Ebay Explained 2006 (KLCC)

Ebay Explained 2006 (KLCC) (Photo credit: liewcf)

Did you see this article floating around a few days ago? The 50 Biggest Websites of 2010 (As Predicted in 2000)

The article takes a look at Futurist Frank Feather, owner of a freaking ridiculous name, and the predictions he made in 2000 about what sites would still be around in 2010. While some of the sites bombed out long ago, he was surprisingly on the mark with the majority of the list.

But what I thought was really interesting about it was that his list of what sites he thought would be the top 50 websites in 2010 didn’t include eBay. eBay was already a pretty powerful force in 2000 but he thought it was about to fizzle out? On one hand, this makes me think about how many times eBay’s been counted out and people have predicted The End of eBay and yet it just keeps on going strong. Is it because they keep changing (like they would probably spin it) or because of how they’ve stayed the same (which is what I would credit)?

What do you think? Is eBay’s current success a surprise or have they always been an under-appreciated player in the retail game? Would you expect them to top any lists in 2020?