Its hectic expansion was instead propelled by Metcalfe’s law: as the size of its auction network grew, its value rose exponentially. The more sellers listed stuff on eBay, the more bargain hunters were drawn to the site; the more buyers there were, the more sellers turned to it. Moreover, unlike telecommunications networks, which were stitched together with routers and switches made by a variety of firms, eBay captured 100 percent of the commissions generated by its auctions. It was profiting from a network effect. What’s more, it owned the network.
