I read a terrific article in the Sunday New York Times about eBay - December 21 (Go the link and put the term eBay into search to find the article --- of course within a few days one will only be able to read this article by paying for it, which sort of defeats part of the benefit of blogging and linking!).

The gist of the article is not entirely new. That is that many businesses have and are springing up in and around eBay. This particular article indicates that over 30,000 people make their living by providing such related services.

One such company is profiled in this article. The company is AuctionDrop. Sellers who do not want to sell directly via eBay drop their items at AuctionDrop and AuctionDrop takes care of selling, shipping, etc. AuctionDrop is opening a number of such depots and has significant venture capital backing.

As an aside, readers know I have been writing about our new trade show called Internet Planet (Growing Business Online). Needless to say, AuctionDrop is just one tiny example of what we will be discussing at Internet Planet. Whether an organization evolves around a powerful eBay or it is an existing company that is 50 years old and is creating new directions via selling online, we are witnessing an amazing revitalization of Internet growth worldwide.