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Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(5)
File No. 333-175733

 

The information in this preliminary prospectus supplement is not complete and may be changed. A registration statement relating to these securities has become effective under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are not an offer to sell these securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Subject to Completion

Preliminary Prospectus Supplement dated July 19, 2012

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

(To prospectus dated July 22, 2011)

$            

 

eBay Inc.

$                % Notes due 2015

$                % Notes due 2017

$                % Notes due 2022

$                % Notes due 2042

 

 

eBay Inc. is offering $         aggregate principal amount of its         % Notes due 2015 (the “2015 notes”), $         aggregate principal amount of its         % Notes due 2017 (the “2017 notes”), $         aggregate principal amount of its         % Notes due 2022 (the “2022 notes”) and $         aggregate principal amount of its         % Notes due 2042 (the “2042 notes” and, together with the 2015 notes, the 2017 notes and the 2022 notes, the “notes”). Unless redeemed prior to maturity, the 2015 notes will mature on                     , 2015, the 2017 notes will mature on                 , 2017, the 2022 notes will mature on                 , 2022 and the 2042 notes will mature on                 , 2042. We will pay interest on the notes of each series semi-annually in arrears on each                  and                 , commencing                .

We may redeem some or all of the notes of each series at any time and from time to time prior to their maturity at the redemption prices described under the heading “Description of Notes—Optional Redemption.”

The notes will be the senior unsecured obligations of eBay Inc. The notes will rank equally in right of payment with all other existing and future senior unsecured indebtedness of eBay Inc.

Investing in the notes involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-6 of this prospectus supplement and on page 3 of the accompanying prospectus for information about important factors you should consider before buying the notes.

 

Per 2015 Note

Total For 2015 Notes

Per 2017 Note

Total For 2017 Notes

Per 2022  Note

Total For 2022  Notes

Per 2042  Note

Total For 2042  Notes

Total For All Notes

Public offering price (1)

%

$

%

$

%

$

%

$

$

Underwriting discount

%

$

%

$

%

$

%

$

$

Proceeds, before expenses, to eBay (1)

%

$

%

$

%

$

%

$

$

 

 

(1)	Plus accrued interest, if any, from             , 2012, if settlement occurs after that date.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The underwriters expect to deliver the notes in book-entry form only through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company for the accounts of its participants, including Clearstream Banking, société anonyme and Euroclear Bank, S.A./N.V., as operator for the Euroclear System, against payment in New York, New York on or about             , 2012.

 

 

Joint Book-Running Managers

 

J.P. Morgan		Citigroup		Credit Suisse		Deutsche Bank Securities

The date of this prospectus supplement is             , 2012.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prospectus Supplement

 

		Page
About this Prospectus Supplement			S-1
Prospectus Supplement Summary			S-2
Risk Factors			S-6
Forward-Looking Statements			S-8
Use of Proceeds			S-9
Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges			S-9
Description of Notes			S-10
Material United States Federal Income Tax Considerations			S-14
Underwriting			S-18
Legal Matters			S-20
Experts			S-20
Incorporation by Reference			S-20
Prospectus
About this Prospectus			1
eBay Inc.			2
Risk Factors			3
Forward-Looking Statements			6
Use of Proceeds			7
Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges			7
Description of Debt Securities			8
Book-Entry Form and Transfer			23
Plan of Distribution			26
Legal Matters			28
Experts			28
Where You Can Find More Information			28

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

This prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are part of a “shelf” registration statement that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. By using a shelf registration statement, we may sell one or more series of the debt securities described in the accompanying prospectus from time to time in one or more offerings. The accompanying prospectus provides you with a general description of some of the terms of the debt securities we may offer, some of which may not be applicable to this offering. This prospectus supplement describes the specific terms applicable to this offering of notes. We urge you to read carefully this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus and the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in the accompanying prospectus before deciding whether to invest in the notes. In addition, this prospectus supplement may add, update or change information contained in the accompanying prospectus or any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein and, accordingly, any statement in the accompanying prospectus or in any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein will be deemed modified or superseded to the extent that any statement contained in this prospectus supplement modifies or supersedes that statement.

The distribution of this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus and the offering of the notes in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus come should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. No action has been or will be taken by us or by any underwriter that would permit a public offering of the notes or the possession or distribution of this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any related free writing prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than the United States. Neither this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus nor any related free writing prospectus constitutes, and none of the foregoing may be used in connection with, an offer or solicitation by anyone in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not authorized or in which the person making such offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation.

You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus. We have not authorized any person to provide you with different or inconsistent information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities or soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference therein and any related free writing prospectus is accurate only as of the respective dates of those documents. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

Unless we otherwise specify or the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus supplement to “we,” “us,” “our” or “eBay” refer to the current Delaware corporation (eBay Inc.) and its California predecessor, as well as all of our consolidated subsidiaries; and references in this prospectus supplement to “eBay Inc.” refer to eBay Inc. excluding its subsidiaries.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in the notes involves a high degree of risk. Before you decide to invest in the notes, you should carefully consider the risk factors set forth below, as well as the risks and uncertainties described under the caption “Risk Factors” in the accompanying prospectus and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated by reference into the accompanying prospectus and may be obtained as described under “Where You Can Find More Information” therein, as well as the other information contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus. Each of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and the occurrence of any of these risks might cause you to lose all or part of your investment in the notes. In addition, the information contained in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in the accompanying prospectus includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. We refer you to the “Forward-Looking Statements” section of this prospectus supplement for information regarding some of the risks and uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including the risks described below and elsewhere in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference therein.

We may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, which may impair our ability to make payments on the notes.

At June 30, 2012, we had approximately $12 million of secured indebtedness outstanding, $550 million of senior unsecured indebtedness outstanding under our $2.0 billion commercial paper program and approximately $1.5 billion of other senior unsecured indebtedness outstanding. We also have a $3.0 billion revolving credit facility under which we maintain $2.0 billion of available borrowing capacity in order to repay commercial paper borrowings in the event we are unable to repay those borrowings from other sources when they come due. As of June 30, 2012, no borrowings or letters of credit were outstanding under this revolving credit facility and, accordingly, $1.0 billion of borrowing capacity was available for other purposes permitted by this credit facility.

In addition to the substantial indebtedness incurred by issuing the notes in this offering, we may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, including under our commercial paper program and revolving credit facility or through public offerings or private placements of debt securities. The notes offered by this prospectus supplement and the indenture pursuant to which the notes will be issued do not place any limitation on the amount of unsecured debt that we or our subsidiaries may incur. Our outstanding indebtedness and any additional indebtedness we incur may have important consequences for you as a holder of the notes, including, without limitation, the following:

 

•

we will be required to use cash to pay the principal of and interest on our indebtedness;

 

•

our indebtedness and leverage may increase our vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic and industry conditions, as well as to competitive pressure;

 

•

our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, share repurchases and other general corporate and other purposes may be limited; and

 

•

our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry may be limited.

Our ability to make payments of principal of and interest on our indebtedness (including the notes) depends upon our future performance, which will be subject to general economic conditions, industry cycles and financial, business and other factors affecting our consolidated results of operations and financial condition,

 

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many of which are beyond our control. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future to service our debt (including the notes), we may be required to, among other things:

 

•

repatriate funds at substantial tax cost;

 

•

seek additional financing in the debt or equity markets;

 

•

refinance or restructure all or a portion of our indebtedness, including the notes;

 

•

sell selected assets;

 

•

reduce or delay planned capital expenditures; or

 

•

reduce or delay planned operating expenditures.

Such measures might not be sufficient to enable us to service our debt, including the notes. In addition, any such financing, refinancing or sale of assets might not be available on economically favorable terms or at all.

