_
ebay’s customer’s are its product development, market research, merchandising and sales department – allrolled into one. it’s not just that they have made ebay into a global marketplace for almost anything from a$1 baseball card to a $4.9m gulfstream jet, ebay’s customers also tell the world about ebay by word ofmouth. they crowd online discussion boards, share tips, point out glitches, and lobby for changes. ebay’scustomers even police the site by rating each other. imagine a retailer trying to do this: interview everysingle person leaving every store, post a list of what each thought of the shopping experience, ask them towrite up a merchandising plan and call suppliers to arrange deliveries-and oh, by the way, could they keepan eye out for shoplifting? that’s what ebay’s customers voluntarily do each day.