[aeyes]

eBay looks like a platform that is at least an order of magnitude simpler: No realtime data streams like GPS updates, no matching algorithms, no demand-based pricing or incentives, no ETA calculations. Uber is operating in the real world which means that weather, traffic, protests, construction, events and so on affect the operation.

The eBay business requires no boots on the ground, Uber Eats does because they have to equip riders. And eBay has almost no market-specific laws/regulations which change every couple of months to worry about.

I think eBay doesn't process payments, that is outsourced to PayPal.

It looks like eBay is in about 25 markets, Uber is available in 85 countries.

Serious question: Why does eBay have so many employees? It's just a search engine for a user generated product catalog where users can place bids on the items. My guess is that most Uber employees aren't high-paid developers, it is more likely that they are in support roles.

[prirun]

eBay handles their own payments for a while now. PayPal is still an option, but sellers are required to register a bank account with eBay.