Your right to receive payments on the notes is effectively subordinated to the rights of secured creditors.

The notes will be effectively subordinated in right of payment to our secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the collateral securing that indebtedness. As of June 30, 2012, we had approximately $12 million of outstanding secured indebtedness and the indenture governing the notes permits us to incur additional secured debt under specified circumstances. Our assets securing our secured indebtedness will be subject to prior claims by our secured creditors. In the event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution or other winding-up, our assets that secure debt will be available to pay our obligations under the notes only after all debt secured by those assets, as well as any debt or other obligations ranking senior in right of payment to the notes, have been repaid in full, and holders of the notes would then only be entitled to participate in our remaining assets, if any, ratably with all of our remaining creditors, including trade creditors. If there are not sufficient assets remaining to pay all these creditors, then all or a portion of the notes then outstanding and interest thereon would remain unpaid.

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference therein contain, and any related free writing prospectus may contain, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated herein and therein, including statements that involve expectations, plans or intentions (such as those relating to future business, future results of operations or financial condition, new or planned features or services, or management strategies), are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “potential” and other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future conditions, events or results at the respective times these statements were made. These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should pay particular attention to the risk factors and cautionary statements referenced in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus supplement, in the accompanying prospectus and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in the accompanying prospectus. Other risks, uncertainties and factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed elsewhere in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in the accompanying prospectus.

Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or events or developments after the respective dates on which those statements were made.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds we will receive from this offering will be approximately $             million, after deducting underwriting discounts and estimated expenses of the offering payable by us. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes. Pending application of the net proceeds as described above, we may temporarily invest the net proceeds in short-term securities, money market funds or bank accounts or deposits.

RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES

The following table sets forth our ratio of earnings to fixed charges for each of the periods indicated. For purposes of determining the ratio of earnings to fixed charges, “earnings” consist of income before income taxes, noncontrolling interest and income/losses of equity-method investees plus fixed charges. “Fixed charges” consist of interest expense and our estimate of an appropriate portion of rentals representative of the interest factor. The estimate of interest within rental expense is estimated to be one-third of rental expense.

 

Year Ended December 31,

Six Months Ended June 30, 2012

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Ratio of earnings to fixed charges(1)

25.1x

65.1x

61.7x

48.1x

50.1x

34.7x

 

 

(1)	For the year ended December 31, 2007, earnings included an impairment loss of $1.4 billion related to our former Communications reporting unit. For the year ended December 31, 2009, earnings included a gain of $1.4 billion related to the sale of our former Communications reporting unit.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF NOTES

The 2015 notes, the 2017 notes, the 2022 notes and the 2042 notes are each a separate series of “debt securities” referred to in the accompanying prospectus. The following discussion of some of the terms of the 2015 notes, the 2017 notes, the 2022 notes and the 2042 notes (collectively, the “notes”) and the indenture (as defined below) governing the notes supplements, and to the extent inconsistent replaces, the description of some of the general terms and provisions of the debt securities and the indenture contained in the accompanying prospectus. Certain terms used but not defined in this prospectus supplement have the meanings specified in the accompanying prospectus under “Description of Debt Securities–Covenants–Certain Definitions.” The following description of some of the terms of the notes and the indenture and the description of some of the general terms and provisions of our debt securities and the indenture contained in the accompanying prospectus are not complete and are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, the forms of notes and indenture, which may be obtained as described under “Where You Can Find More Information” in the accompanying prospectus. You should read the forms of the notes and the indenture for a complete statement of the provisions described in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus and other provisions that may be important to you. Although for convenience the 2015 notes, the 2017 notes, the 2022 notes and the 2042 notes are referred to collectively as the “notes,” each will be a separate series of debt securities under the indenture, which means that, for purposes of giving any consent, notice or waiver or taking any other action under the indenture, the registered holders of each series of notes will act separately from the registered holders of each other series of notes. To the extent this discussion differs from the discussion in the accompanying prospectus, you should rely on this discussion.

References in this section to “eBay,” “eBay Inc.,” “we,” “our” and “us” and similar references mean eBay Inc. excluding, unless the context otherwise requires or otherwise expressly stated, its subsidiaries.

General

The 2015 notes will constitute a separate series of debt securities under the indenture, will be initially limited to $             aggregate principal amount and will mature on             , 2015. The 2017 notes will constitute a separate series of debt securities under the indenture, will be initially limited to $             aggregate principal amount and will mature on             , 2017. The 2022 notes will constitute a separate series of debt securities under the indenture, will be initially limited to $             aggregate principal amount and will mature on             , 2022. The 2042 notes will constitute a separate series of debt securities under the indenture, will be initially limited to $             aggregate principal amount and will mature on             , 2042. We will issue the notes under an indenture dated as of October 28, 2010, as amended and supplemented by a supplemental indenture dated as of October 28, 2010 (as so amended and supplemented, the “indenture”), each between us and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as trustee. We may, from time to time, without giving notice to or obtaining the consent of the holders or beneficial owners of the notes of any series, issue additional notes of the same series having the same terms (except for the issue date, offering and sale prices and, in some cases, the first interest payment date and the date from which interest shall begin to accrue) as, and ranking equally in right of payment with, the notes of such series offered hereby. Any additional notes of any series, together with the notes of that series offered hereby, will constitute a single series of debt securities under the indenture. The notes will not be listed on any securities exchange or included on any automated quotation system.

The notes will be issued in fully registered form without coupons in denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof. The notes of each series will be issued in book-entry form and will be evidenced by one or more global notes of such series, registered in the name of The Depository Trust Company or its nominee. Purchasers of notes will not be entitled to receive physical certificates registered in their names except in the limited circumstances described under “Book-Entry Form and Transfer” in the accompanying prospectus. In addition, purchasers may hold interests in the global notes through Clearstream Banking, société anonyme and Euroclear Bank, S.A./N.V., as described in the accompanying prospectus under “Book-Entry Form and Transfer—Euroclear and Clearstream.”

 

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The notes will not be entitled to the benefit of any sinking fund and will not be subject to repurchase by us at the option of the holders prior to maturity. Except to the limited extent described under “Description of Debt Securities—Covenants—Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets” in the accompanying prospectus, the indenture does not contain any provisions which are intended to protect holders of notes in the event of a change of control of eBay Inc. or a highly leveraged transaction (whether or not relating to a change of control) involving eBay Inc. The indenture does not limit the incurrence of unsecured debt by us or any of our subsidiaries.

Ranking

The notes will be our senior unsecured obligations and will rank equally in right of payment with all of our other existing and future senior unsecured indebtedness. The notes will be effectively subordinated in right of payment to all of our existing and future secured indebtedness to the extent of the collateral securing that indebtedness. In addition, the notes will be effectively subordinated in right of payment to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of our subsidiaries, which are separate legal entities from eBay Inc. and have no obligation to pay any amounts due pursuant to the notes or to make funds available for such purpose. See “Risk Factors—The debt securities are effectively subordinated to all indebtedness and other liabilities of eBay Inc.’s subsidiaries, which may adversely affect your ability to receive payments on the debt securities” in the accompanying prospectus and “Risk Factors—Your right to receive payments on the notes is effectively subordinated to the rights of secured creditors” in this prospectus supplement.

Interest

The 2015 notes will bear interest at a rate of         % per year, accruing from             , 2012 or from the most recent date to which we have paid or provided for interest on the 2015 notes. The interest payment dates for the 2015 notes will be each              and             , beginning             , and interest will be payable to the holders of record at the close of business on              and             , respectively, immediately preceding those interest payment dates.

