Everyday eBay: Culture, Collecting, and Desire

ISBN 10: 0415974356 / ISBN 13: 9780415974356

Published by Routledge, 2006

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780415974356

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Everyday eBay: Culture, Collecting, and Desire
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415974356
• ISBN 13: 9780415974356
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Everyday eBay is the first scholarly analysis of the internet marketplace that has become a global social, cultural and economic phenomenon. The eighteen new and classic essays gathered here examine eBay from a wide variety of perspectives as a bellwether of taste and material culture; as a rich site of cultural, racial, and sexual discourse and practice; as an emergent media form; and as a facilitator of global consumerism. From old toys steeped in nostalgia to 'rare' limited edition shoes, the contributors demonstrate that value on eBay is never simply about 'price'.

On any given day, more than two million items are listed for sale on eBay, from everyday objects to kitsch and collectibles to the truly bizarre. Since its debut ten years ago, eBay has quickly become a central destination for millions of web browsers. According to eBay itself, up to 165,000 Americans now make their living by selling through the website, and other business analysts project that hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide now make their living through eBay.

About the Author

Ken Hillis is Professor of Media and Technology Studies, Department of Communication Studies, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is author of Digital Sensations: Space, Identity and Embodiment in Virtual Reality and Online a Lot of the Time: Ritual, Fetish, Sign.
Michael Petit is Mellon Lecturing Fellow at the University Writing Program in the Center for Teaching, Learning and Writing at Duke University. He is author of Peacekeepers at War: A Marine's Account of the Beirut Catastrophe.
Nathan Epley is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication Studies, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a contributing editor for NMEDIAC: The Journal of New Media and Culture.