Half.com was an

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain managem ...

website and a subsidiary of

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

in which sellers offered items for sale at fixed prices. The items available on half.com were limited to books, textbooks, music, movies, video games, and video game consoles. Half provided a platform where sellers could choose what price to sell their item for. A seller was able to see the average and most recent sale prices for any particular item to determine the selling price desired. A potential buyer could see available inventory for an item and choose their desired seller. This was a different model from eBay, which has buyers bid against one another. The pre-order feature allowed buyers to set a price and quality rating of a particular item they would like to buy. Sellers saw the pre-order listed when they put an item up for sale and could sell it to the buyer if they agreed with the buyer's price. There were no fees to list items on Half.com, but rather the company took a commission of every completed sale. The seller was responsible for shipping any item within three business days of a sale and paying the actual shipping costs. eBay shut down the service on September 1, 2017.

History

Half.com was founded in 1999 by American entrepreneur

Josh Kopelman Joshua Kopelman is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. Kopelman is best known as a founder of First Round Capital, a pioneering seed-stage venture fund that led the seed round in Uber. Josh has consistently been ran ...

and Sunny Balijepalli. As an

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

gimmick, in December of the same year, the company paid the town of

Halfway, Oregon Halfway is a city in Baker County, Oregon, United States. The city took its name from the location of its post office, on the Alexander Stalker ranch, halfway between Pine and Jim Town. The population was 288 at the 2010 census. During the do ...

US$100,000 and donated 20 new computers to change its name to " Half.com, Oregon" for a year. eBay purchased Half.com in 2000 for roughly $350 million, integrating its user management system, buyer/seller feedback, and account information into eBay. Like its parent company, Half.com was not a retail site and had no physical stock or inventory. Rather, the site offered a place for individual sellers to list their items and potential buyers a central location in which to view them, offering both a standardized transaction and money exchange process. Unlike its parent, Half.com was not an

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

site; sellers offered their wares at a bid price of their choosing. Like

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

, Half.com played a large role in the used

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbook ...

and CD markets. eBay planned to integrate Half.com into eBay and eventually close down Half.com. Many of the features that made listing media items such as CDs and DVDs quick and easy were integrated into eBay, but eBay kept Half.com running separately primarily for the textbook market. Half.com began accepting PayPal in January 2013, ten and a half years after eBay acquired

PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...

. Sellers were paid by pre-arranged deposits into a designated personal checking account. On November 17, 2016, it was announced that Half.com commission rates would increase significantly, with lower-priced item rates going from 15% to 25%. The rates went into effect on December 16, 2016, with the initial notification to sellers being sent out less than a month prior and right in the midst of the holiday shopping season. The move was seen as an attempt by eBay to soon force the closure of Half.com. On June 16, 2017, eBay notified Half.com members via email that Half.com would be closing on August 31, 2017. The site closed on September 1, 2017, but continued to process returns and refunds until October 31, 2017.

Operation

There were no fees to list items on Half.com. The company took a commission of every completed sale. In January 2009, the commission was 15% if the fixed selling price was $50 or less, 12.5% if the price was more than $50 but less than $100.01, 10% if the price was more than $100 but less than $250.01, 7.5% if the price was more than $250 but less than $500.01, and 5% if the price was more than $500. The seller was responsible for shipping any item within three business days of a sale and paying the actual shipping costs. A shipping and handling fee was added to the transaction and was (partially) credited to the seller as a reimbursement. The buyer could choose either USPS Media Mail or expedited delivery. Depending on the weight of the item, the reimbursement amount was often less than the actual shipping costs. For example, the shipping reimbursement for any DVD sent via USPS Media Mail was $2.39. If the reimbursement amount exceeded the actual shipping costs, many sellers offered a "free upgrade" to first class shippingwhich was not much more expensive than media mail for small items such as CDs. The "quality rating" of an item (Brand New, Like New, Very Good, Good and Acceptable), was disclosed to buyers before order placement, along with a text description entered by the seller. The feedback about each individual seller was disclosed before order placement, linking the eBay feedback system, which allowed the buyer to choose their merchant.

References

External links

FAQ regarding the closure of half.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Half.Com Online marketplaces of the United States Book selling websites EBay Internet properties established in 1999 Internet properties disestablished in 2017 2000 mergers and acquisitions 1999 establishments in the United States