The 2017 notes will bear interest at a rate of         % per year, accruing from             , 2012 or from the most recent date to which we have paid or provided for interest on the 2017 notes. The interest payment dates for the 2017 notes will be each              and             , beginning             , and interest will be payable to the holders of record at the close of business on              and             , respectively, immediately preceding those interest payment dates.

The 2022 notes will bear interest at a rate of         % per year, accruing from                 , 2012 or from the most recent date to which we have paid or provided for interest on the 2022 notes. The interest payment dates for the 2022 notes will be each              and             , beginning                 , and interest will be payable to the holders of record at the close of business on              and             , respectively, immediately preceding those interest payment dates.

The 2042 notes will bear interest at a rate of         % per year, accruing from             , 2012 or from the most recent date to which we have paid or provided for interest on the 2042 notes. The interest payment dates for the 2042 notes will be each              and             , beginning             , and interest will be payable to the holders of record at the close of business on              and             , respectively, immediately preceding those interest payment dates.

Interest on the notes will be computed on the basis of a 360-day year comprised of twelve 30-day months.

Optional Redemption

The 2015 notes are redeemable at our option at any time or from time to time prior to their maturity, the 2017 notes are redeemable at our option at any time or from time to time prior to their maturity, the 2022 notes are redeemable at our option at any time or from time to time prior to             , 2022, and the 2042 notes are

 

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redeemable at our option at any time or from time to time prior to             , 2042, in each case either in whole or in part, at a redemption price equal to the greater of:

(1)  100% of the principal amount of the notes of the applicable series to be redeemed, and

(2)  the sum of the present values of the remaining scheduled payments of principal of and interest on the notes of such series to be redeemed (exclusive of interest accrued to the applicable redemption date) discounted to such redemption date on a semi-annual basis (assuming a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months) at the Treasury Rate plus              basis points in the case of the 2015 notes,             basis points in the case of the 2017 notes,             basis points in the case of the 2022 notes and             basis points in the case of the 2042 notes,

plus, in the case of both clauses (1) and (2) above, accrued and unpaid interest on the principal amount of the notes of such series being redeemed to such redemption date.

On and after                 , 2022, the 2022 notes are redeemable at our option, at any time or from time to time, either in whole or in part, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2022 notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest on the principal amount of the 2022 notes being redeemed to such redemption date.

On and after                 , 2042, the 2042 notes are redeemable at our option, at any time or from time to time, either in whole or in part, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2042 notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest on the principal amount of the 2042 notes being redeemed to such redemption date.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, payments of interest on the notes of any series that are due and payable on any interest payment dates falling on or prior to a date fixed for redemption of the notes of that series will be payable to the holders of those notes registered as such at the close of business on the relevant record dates according to their terms and the terms and provisions of the indenture.

If less than all of the notes of any series are to be redeemed, the trustee shall select the notes of that series to be redeemed in any manner that the trustee deems fair and appropriate, which may provide for the selection for redemption of a portion of the principal amount of any note equal to an authorized denomination.

Notice of any redemption shall be mailed at least 30 days but not more than 60 days before the redemption date to each holder of the notes to be redeemed.

Unless we default in payment of the redemption price, on and after the redemption date interest shall cease to accrue on the notes or portions thereof called for redemption.

As used in this section, the following terms have the meanings set forth below.

“Comparable Treasury Issue” means, with respect to any redemption date for the notes of any series, the United States Treasury security selected by the Quotation Agent as having an actual or interpolated maturity comparable to the remaining term of the notes of that series that would be utilized, at the time of selection and in accordance with customary financial practice, in pricing new issues of corporate debt securities of comparable maturity to the remaining term of such notes.

“Comparable Treasury Price” means, with respect to any redemption date for the notes of any series, (1) if the Quotation Agent obtains four or more Reference Treasury Dealer Quotations, the arithmetic average of the Reference Treasury Dealer Quotations for such redemption date after excluding the highest and lowest such Reference Treasury Dealer Quotations; (2) if the Quotation Agent obtains fewer than four but more than one such Reference Treasury Dealer Quotations, the arithmetic average of all such Reference Treasury Dealer Quotations for such redemption date; or (3) if the Quotation Agent obtains only one such Reference Treasury Dealer Quotation, such Reference Treasury Dealer Quotation for such redemption date.

 

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“Quotation Agent” means, for purposes of determining the redemption price of the notes of any series to be redeemed on any redemption date, any primary U.S. Government securities dealer in the United States (a “Primary Treasury Dealer”) selected by us.

“Reference Treasury Dealers” means, with respect to any redemption date for the notes of any series, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. or their respective successors, as the case may be (provided, however, that if any such firm or any such successor, as the case may be, shall cease to be a Primary Treasury Dealer, another Primary Treasury Dealer shall be substituted therefor by us) and any other Primary Treasury Dealer or Primary Treasury Dealers selected by us.

“Reference Treasury Dealer Quotation” means, with respect to each Reference Treasury Dealer and any redemption date for the notes of any series, the arithmetic average, as determined by the Quotation Agent, of the bid and asked prices for the Comparable Treasury Issue (expressed in each case as a percentage of its principal amount) quoted in writing to the Quotation Agent by such Reference Treasury Dealer at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the third Business Day preceding such redemption date. As used in the preceding sentence, the term “Business Day” means any day except a Saturday, Sunday or other day on which banking institutions in The City of New York are authorized or obligated by law, regulation or executive order to close.

“Treasury Rate” means, with respect to any redemption date for the notes of any series, the rate per annum equal to the semi-annual equivalent yield to maturity or interpolated yield to maturity of the Comparable Treasury Issue, calculated using a price for the Comparable Treasury Issue (expressed as a percentage of its principal amount) equal to the Comparable Treasury Price for such redemption date and series of notes.

Covenant Defeasance, Legal Defeasance and Satisfaction and Discharge

The provisions described in the accompanying prospectus under “Description of Debt Securities—Defeasance of Debt Securities and Certain Covenants” and “—Satisfaction and Discharge” shall be applicable with respect to each series of notes. In that regard, the covenants described under “Description of Debt Securities—Covenants” in the accompanying prospectus will be subject to covenant defeasance as described in the accompanying prospectus.

Same-Day Settlement and Payment

The notes of each series will trade in the same-day funds settlement system of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) until their maturity or until we issue the notes of such series in certificated form under the limited circumstances set forth under “Book-Entry Form and Transfer” in the accompanying prospectus. DTC will therefore require secondary market trading activity in the notes to settle in immediately available funds. We can give no assurance as to the effect, if any, of settlement in immediately available funds on trading activity in the notes.

Concerning our Relationship with the Trustee

Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, the trustee, provides commercial banking services to us and our subsidiaries. In addition, the trustee serves as a documentation agent and lender under our unsecured revolving credit facility.

 

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MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax considerations relating to the purchase, ownership and disposition of the notes, but does not purport to be a complete analysis of all the potential tax considerations relating thereto. This summary is based upon the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), Treasury Regulations promulgated under the Code, administrative rulings and judicial decisions in effect as of the date of this prospectus supplement, all of which are subject to change at any time. Any such change may be applied retroactively, and may result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those set forth below. We have not sought any ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) with respect to the statements made and the conclusions reached in the following summary, and there can be no assurance that the IRS will agree with such statements and conclusions.

