what do the letters, ( ebay ) actually stand for???

Answer 1

Every Bids Against You of course

Answer 2

This is from ... http://www.word-detective.com/021605.html

Dear Word Detective: What is the derivation of the word "eBay"? Presumably the "e" is for "electronic." The "bay" bit? Uh? -- Nick.

Well, I always figured that "bay" referred to the cries of anguish heard from the Legions of the Outbid, eBay users whose attention wandered just long enough to allow a "sniper" (last-minute bidder) to snatch up that ultra-rare Wayne Newton gravy boat or bootleg DVD of "Cop Rock."

But that was, of course, before I wrote my most recent book, From Altoids to Zima: The Surprising Stories Behind 125 Famous Brand Names (Simon & Schuster). Now I know more about Barbie, Betty Crocker and Grape-Nuts than any sane person should. I even know what an "Olay" (as in Oil of Olay) is (or isn't).

All of which is, as you may have guessed, a flimsy prelude to quoting myself on the subject of eBay:

If Pierre Omidyar had been a little quicker on his feet, the name "eBay" would be nothing but an annoying typo today. In 1995, Omidyar, a French-Iranian immigrant and Silicon Valley veteran, created a web site he called Auction Web, an electronic flea market where visitors could hawk Beanie Babies, computer gear and the Pez dispensers his then-girlfriend (now wife) collected. Unfortunately, the internet gold rush was by then in full swing, and the domain name "auctionweb.com" was already taken, as was Omidyyar's second choice, "echobay.com" (after his company, Echo Bay Technology Group).

But "ebay.com" was ripe for the picking, and Omidyar snapped it up. And from that third-choice domain name the internet's premier auction site grew. Today on a typical day there are more than 16 million items up for auction on eBay in more than 16,000 categories, and in 2002 eBay members unloaded more than $14 billion dollars worth of goods on the site. Presumably, Mrs. Omidyar now rarely gets outbid on Pez dispensers.

Since domain names on the internet do not distinguish between upper and lower case letters, the distinctive capitalization "eBay" was not, strictly speaking, necessary. But the alternative "ebay" would most likely have usually been pronounced "eh-bay" or "eb-ay," more evocative of a startled diner ("Eb-AY! That's hot!") than a multi-billion dollar business empire. The lower-case "e" prefix also evokes the great 90s "e-commerce" gold rush, a boom of whose fizzle eBay is probably most the successful survivor.

Answer 3

Someone else on a different thread suggested "electronic auction bay". http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=584888 I personally figured the "e" was for electronic, like it is for e-mail.

Wikipedia entry for ebay says:
Originally, the site belonged to Echo Bay Technology Group, Omidyar's consulting firm. Omidyar had tried to register the domain name EchoBay.com but found it already taken by the Echo Bay Mines, a gold mining company, so he shortened it to his second choice, eBay.com. [5]

Guess "electronic" is wrong. Oh well!

Answer 4

Pierre Omidyar, who had created the Auction Web trading website, had formed a web consulting concern called Echo Bay Technology Group. "Echo Bay" didn't refer to the town in Nevada, "It just sounded cool," Omidyar reportedly said. Echo Bay Mines Limited, a gold mining company, had already taken EchoBay.com, so Omidyar registered what (at the time) he thought was the second best name: eBay.com.

Answer 5

Electronic Bidding All Year

Answer 6

A bay is somewhere that trading occures & e means electronic

Answer 7

Every Body And Yourself.
I dont know but i am sure if you contact them they will tell you.

Good Luck

Answer 8

Electronic buying and yelling.

Answer 9

a 'bay' is a section of a wharehouse where merchandise is store - electronic bay

Answer 10

Emma Buys A Yogurt..

Seriously i have no idea! Let's hope someone does :)