eBay embodied the spirit of the early internet. It's P2P. It's like a massive flea market. You never know what you'll find just looking around. It's not Amazon

eBay embodied the spirit of the early internet. It's P2P. It's like a massive flea market. You never know what you'll find just looking around. It's not Amazon. eBay doesn't have warehouses. They don't own Whole Foods. They don't show you things other purchasers bought that were looking at the same items you are. They don't try to rope you in to Prime. They aren't the modern-day Sears catalog. The buyer/seller communities on eBay's forums were amazing. People knew each other. They quickly weeded out bad sellers and you could actually contact people. Amazon introduced 'reviews'. But they normalized buying things from random people on the internet. My first laptop, I purchased from a person on a newsgroup and mailed them a money order. I later sold that same laptop on eBay with a photo, PayPal for payment, etc.