This summary is limited to holders who purchase the notes at the respective prices set forth on the cover of this prospectus supplement upon the initial issuance of the notes and who hold the notes as “capital assets” (within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code). This summary also does not address alternative minimum tax consequences, the effect of the U.S. federal estate or gift tax laws or the tax considerations arising under the laws of any state, local or foreign jurisdiction. In addition, this discussion does not address tax considerations applicable to an investor’s particular circumstances or to investors that may be subject to special tax rules, including, without limitation:

 

•

banks, insurance companies or other financial institutions;

 

•

tax-exempt organizations;

 

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dealers in securities or commodities;

 

•

traders in securities that elect to use a mark-to-market method of accounting for their securities holdings;

 

•

foreign persons or entities (except to the extent specifically set forth below);

 

•

persons that are S corporations, partnerships or other pass-through entities;

 

•

former citizens or long-term residents of the United States;

 

•

U.S. holders (as defined below) whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar;

 

•

persons who hold the notes as a position in a hedging transaction, “straddle,” “conversion transaction” or other risk reduction or integrated transaction; or

 

•

persons deemed to sell the notes under the constructive sale provisions of the Code.

YOU ARE URGED TO CONSULT YOUR TAX ADVISOR WITH RESPECT TO THE APPLICATION OF THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX LAWS TO YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION AS WELL AS ANY TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE PURCHASE, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF THE NOTES ARISING UNDER THE FEDERAL ESTATE OR GIFT TAX RULES OR UNDER THE LAWS OF ANY STATE, LOCAL, FOREIGN OR OTHER TAXING JURISDICTION OR UNDER ANY APPLICABLE TAX TREATY.

Consequences to U.S. Holders

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences that will apply to you if you are a U.S. holder of the notes. Certain consequences to “non-U.S. holders” of the notes are described under “Consequences to Non-U.S. Holders” below. “U.S. holder” means a beneficial owner of a note that is:

 

•

an individual citizen or resident (within the meaning of Section 7701(b) of the Code) of the United States;

 

•

a corporation or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof, or the District of Columbia;

 

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•

an estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or

 

•

a trust that (1) is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and the control of one or more U.S. persons (within the meaning of the Code) or (2) has a valid election in effect under applicable Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.

If a partnership or other entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds the notes, the tax treatment of a partner in such partnership will generally depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Such partners should consult their tax advisors as to the tax consequences of an investment in the notes.

Payments of Interest on the Notes

You generally will be required to recognize any stated interest as ordinary income at the time it is paid or accrued on the notes in accordance with your method of accounting for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Sale, Exchange, Redemption or Other Taxable Disposition of the Notes

Upon the sale, exchange, redemption or other taxable disposition of a note, you generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (i) the sum of cash plus the fair market value of all other property received on such disposition (except to the extent such cash or property is attributable to accrued but unpaid interest not previously included in income, which will be taxable as ordinary interest income in the manner described above) and (ii) your adjusted tax basis in the note. Your adjusted tax basis in a note generally will equal the cost of the note. Such capital gain or loss will be long-term capital gain or loss if, at the time of such disposition, you have held the note for more than one year. Long-term capital gains recognized by certain non-corporate U.S. holders, including individuals, will generally be subject to a reduced tax rate. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

We are required to furnish to the record holders of the notes, other than corporations and other exempt holders, and to the IRS, information with respect to interest paid on the notes.

You may be subject to backup withholding with respect to interest paid on the notes or with respect to proceeds received from a disposition of the notes. You will be subject to backup withholding if you are not otherwise exempt and you (i) fail to furnish your taxpayer identification number (“TIN”), which, for an individual, is ordinarily his or her social security number; (ii) furnish an incorrect TIN; (iii) are notified by the IRS that you have failed to properly report payments of interest; or (iv) fail to certify, under penalties of perjury, that you have furnished a correct TIN and that the IRS has not notified you that you are subject to backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. You generally will be entitled to credit any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules against your U.S. federal income tax liability provided that the required information and tax returns are furnished to the IRS in a timely manner.

Consequences to Non-U.S. Holders

The following is a summary of certain material U.S. federal income tax consequences that will generally apply to you if you are a non-U.S. holder of a note. A “non-U.S. holder” is a beneficial owner of a note who is neither a U.S. holder nor a partnership (or other entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes).

 

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Payments of Interest on the Notes

Interest paid on a note to you will not be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a rate of 30%, provided that:

 

•

you do not actually (or constructively) own 10% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of our voting stock within the meaning of the Code;

 

•

you are not a controlled foreign corporation that is related to us through actual or constructive stock ownership;

 

•

you are not a bank that receives such interest on an extension of credit made pursuant to a loan agreement entered into in the ordinary course of your trade or business; and

 

•

you provide your name and address on an IRS Form W-8BEN (or other applicable form) and certify, under penalties of perjury, that you are not a U.S. person, or you hold your note through certain foreign intermediaries and satisfy the certification requirements of applicable Treasury Regulations (special certification and other rules apply to certain non-U.S. holders that are entities).

Even if you do not satisfy these conditions, you may qualify for a reduced withholding tax rate or an exemption from withholding tax pursuant to an applicable tax treaty between the U.S. and your country of residence. To claim such a reduction or exemption, you must provide the paying agent with a properly completed IRS Form W-8BEN. You will also be exempt from withholding tax if the interest you receive is effectively connected with your conduct of a U.S. trade or business and you provide the paying agent with a properly completed IRS Form W-8ECI.

If you are engaged in a trade or business in the United States and interest on the notes is effectively connected with the conduct of that trade or business, you will be exempt from withholding tax (provided you comply with the certification requirements discussed above) but you will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on that interest on a net income basis in the same manner as if you were a U.S. holder, unless an applicable income tax treaty provides otherwise. In addition, if you are a foreign corporation, you may also be subject to a branch profits tax of 30% on interest included in your effectively connected earnings and profits, unless an applicable tax treaty provides otherwise.

Sale, Exchange, Redemption or Other Taxable Disposition of Notes

Any gain realized on the sale, exchange, retirement or other taxable disposition of a note generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax unless:

 

•

the gain is effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business in the United States, in which case you will be subject to tax generally in the same manner as if you were a U.S. holder and, if you are a foreign corporation, the branch profits tax described above may also apply (unless, in either case, an applicable tax treaty provides otherwise), or

 

•

you are an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of that disposition, and certain other conditions are met, in which case you will be subject to a 30% U.S. federal income tax on gain (reduced by certain capital losses) unless an applicable tax treaty provides otherwise.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

The amount of interest paid to you, and the amount of any tax withheld with respect to such interest, must be reported annually to the IRS and you. Copies of the information returns reporting the amount of such interest and the amount of any tax withheld may also be made available to the tax authorities in the country in which you reside under the provisions of an applicable tax treaty.

 

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In general, you will not be subject to backup withholding with respect to payments of interest on a note provided that we do not have actual knowledge or reason to know that you are a U.S. person and the certification requirements described in the last bullet point under “—Payments of Interest on the Notes” have been met.

In addition, you will generally be subject to information reporting and possibly backup withholding with respect to the proceeds of the sale or other disposition (including a redemption or retirement) of a note within the U.S. or conducted through certain U.S.-related financial intermediaries, unless (i) the certification requirements above have been met and the payor does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that you are a U.S. person, as defined under the Code, or (ii) you otherwise establish an exemption.

You generally will be entitled to credit any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules against your U.S. federal income tax liability provided that the required information and tax returns are furnished to the IRS in a timely manner.

Withholding under the HIRE Act

On March 18, 2010, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (the “HIRE Act”) was signed into law. Under certain circumstances, the HIRE Act will impose a withholding tax of 30% on payments of U.S. source income on, and the gross proceeds from a disposition of, securities made to certain foreign entities unless various information reporting requirements are satisfied. These rules generally would apply to payments made after December 31, 2012. However, under the HIRE Act, the withholding and reporting requirements generally will not apply to payments made on, or gross proceeds from a disposition of, debt securities outstanding as of March 18, 2012 (the “Grandfather Date”). Despite the December 31, 2012 date set forth in the HIRE Act, the IRS has issued preliminary guidance indicating that the withholding tax on U.S. source income will not be imposed with respect to payments made prior to January 1, 2014 and that the withholding tax on gross proceeds from a disposition of securities will not be imposed with respect to payments made prior to January 1, 2015. In addition, the IRS has released proposed regulations that would extend the Grandfather Date to January 1, 2013. These proposed regulations would be effective once finalized. Prospective purchasers should consult their tax advisors regarding the HIRE Act.

