Gary Briggs

Countdown for Community Counts
Our Community Counts promotion wraps up on the 21st, so make sure you're earning points for your local community by bidding, buying, listing, selling and using our Community forums. The title of #1 eBay Community in America is up for grabs -- and so are the celebration and charitable donation that come with it!

It's been fun to see which local communities are near the top of the leader board. For example, Coaldale, CO, Ladera Ranch, CA, and Surprise, AZ are among the leaders in our Charity category so far. And Dellslow, WV, Neche, ND, and Point Roberts, WA are a few of the most active in our Community category. But there are several more days before Community Counts ends – and there's no telling which local eBay community will come out on top!

eBay Community Photo Project by Legendary Photojournalist David Hume Kennerly
Some more exciting news to share about Community Counts. Some of the most active local eBay communities – and some of the individual eBay members who helped them perform so well in Community Counts - will be photographed by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Hume Kennerly as part of a project documenting eBay communities across America. Kennerly won the 1972 Pulitzer for his photos of the Vietnam War, and was chief White House photographer for President Gerald Ford. He's also an avid trader on eBay! You can learn more about David Hume Kennerly here.

We're very excited about David’s involvement with Community Counts. In just 11 years, eBay and its members – you - have made a tremendous, positive impact on American culture and daily life. David’s photo project will document some of that impact. Next year, eBay will donate a collection of these images to the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, where they’ll join an expansive archive of historic images.

Once we announce the winners in Community Counts, we'll reveal which communities David will be photographing in December, so stay tuned.

Holiday Catalogs and TV Campaign
Our holiday catalog was sent out to 4 million households in early November, and we're seeing some very good results. Plus, our Gift Guide will also be sent out to 4 million homes later this month.

In addition, we're running full throttle with our "IT" TV ads that communicate the central theme that "whatever IT is, you can get IT on eBay." They’re airing on all major networks, including FOX, NBC, CBS, and ABC. You can see them on high-profile programming such as Lost, CSI: Miami, and Deal or No Deal. The holiday-focused ads will also appear across many cable networks.

If you haven’t seen the TV ads yet, you can find them online at www.whatisit.com. Several new versions will be unveiled before the year is out, so bookmark this link. As I said in my last message, by the end of the year we'll have reached 85% of our consumer audience an average of 13 times each.

National "Sleep In" Day
We all know people who get up at dawn the day after Thanksgiving and fight the crowds just to pick up a few bargains, right? Well, this year we're reminding holiday shoppers that on eBay, you can forget all that. We're naming next Friday National "Sleep In" Day!

Part of what makes eBay special is that you get the best deals any time of the day or night, right from your own home. You can even shop in your jammies -- if that's your thing . So this year forget about setting your alarm, and enjoy the extra rest before you shop on eBay. Keep an eye out for our National "Sleep In" Day TV commercial (this commercial, too, will be available at www.whatisit.com soon).

More Promotions and Innovations at Work
We’ve been hard at work, running several promotions and special initiatives to create excitement and keep buyers active on eBay. eBay Deal Finder, eBay Pop, and the eBay Giving Works "Spotlight on the Gulf Coast" campaign are some of the promotional efforts we've launched recently. You've probably also seen our holiday home page, featuring a festive design and several new modules such as "Wish for IT" and "IT of the Day."

And finally, earlier this week Edurne Jorda from our Seller Development team announced a new PowerSeller Challenge that we're holding from now until December 26, 2006. Participating sellers who beat their personalized targets will receive credit to their account and be entered into a sweepstakes where they can win one of five $5,000 cash prizes. We know our sellers are busy this time of year, and we’re pleased to add a bit more fun and incentive to help them make this a very successful holiday season.

I’ll be back again next month. On behalf of everyone here at eBay, I’d like to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

Gary Briggs
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
eBay North America