Skype to assume the 661 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:28,480 Speaker 1: position of president of PayPal, and PayPal would launch its 662 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:32,120 Speaker 1: first mobile application that year. That brings us up to 663 00:37:32,280 --> 00:37:34,799 Speaker 1: the end of two thousand six and eBay. In our 664 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 1: next episode, we will finish out cover more than a 665 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,520 Speaker 1: decade's worth of information. I'm not going to break it 666 00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: down quite as granular granul early year by year as 667 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,960 Speaker 1: I have in this episode, but uh I definitely will 668 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:52,080 Speaker 1: cover all the big points, such as Meg Whitman's departure 669 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 1: from the company and what has happened since then, and 670 00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 1: we'll also talk about some of the crazy stuff that's 671 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,520 Speaker 1: been bought on the site. I hope you guys are 672 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: enjoying this series. If you have any suggestions for future 673 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:05,680 Speaker 1: episodes of tech Stuff, whether it is a person, a company, 674 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:08,880 Speaker 1: a technology, maybe there's someone you want me to have 675 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,719 Speaker 1: on to interview or perhaps a guest host, let me know. 676 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:16,160 Speaker 1: Send me an email. The address is tech Stuff at 677 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,520 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, or drop me a line 678 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,239 Speaker 1: on Facebook or Twitter to handle it. Both of those 679 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,480 Speaker 1: is tech Stuff hs W. Don't forget to follow us 680 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:29,279 Speaker 1: on Instagram and I'll talk to you again really soon 681 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: for more on this and thousands of other topics because 682 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:48,319 Speaker 1: it how stuff works dot com.