London & San Jose, CA July 31, 2002-Bonhams Auctioneers, the world's third largest auction house, today announced its acquisition of Butterfields, the premier West Coast auction house in the United States, from eBay Inc. The agreement includes the purchase of 100% of Butterfields' stock, including Butterfields' traditional auction business, and certain real estate occupied by Butterfields in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Established in 1793, Bonhams offers its clients a wealth of established industry and professional experience of over 200 specialists in more than 40 dedicated departments. Bonhams has headquarters in London, offices in Switzerland, Australia and San Francisco and carries out more than 600 sales annually worldwide in Britain, Europe, Australia and the United States.

"We are pleased to welcome Butterfields to our distinguished family of auction houses," said Robert Brooks, president and CEO of Bonhams. "As one of the world's premier auction brands, Bonhams is uniquely positioned to grow Butterfields' traditional auction business and expand eBay's online presence in high end collectibles via eBay's successful Live Auction technology."

The acquisition of Butterfields in April 1999 facilitated eBay's entry into the fine and decorative art and collectables categories. The purchase also helped eBay reach out to a new class of buyers and sellers. In September 2000, eBay and Butterfields launched eBay's Live Auction technology, bringing the excitement of the traditional showroom auction to Internet users.

"Butterfields has played an important role in the evolution of the eBay marketplace," said Geoff Iddison, CEO of Butterfields. "Today's transaction allows Butterfields to partner with one of the world's leading traditional auction houses while eBay strengthens its strategic focus on its role as an online marketplace manager."

The sale to Bonhams of Butterfields and its wholly-owned financing subsidiary closed on July 31, 2002. The sale to Bonhams of certain real estate currently occupied by Butterfields is expected to close in Q4 of this year. Financial terms of the two transactions were not disclosed, however, they are not expected to have a material impact on eBay's Q3 or Q4 2002 consolidated financial results.

eBay also confirmed that based on its current business outlook, the sale of Butterfields and certain real estate assets will not impact its most recent financial guidance for Q3 and the full year 2002 or its guidance for the full year 2003. Accordingly, the Company's financial guidance provided on July 18, 2002, continues to be appropriate.