A Printing Hooray for eBay

Founded in September 1995 by Pierre Omidyar—a man intelligent enough to write a software program for his high school library at the tender age of 14—eBay quickly went from a great place to buy sports memorabilia, beanie babies, toys and doilies, to being all things to all people. Who needs a dusty old antiques store when you can hang out your e-shingle for a percentage far below the cost of brick-and-mortar overhead? Weekend warriors and diehard 'net merchants alike hawk their wares over what is easily the most popular site on the Internet. It is the place where supply and demand go to play, the ultimate tribute to capitalism.