 

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UNDERWRITING

We and the underwriters for the offering named below, for whom J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as representatives (the “representatives”), have entered into an underwriting agreement dated as of the date of this prospectus supplement with respect to the notes. Subject to certain conditions, each underwriter has severally agreed to purchase, and we have agreed to sell to each underwriter, the principal amount of notes of such series shown in the following table.

 

Underwriter

Principal Amount of 2015 Notes

Principal Amount of 2017 Notes

Principal Amount of 2022 Notes

Principal Amount of 2042 Notes

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

$

$

$

$

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

Total

$

$

$

$

The obligations of the several underwriters to purchase the notes offered hereby are subject to certain conditions. The underwriters are obligated to purchase all of the notes, if they purchase any of them. The offering of the notes by the underwriters is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part.

Notes sold by the underwriters to the public initially will be offered at the respective public offering prices set forth on the cover page of this prospectus supplement. Any notes sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at discounts from the applicable public offering price of up to        % of the principal amount of the 2015 notes,        % of the principal amount of the 2017 notes,        % of the principal amount of the 2022 notes and        % of the principal amount of the 2042 notes. Any such securities dealers may resell any notes purchased from the underwriters to certain other brokers or dealers at discounts from the applicable public offering price of up to        % of the principal amount of the 2015 notes,        % of the principal amount of the 2017 notes,        % of the principal amount of the 2022 notes and        % of the principal amount of the 2042 notes. After the initial offering of the notes, the underwriters may from time to time vary the offering prices and other selling terms.

In addition to the underwriting discounts payable to the underwriters as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus supplement, we estimate that our expenses for this offering will be approximately $3.5 million.

The notes are new issues of securities with no established trading market. The notes will not be listed on any securities exchange or on any automated quotation system. We have been advised that the representatives intend to make a market in the notes, but they are not obligated to do so and may discontinue such market-making at any time without notice. No assurance can be given as to whether a trading market for the notes will exist or as to the liquidity of any trading market that may exist.

In connection with the offering, the representatives may purchase and sell the notes of any series in the open market. These transactions may include short sales, stabilizing transactions and purchases to cover positions created by short sales. Short sales involve the sale by the representatives of a greater number of notes of any series than the underwriters are required to purchase in this offering. Stabilizing transactions consist of certain bids or purchases made for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the notes of any series while the offering is in progress.

 

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The representatives may also impose a penalty bid. This occurs when a particular underwriter is required to repay to the representatives a portion of the underwriting discount received by it because a representative has repurchased notes of any series sold by or for the account of such underwriter in stabilizing or short covering transactions.

Stabilizing transactions and purchases to cover positions created by short sales may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the notes of any series, and together with the imposition of the penalty bid, may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the notes of such series. As a result, the market price of the notes of any series may be higher than the price that otherwise might exist in the open market. If these activities are commenced, they may be discontinued by the representatives at any time without notice. These transactions may be effected in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make in respect of those liabilities.

Some or all of the underwriters and their respective affiliates have from time to time performed, and may in the future perform, various financial advisory, commercial banking and investment banking services for us and our subsidiaries, for which they received or may receive customary compensation and expense reimbursement. In particular, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., an affiliate of J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, is the administrative agent, Citibank, N.A., an affiliate of Citigroup Global Markets Inc., and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are syndication agents and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are joint lead arrangers and joint book managers under our $3.0 billion unsecured revolving credit agreement and affiliates of all of the representatives of the underwriters of this offering are lenders, and affiliates of other underwriters may also be lenders, under our credit agreement. In addition, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is a dealer, and certain of the other underwriters may also be dealers, under our $2.0 billion commercial paper program.

In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

The notes are offered for sale in the United States and certain jurisdictions outside the United States in which such offer and sale is permitted.

European Economic Area

In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a “Relevant Member State”), each underwriter has represented and agreed that with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that Relevant Member State (the “Relevant Implementation Date”), it has not made and will not make an offer of notes which are the subject of the offering contemplated by this prospectus supplement to the public in that Relevant Member State other than:

(1)  to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive;

(2)  to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives of the underwriters for any such offer; or

(3)  in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, provided that no such offer of notes shall require us or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

 

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For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of notes to the public” in relation to any notes in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the notes to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the notes, as the same may be varied in that Relevant Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Relevant Member State, and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive), and includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State and the expression “2010 PD Amending Directive” means Directive 2010/73/EU.

United Kingdom

Each of the underwriters has represented and agreed and undertaken that:

(i) it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (the “FSMA”)) received by it in connection with the issue or sale of the notes in circumstances in which Section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to us; and

(ii) it has complied and will comply with all applicable provisions of the FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the notes, in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom.

LEGAL MATTERS

Sidley Austin LLP, San Francisco, California, will pass upon the validity of the notes for us. Shearman & Sterling LLP, San Francisco, California, will pass upon certain legal matters for the underwriters.

EXPERTS

The financial statements and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (which is included in management’s report on internal control over financial reporting), incorporated in the accompanying prospectus by reference to the eBay Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

As described in the accompanying prospectus under the caption “Where You Can Find More Information,” we have incorporated by reference in the accompanying prospectus specified documents that we have filed and may file with the SEC under the Exchange Act. However, no document or information or any related exhibit that we have “furnished” or may in the future “furnish” to the SEC shall be incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus.

 

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PROSPECTUS

eBay Inc.

Debt Securities

We may offer and sell our debt securities from time to time in one or more offerings. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the debt securities that we may offer.

We will provide specific terms of debt securities we offer, and the manner in which they are being offered, in supplements to this prospectus, which we refer to as “prospectus supplements.” You should read this prospectus, the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus carefully before you invest.

We may offer and sell debt securities to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, or directly to purchasers, on an immediate, continuous or delayed basis. If any agents or underwriters are involved in the sale of any of the securities offered by this prospectus, their names, and any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangement between us and them, will be set forth, or will be calculable from the information set forth, in the applicable prospectus supplement. None of the debt securities offered by this prospectus may be sold without delivery of a prospectus supplement describing the method and terms of the offering of those securities.

Investing in our debt securities involves a high degree of risk. You should review carefully the risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in this prospectus and under similar headings in the documents that are incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference into this prospectus.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is July 22, 2011.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

		Page
About This Prospectus		1
eBay Inc.		2
Risk Factors		3
Forward-Looking Statements		6
Use of Proceeds		7
Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges		7
Description of Debt Securities		8
Book-Entry Form and Transfer		23
Plan of Distribution		26
Legal Matters		28
Experts		28
Where You Can Find More Information		28

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ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a “shelf” registration statement that we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Under this shelf registration statement, we may sell one or more series of our debt securities from time to time in one or more offerings. This prospectus provides you with a general description of some of the terms of the debt securities we may offer. Each time we sell debt securities, we will provide you with a supplement to this prospectus containing specific information about the terms of that offering and the debt securities being offered. Each prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus or any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and, accordingly, any statement in this prospectus or in any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein will be deemed modified or superseded to the extent that any statement contained in the applicable prospectus supplement modifies or supersedes that statement. We urge you to read carefully this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus, together with the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus as described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information,” before deciding whether to invest in any of the debt securities being offered.

