SAN JOSE -- EBay Inc. announced Thursday that it would shut down Half.com, its fixed-price subsidiary for used books, CDs, videos and other common household items, in late 2004.
Half.com founder Josh Kopelman also said he would leave the company's office in Plymouth Meeting, Penn., effective April 15.
The San Jose-based online auction company purchased Half.com in a June 2000 stock swap. The acquisition of Half.com, which at the time listed about 1 million items and had about 250,000 registered users, significantly increased eBay's operating expenses for several quarters.
Founded in October 1999, Half.com sold previously owned products such as books, DVDs and board games for at least half the retail price. Sellers typed in a number corresponding to a bar code on most products, automatically providing them with the official list price.
The young company gained fame in May 2000, when it persuaded politicians in tiny Halfway, Ore., to change the town's name to Half.com. Despite complaints from many residents who thought it to be a silly marketing gimmick, the city erected a sign that said, "Welcome to Half.com Oregon, America's first dot-com city."<
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