eBay Mission Statement

This is eBay Inc. mission statement overview in 2013. For more information on how to write a mission statement, please refer to our article.

Company Background

NameeBay Inc.
LogoeBay logo
Industries servedInternet, Online retailing
Geographic areas servedWorldwide
HeadquartersU.S.
Current CEOJohn Donahoe
Revenue$ 14.07 billion (2012)
Profit$ 2.60 billion (2012)
Employees27,770 (2012)
Main CompetitorsAmazon.com, Craigslist, Ubid, eBid Auctions, Google, Overstock.com and many other companies.

eBay is an international online marketplace with a global customer base of 233 million. It is a multibillion business operating in 37 countries. There are millions of items listed on eBay across thousands of categories, including antiques, toys, books, computers, sports and electronics, amongst many others.

Mission

Ebay mission statement 2013

“eBay Inc. enables commerce by delivering flexible and scalable solutions that foster merchant growth.”
Evaluation
Does it include…?
CustomersProducts/ ServicesMarkets
YesYesNo
TechnologyConcern for survivalPhilosophy
NoNoNo
Self-conceptConcern for public imageEmployees
YesNoNo
Does it mention values like…?Customer or product-oriented?
CitizenshipTeamworkCustomer-oriented
NoNoScore
ExcellenceIntegrity
NoNo1.6/4.5

(This evaluation framework is composed of the guidelines listed in our article: Mission Statement for Success)

Overview

eBay’s mission has scored only 1.6 points and is a poorly constructed mission. The statement doesn’t include most of the essential components and doesn’t mention any values. This is a common mistake done by many famous companies. They create mission statements that are inspiring and enduring but provide little value to firm’s stakeholders as to what is the business “reason for being”. eBay’s mission is customer-oriented and provides more flexibility for the business to expand into other product markets. In overall, eBay could expand its mission by addressing more stakeholders and providing more information about their market, philosophy, concern for public image and employees.

Many of the readers may also encounter other mission of eBay:“eBay delivers the world’s largest online marketplace to customers via any connected device, connecting people with the things they need and love.”

This mission is for the eBay marketplace and not for eBay Inc., which is the parent company of the former. eBay Inc. also controls PayPal and eBay Enterprise. eBay marketplace mission additionally includes markets but doesn’t mention any values and is a poor statement.

Sources

  1. eBay Inc. (2013). Who We Are. Available at: http://www.ebayinc.com/who_we_are/one_company

Leave a Comment