The distribution of this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus and the offering of the debt securities in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law. No action has been or will be taken by us or by any underwriter, agent or dealer involved in the distribution of the debt securities that would permit a public offering of the debt securities or the possession or distribution of this prospectus or any related prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than the United States. Neither this prospectus nor any related prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus constitutes, and none of the foregoing may be used in connection with, an offer or solicitation by anyone in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not authorized or in which the person making such offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation.

You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus. We have not authorized any person to provide you with different or inconsistent information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus, the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus is accurate only as of the respective dates of those documents. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

This prospectus, the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, any prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus include or may include trademarks, service marks and trade names owned by us or others. All trademarks, service marks and trade names included in this prospectus, the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, any prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus are the property of their respective owners.

Unless we otherwise specify or the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to “we,” “us,” “our” or “eBay” mean the current Delaware corporation (eBay Inc.) and its California predecessor, as well as all of our consolidated subsidiaries; references in this prospectus to “eBay Inc.” refer to eBay Inc. excluding its subsidiaries; and references to “debt securities” mean the debt securities of eBay Inc. described in this prospectus.

The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our websites is not part of this prospectus, the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, any prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectus.

 

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eBAY INC.

This following highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus or contained in documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and does not contain all the information that you should consider in your evaluation of an investment in the debt securities. You should read carefully this entire prospectus, including the information set forth under the heading “Risk Factors,” the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus, the related prospectus supplement and any free writing prospectus we may provide you in connection with this offering before making an investment decision.

eBay Inc. was formed as a sole proprietorship in September 1995 and was incorporated in California in May 1996. In April 1998, we reincorporated in Delaware, and in September 1998 we completed the initial public offering of our common stock.

Our purpose is to pioneer new communities around the world, built on commerce, sustained by trust and inspired by opportunity. We bring together millions of buyers and sellers every day on a local, national and international basis through an array of websites. We provide online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services, as well as other online commerce, or ecommerce, platforms and online payment solutions to a diverse community of individuals and business.

Our principal executive offices are located at 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, California 95125 and our telephone number is (408) 376-7400. Our internet address is www.ebay.com. Our investor relations website is located at http://investor.ebayinc.com. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our websites is not part of this prospectus, the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, any prospectus supplement or any free writing prospectus.

 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our debt securities involves a high degree of risk. Before you decide to invest in our debt securities, you should consider carefully the risk factors set forth below, the risk factors set forth in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated by reference in this prospectus and may be obtained as described under “Where You Can Find More Information,” and any risk factors that may be set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus, as well as the other information contained and incorporated by reference in this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus. Each of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and the occurrence of any of these risks might cause you to lose all or part of your investment in our debt securities.

Our outstanding indebtedness, as well as any indebtedness we may incur in the future, may impair our ability to make payments on the debt securities.

At June 30, 2011, we had approximately $2.5 billion of outstanding unsecured indebtedness and $0.8 billion of available borrowing capacity under our existing unsecured revolving credit facility. We may incur additional indebtedness in the future, including under our revolving credit facility or through offerings or private placements of these or other debt securities. The debt securities offered by this prospectus and the indenture pursuant to which the debt securities will be issued do not place any limitation on the amount of unsecured debt that we or our subsidiaries may incur. Our outstanding indebtedness and any additional indebtedness we incur may have important consequences for you as a holder of the debt securities, including, without limitation, the following:

 

•

we will be required to use cash to pay the principal of and interest on our indebtedness;

 

•

our indebtedness and leverage may increase our vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic and industry conditions, as well as to competitive pressure;

 

•

our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures and for general corporate and other purposes may be limited; and

 

•

our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry may be limited.

Our ability to make payments of principal of and interest on our indebtedness depends upon our future performance, which will be subject to general economic conditions, industry cycles and financial, business and other factors affecting our consolidated operations, many of which are beyond our control. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future to service our debt, we may be required to, among other things:

 

•

seek additional financing in the debt or equity markets;

 

•

refinance or restructure all or a portion of our indebtedness, including any debt securities that we may issue pursuant to this prospectus;

 

•

sell selected assets; or

 

•

reduce or delay planned capital expenditures.

Such measures might not be sufficient to enable us to service our debt, including any debt securities that we may issue pursuant to this prospectus. In addition, any such financing, refinancing or sale of assets might not be available on economically favorable terms or at all.

The debt securities are effectively subordinated to all indebtedness and other liabilities of eBay Inc.’s subsidiaries, which may adversely affect your ability to receive payments on the debt securities.

The debt securities are obligations exclusively of eBay Inc. and not of any of its subsidiaries. eBay Inc. currently conducts a substantial majority of its operations through its subsidiaries and its subsidiaries have significant liabilities.

 

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eBay Inc.’s subsidiaries are separate and distinct legal entities from eBay Inc. eBay Inc.’s subsidiaries will not guarantee the debt securities and are under no contractual obligation to pay any amounts due on the debt securities or to provide eBay Inc. with funds for that purpose, whether by dividends, distributions, loans or other payments. Any dividends, distributions, loans or other payments to eBay Inc. by its subsidiaries will also be contingent upon those subsidiaries’ respective results of operations and financial condition and other business considerations and may be subject to statutory or contractual restrictions and taxes on distributions.

eBay Inc.’s right to receive any assets of any of its subsidiaries upon the bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution or other winding-up of that subsidiary (and, as a result, the right of the holders of the debt securities to participate in those assets) will be effectively subordinated to the claims of that subsidiary’s creditors, including trade creditors, except to the extent that eBay Inc. may itself be a creditor of that subsidiary. In addition, even if eBay Inc. were a creditor of any of its subsidiaries, eBay Inc.’s rights as a creditor would be subordinate to any secured indebtedness, if any, of that subsidiary to the extent of the value of the collateral securing that indebtedness and any indebtedness of that subsidiary senior to the indebtedness held by eBay Inc.

As a result of the foregoing, the debt securities will be effectively subordinated in right of payment to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of eBay Inc.’s subsidiaries, including any subsidiaries that eBay Inc. may in the future acquire or establish.

Your right to receive payments on the debt securities is effectively subordinated to the rights of secured creditors.

The debt securities will be effectively subordinated in right of payment to our secured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the collateral securing that indebtedness. As of June 30, 2011, we had approximately $11.8 million of outstanding secured indebtedness and the indenture governing the debt securities permits us to incur additional secured debt under specified circumstances. Our assets securing our secured indebtedness will be subject to prior claims by our secured creditors. In the event of our bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution or other winding-up, our assets that secure debt will be available to pay our obligations under the debt securities only after all debt secured by those assets, as well as any debt or other obligations ranking senior in right of payment to the debt securities, have been repaid in full, and holders of the debt securities would then only be entitled to participate in our remaining assets, if any, ratably with all of our remaining creditors, including trade creditors. If there are not sufficient assets remaining to pay all these creditors, then all or a portion of the debt securities then outstanding and interest thereon would remain unpaid.

The negative covenants in the indenture that governs the debt securities provide limited protection to the holders of the debt securities and may not protect your investment.

The indenture governing the debt securities contains covenants limiting our ability and our Significant Subsidiaries’ (as defined below) ability to incur indebtedness for borrowed money secured by certain liens and to enter into certain sale and lease-back transactions, and limiting our ability, but not the ability of our subsidiaries, to consolidate with or merge into, or convey, transfer or lease all or substantially all of our properties and assets to, any person. The covenants contain significant exceptions and limitations and therefore may not protect your investment. For example, the covenants do not prohibit us or our subsidiaries from incurring additional unsecured debt. These exceptions may result in the holder of the debt securities being effectively subordinated in right of payment to both existing and future indebtedness. See “Description of Debt Securities—Covenants.”

