eBay Selects E-Stamp as Exclusive Provider of USPS Internet Postage on eBay's Web Site; E-Stamp's Online Shipping and Mailing Solution Now Available to 7.7 million eBay Users

Business Wire, Jan 12, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2000

eBay(R) (Nasdaq:EBAY) (www.ebay.com), the world's leading personal online trading community, and E-Stamp Corporation (Nasdaq:ESTM; www.e-stamp.com), the pioneer of Internet postage, today announced a strategic relationship in which eBay will promote E-Stamp as an exclusive provider of United States Postal Service Internet postage on eBay's web site.

The multi-year agreement provides E-Stamp access to one of the world's largest communities of consistent high-volume shippers. In addition, eBay's 7.7 million community members will be able to take advantage of E-Stamp's convenient way to purchase postage and ship merchandise.

Collectively, eBay users are estimated to spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on postage, particularly via Priority Mail(R) and Express Mail(R), making them one of the United States Postal Service's largest customers.

"We're committed to offering the eBay community a range of services that make trading more convenient, efficient and add value to the core auction process," said Meg Whitman, president and CEO of eBay.

"We view E-Stamp(R) Internet postage as a tremendous productivity tool. We believe it will save our sellers time by making it easy for them to print postage and will help them minimize trips to the post office."

According to Media Metrix, the eBay site receives approximately 10 million unique visitors each month, representing approximately 6% of all daily Internet traffic. (source: Media Metrix, November 1999.)

"This relationship continues E-Stamp's strong momentum in reaching the small office and home office market and provides benefits to millions of eBay members across the country," said Robert (Bo) H. Ewald, president and CEO of E-Stamp Corporation.

"Our relationship with eBay will help us to execute on our aggressive seed-the-market strategy as we continue to acquire valuable customers searching for an online postage solution that meets their extensive mailing and shipping needs."

As a result of this new relationship, E-Stamp will be prominently featured on the eBay web site. The eBay community will enjoy significant discounts on the E-Stamp Internet postage starter kit as well as reduced convenience fees for users who purchase postage online via E-Stamp. E-Stamp and eBay also plan to offer easy access to E-Stamp's online supply store by means of a special co-branded micro-site.

eBay and E-Stamp also plan to engage in a variety of joint marketing efforts, such as special promotions to top sellers, direct mail outreach and co-branded mailing supplies.

The two companies tested the first joint promotion toward the end of December with a special holiday offer for eBay members. According to Ewald, the promotion, which was designed to help eBay sellers with their shipping needs during the busy holiday shopping season, was very favorably received, demonstrating a good fit between E-Stamp Internet postage and the eBay community.

The agreement illustrates the continuing support for the E-Stamp "off-line" Internet postage solution from leading technology and online companies. E-Stamp Internet postage, the only Internet postage service that allows for the printing of digital stamps without requiring a constant connection to the Internet, allows customers to print postage 24 hours a day, seven days a week using a standard printer.

eBay is the latest company to form a strategic relationship with E-Stamp -- joining a roster that includes America Online, Yahoo!, Excite@Home, Intuit, Microsoft and Compaq.

About E-Stamp

We provide an easy-to-use Internet postage service that enables customers to purchase, download and print postage directly from their personal computers. The purchased postage can be printed onto envelopes, labels or documents using standard laser or inkjet printers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without the need to remain connected to the Internet.

We received approval from the U.S. Postal Service in August 1999 for our Internet postage service, and since then have been providing our service nationally. Our Internet postage service is targeted at small business, small office and home office users, collectively known as SOHO users, most of whom usually connect on modems at speeds of 28.8 or 33.6 kilobytes per second and share lines with telephones or fax machines.

We have established strategic relationships with industry leaders including Microsoft, eBay, Yahoo!, Intuit, Compaq, Excite@Home, America Online, Francotyp-Postalia and Avery Dennison. For more information about E-Stamp, please visit our web site at www.e-stamp.com.

About eBay

eBay (www.ebay.com), the world's personal trading community(TM) pioneered person-to-person online trading. Founded in 1995, eBay has developed an efficient and entertaining trading site on the Web that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

eBay has more than 7.7 million registered users. eBay members add more than 375,000 items to the site daily in more than 2,900 categories, including: automobiles; antiques; books, movies and music; coins and stamps; collectibles; computers; dolls and figures; jewelry and gemstones; photo and electronics; pottery and glass; sports memorabilia and toys.