eBay operates an online marketplace where individuals and businesses buy and sell new and used goods, built around both auction-style listings and fixed-price sales across a wide range of product categories. The company pioneered online auctions in the 1990s and remains known for used, collectible and niche items, a positioning somewhat different from Amazon's focus on new merchandise sold at fixed prices with fast shipping. eBay earns revenue primarily through fees charged to sellers for listing and selling items on its platform, giving it a business model that scales with the volume and value of goods sold through its marketplace rather than requiring it to hold inventory itself. The company has invested in authentication services for luxury goods and collectibles, along with advertising products that let sellers pay for better visibility, as ways to grow revenue beyond core transaction fees in a mature online marketplace business.