Furthermore, the indenture for the debt securities does not prohibit us from engaging in many types of transactions, including certain acquisitions, refinancings, recapitalizations, or other similar transactions that could increase the total amount of our indebtedness, adversely affect our capital structure or credit ratings or otherwise adversely affect the market value of the debt securities. In addition, the indenture for the debt securities does not:

 

•

require us to maintain any financial ratios or specific levels of net worth, revenues, income, cash flow or liquidity and, accordingly, does not protect holders of the debt securities in the event that we experience significant adverse changes in our financial condition or results of operations;

 

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•

limit our subsidiaries’ ability to incur indebtedness, which would effectively rank senior in right of payment to the debt securities;

 

•

limit our ability to incur substantial secured indebtedness that would effectively rank senior in right of payment to the debt securities to the extent of the value of the assets securing that indebtedness;

 

•

limit our ability to incur unsecured indebtedness;

 

•

restrict our subsidiaries’ ability to issue securities or otherwise incur indebtedness and other liabilities that would be senior to our equity interests in our subsidiaries;

 

•

require us to make an offer to repurchase the debt securities or otherwise protect holders of debt securities in the event of a change of control of eBay Inc.;

 

•

restrict our ability to repay other indebtedness; or

 

•

restrict our ability to make investments or to repurchase, or pay dividends or make other payments in respect of, our common stock or other securities ranking junior to the debt securities.

Changes in our credit ratings may adversely affect the value of the debt securities.

Some of our outstanding indebtedness has received, and the debt securities described in this prospectus may receive, credit ratings from certain credit rating agencies. Such ratings are limited in scope and do not address all risks relating to an investment in the debt securities, but rather reflect only the view of each rating agency at the time the rating was issued. An explanation of the significance of such ratings may be obtained from such rating agencies. Credit ratings are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold the debt securities. There can be no assurance that such credit ratings will remain in effect for any given period of time or that such ratings will not be lowered, suspended or withdrawn entirely by the rating agencies or placed on a so-called “watch list” for a possible downgrade or assigned a negative ratings outlook if, in any rating agency’s judgment, circumstances so warrant. Actual or anticipated changes or downgrades in our credit ratings, including any announcement that our ratings are under review for a downgrade or have been assigned a negative outlook, could adversely affect the market value of the debt securities and increase our borrowing costs.

There may not be an active trading market for the debt securities.

There is no existing market for the debt securities and, unless otherwise expressly stated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we do not intend to apply for listing of the debt securities on any securities exchange or any automated quotation system. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that a trading market for the debt securities will ever develop or will be maintained. Further, there can be no assurance as to the liquidity of any market that may develop for the debt securities, whether you will be able to sell your debt securities or the prices at which you may be able to sell your debt securities. Future trading prices of any debt securities we may issue will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to, prevailing interest rates and economic conditions, our financial condition and results of operations, our prospects and prospects for companies in our industry generally, the then-current credit ratings assigned to our indebtedness (including, if applicable, debt securities issued pursuant to this prospectus) and the market for similar securities. Any trading market that may develop would be affected by many factors independent of and in addition to the foregoing, including:

 

•

time remaining to the maturity of the debt securities;

 

•

outstanding amount of the debt securities;

 

•

the terms related to the optional redemption of the debt securities; and

 

•

the level, direction and volatility of market interest rates generally.

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus and the documents incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference herein contain, and any prospectus supplement and related free writing prospectus may contain, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated herein and therein, including statements regarding our strategy, prospects, plans, objectives, future operations, future financial position, future revenues and projected costs, , are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “potential” and other similar expressions. We have based these forward-looking statements on our expectations and projections about future conditions, events or results at the respective times these statements were made. These forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should pay particular attention to the risk factors and cautionary statements referenced in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” in this prospectus and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q incorporated by reference in this prospectus. Other risks, uncertainties and factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed elsewhere in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus.

Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or events or developments after the respective dates on which those statements were made.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

Except as described in any applicable prospectus supplement or in any related free writing prospectus, we anticipate using the net proceeds we receive from the sale of our debt securities described in this prospectus for general corporate purposes, which may include working capital, acquisitions, capital expenditures and repurchases of our common stock.

RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES

The following table sets forth our ratio of earnings to fixed charges for each of the periods indicated. For purposes of determining the ratio of earnings to fixed charges, “earnings” consist of income before income taxes, noncontrolling interest and equity in income or losses of equity-method investees plus fixed charges. “Fixed charges” consist of interest expense and our estimate of an appropriate portion of rentals representative of the interest factor. The estimate of interest within rental expense is estimated to be one-third of rental expense.

 

Year Ended December 31,

Six Months Ended June 30, 2011

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Ratio of earnings to fixed charges

94.1x

25.1x

65.1x

61.7x

48.1x

24.6x

For the year ended December 31, 2007, income before income taxes, noncontrolling interest and income/loss of equity-method investees includes an impairment loss of $1.4 billion related to our former Communications reporting unit. For the year ended December 31, 2009, income before income taxes, noncontrolling interest and income/loss of equity-method investees includes gain of $1.4 billion related to the sale of our former Communications reporting unit.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES

This prospectus describes certain general terms and provisions of our debt securities and the related indenture. When we offer to sell a particular series of debt securities, we will describe the specific terms of that series in a supplement to this prospectus and, if applicable, one or more free writing prospectuses relating to such series.

The debt securities will be issued under an indenture dated as of October 28, 2010 (the “base indenture”), as amended and supplemented by a supplemental indenture dated as of October 28, 2010 (the “supplemental indenture;” the base indenture, as amended and supplemented by the supplemental indenture, is hereinafter called the “indenture”), each between us and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as trustee. We have described some of the provisions of the indenture and the debt securities below. This description is not complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by reference to, the indenture and the form of debt security, which have been filed or incorporated by reference as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and can be obtained as described under “Where You Can Find More Information.” You should read the indenture and the form of debt security for a complete statement of the provisions described in this prospectus and for other provisions that may be important to you. The indenture is subject to and governed by the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended. In the following description, we have included references to some of the section numbers of the base indenture and the supplemental indenture so that you can easily locate those provisions.

References in this section to “eBay,” “eBay Inc.,” “we,” “our” and “us” and similar references mean eBay Inc. excluding, unless the context otherwise requires or otherwise expressly stated, its subsidiaries.

General

The terms of each series of debt securities will be established by or pursuant to a resolution of our board of directors or a committee thereof, and set forth or determined in the manner provided in a resolution of our board of directors or a committee thereof, an officers’ certificate or a supplemental indenture. (Section 2.2 of the base indenture)

An unlimited aggregate principal amount of debt securities may be issued under the indenture. We may issue debt securities under the indenture from time to time in one or more series with the same or various maturities, interest rates, public offering prices and other terms and provisions. We need not issue all debt securities of one series at the same time. In addition, unless otherwise provided in the applicable prospectus supplement, we may, without the consent of the holders or beneficial owners of the debt securities of any series, reopen a series of debt securities and issue additional debt securities of that series from time to time. Any such additional debt securities of any series, together with the debt securities of that series previously issued, will constitute a single series of debt securities under the indenture. We will set forth in a prospectus supplement and, if applicable, one or more free writing prospectuses relating to any series of debt securities being offered, the aggregate principal amount and other terms of the debt securities of that series, which may include the following, if applicable:

 

•

the title of the debt securities of that series;

 

•

the price or prices (expressed as a percentage of the principal amount) at which the debt securities of that series will be offered to the public;

 

•

any limit on the aggregate principal amount of the debt securities of that series;

 

•

the date or dates on which we will pay the principal on the debt securities of that series;

 

