Small merchants accelerated a shift to Amazon’s marketplace technology. By 2007,
Amazon was simply the largest marketplace on the Web. For example, John Wieber was
selling $1 million a year in refurbished computers through eBay. But increased competition
and eBay’s rising prices convinced him to switch to direct sales through Amazon. Similar
small merchants noted that although the fees on Amazon are hefty, they do not have to pay
a listing fee. Plus, eBay shoppers only want to buy things at bargain-basement prices
(Mangalindan 2005).