Business Quote by Pierre Omidyar
“eBay's business is based on enabling someone to do business with another person, and to do that, they first have to develop some measure of trust, either in the other person or the system.”
About This Quote
Trust is the foundation that allows strangers to transact safely, requiring confidence in people or the platform.
In simple terms: Trust enables safe online trade.
Key Takeaway
Build and maintain trust to facilitate commerce.
Themes
trust
commerce
platforms
Mood
cautious
optimistic
Type
business
philosophical
When to use this quote
- online marketplaces
- peer‑to‑peer sales
- customer onboarding
Key Concepts
social capital
reputation systems
network effects
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you verify trust in a new partner?
- What mechanisms reinforce trust on platforms?
A Different Perspective
Trust can be fragile and hard to quantify.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)