eBay Gives Rural and Small Town Businesses a Global Presence, Report Shows

For rural small businesses, the ability to expand beyond their local market is extremely challenging and important. The impact eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) is making on this front just came to light as the company partnered with a team of economists from Sidley Austin LLC to analyze the sellers on its platform. According to the report (PDF) from the eBay Policy Lab, online marketplaces give small businesses and entrepreneurs access to outside economies in these rural areas. This is driving growth in counties across the country which are not experiencing the same amount of expansion as in the coastal or more popular regions. Looking at the eBay economy in the US, the company said commercial sellers and full-time entrepreneurs on the platform are responsible for creating more than 690,000 jobs. And 36% of these sellers come from small towns and rural areas.