•

the rate or rates (which may be fixed or variable) or the method used to determine the rate or rates at which the debt securities of that series will bear interest, if any; the date or dates from which interest, if any, will accrue; the date or dates on which interest, if any, will be payable; and any regular record date for the interest payable on any interest payment date;

 

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•

our right, if any, to defer payment of interest, if any, on the debt securities of that series and the length of any deferral period;

 

•

the terms and conditions upon which we may redeem the debt securities of that series;

 

•

any obligation we may have to redeem or repurchase the debt securities of that series pursuant to any sinking fund or analogous provisions or at the option of the holders of debt securities of that series;

 

•

the denominations in which the debt securities of that series will be issued, if other than denominations of $2,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof;

 

•

the portion of principal amount of the debt securities of that series payable upon acceleration of the maturity thereof, if other than the entire principal amount;

 

•

the currency of denomination of the debt securities of that series, if other than U.S. dollars;

 

•

the currency or currencies in which payment of principal of, and premium and interest, if any, on, the debt securities of that series will be made, if other than U.S. dollars;

 

•

if payments of principal of, or premium or interest, if any, on, the debt securities of that series will be made in one or more currencies, other than that or those in which the debt securities of that series are denominated, the manner in which the currency exchange rate with respect to those payments will be determined;

 

•

the manner in which the amounts of payments of principal of, or premium or interest, if any, on, the debt securities of that series will be determined, if those amounts may be determined by reference to an index based on a currency or currencies or by reference to a commodity, commodity index, stock exchange index or other index;

 

•

any provisions relating to any collateral provided as security for the payment of the debt securities of that series;

 

•

any additions to or changes in the events of default described in this prospectus or in the indenture with respect to the debt securities of that series;

 

•

any additions to or changes in the covenants described in this prospectus or in the indenture with respect to the debt securities of that series; and

 

•

any other terms of the debt securities of that series, which may supplement, modify or delete any provision of the indenture as it applies to that series. (Section 2.2 of the base indenture)

Without limitation to the foregoing, the terms of the debt securities of any series described in a prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus may modify, supplement or supersede any of the terms of the debt securities or the indenture described in this prospectus.

Unless otherwise stated in the applicable prospectus supplement, interest on the debt securities of each series will be computed on the basis of a 360-day year comprised of twelve 30-day months.

In addition, the indenture will allow us to issue subordinated debt securities. Any subordination provisions of a particular series of debt securities will be described in the relevant prospectus supplement. We may issue debt securities (which we refer to as “discount securities”) that provide for an amount less than their stated principal amount to be due and payable upon acceleration of their maturity pursuant to the terms of the indenture. We will provide you with information on the U.S. federal income tax considerations applicable to any such discount securities in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

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Ranking

Unless otherwise specified in the prospectus supplement relating to a particular series of debt securities, the debt securities of each series will be our unsecured and unsubordinated obligations and will rank equally in right of payment with all of our other existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness. The debt securities of each series will be effectively subordinated in right of payment to all of our secured indebtedness, if any, to the extent of the value of the collateral securing that indebtedness and will be effectively subordinated in right of payment to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of our subsidiaries, which are separate legal entities having no contractual obligation to pay any amounts due pursuant to the debt securities or to make funds available for such purpose. See “Risk Factors—The debt securities are effectively subordinated to all indebtedness and other liabilities of eBay Inc.’s subsidiaries, which may adversely affect your ability to receive payments on the debt securities” and “—Your right to receive payments on the debt securities is effectively subordinated to the rights of secured creditors” above.

Form; Transfer and Exchange

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement:

 

•

the debt securities of each series will be issued in fully registered form without coupons and in the form of one or more global debt securities (“global securities”) registered in the name of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee, and

 

•

investors will not be entitled to receive debt securities of such series in definitive certificated form (“certificated securities”) or to have debt securities of such series registered in their names except under the limited circumstances described below under “Book-Entry Form and Transfer.”

For additional information concerning global securities, see “Book-Entry Form and Transfer” below.

Debt securities may be surrendered for registration of transfer or exchange at any office we maintain for this purpose in accordance with the terms of the indenture. No service charge will be made for any transfer or exchange of debt securities (except as otherwise expressly provided by the indenture), but we may (subject to limited exceptions) require payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge payable in connection with a transfer or exchange. (Section 2.7 of the base indenture)

The indenture provides that neither we nor any registrar for the debt securities will be required (a) to issue, register the transfer of or exchange debt securities of any series during the period beginning at the opening of business 15 days preceding the mailing of a notice of redemption of debt securities of that series and ending at the close of business on the day of that mailing or (b) to register the transfer of or exchange debt securities (or portions thereof) selected, called or being called for redemption or, if applicable, surrendered for repurchase by us at the option of the holder, except any portion thereof not so selected, called or being called or so surrendered. (Section 2.7 of the base indenture)

The indenture provides that, prior to due presentment of a debt security for registration of transfer, we, the trustee and any agent of ours or the trustee may treat the person in whose name such debt security is registered in the register maintained for that purpose as the owner of such debt security for the purpose of receiving payment of the principal of and premium and interest, if any, on such debt security and for all other purposes whatsoever, whether or not any payment with respect to such debt security shall be overdue, and neither we, the trustee nor any agent of ours or the trustee shall be affected by notice to the contrary. (Section 2.16 of the base indenture)

No Sinking Fund or Protection In the Event of a Change of Control

Unless otherwise stated in the prospectus supplement relating to a particular series of debt securities, the debt securities will not be entitled to the benefit of any sinking fund, will not be subject to repurchase by us at the

 

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option of the holders prior to maturity and, except to the limited extent described under “Covenants—Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets” below, will not be entitled to the benefit of any provisions which are intended to protect holders of debt securities in the event of a change of control of eBay or a highly leveraged transaction (whether or not related to a change in control) involving eBay.

Covenants

The following covenants will apply to the debt securities of each series unless otherwise expressly stated in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Limitation on Liens

In the indenture, we covenant and agree, for the benefit of the holders of the debt securities of each series, that we will not, nor will we permit any Significant Subsidiary to, issue, incur, create, assume or guarantee any debt for borrowed money (including debt for borrowed money evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or similar instruments) (collectively, “Debt”) secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, security interest, pledge, lien, charge or similar encumbrance (each, a “Lien”) upon any Principal Property, shares of Capital Stock of any Significant Subsidiary or intercompany Debt owed by any Significant Subsidiary to us or any of our other Subsidiaries (“Intercompany Debt”) (whether such Principal Property, shares of Capital Stock or Intercompany Debt is existing or owed on the date the debt securities of such series are first issued or thereafter created or acquired), without in any such case effectively providing, substantially concurrently with or prior to the issuance, incurrence, creation, assumption or guarantee of any such secured Debt or the grant of such Lien securing any such secured Debt, that the debt securities of such series (together with, if we shall so determine, any other indebtedness or other obligations (including, without limitation, debt securities of other series issued under the indenture) of or guarantees by us or any Significant Subsidiary ranking equally in right of payment with the debt securities of such series or any such guarantee) shall be secured equally and ratably with (or, at our option, prior to) such secured Debt (but only so long as such secured Debt is so secured). The foregoing restriction, however, will not apply to any of the following:

(1) Liens on property, Capital Stock, Debt or other assets of any person existing at the time such person becomes a Subsidiary of ours, provided that such Liens are not incurred in anticipation of such person becoming a Subsidiary of ours and do not extend to any assets other than those of such person;

(2) Liens on property, Capital Stock, Debt or other assets existing at the time of acquisition thereof (including, without limitation, by merger, consolidation or acquisition of Capital Stock) by us or a Subsidiary of ours, or Liens thereon to secure the payment of all or any part of the purchase price thereof, or Liens on property, Capital Stock, Debt or other assets to secure any Debt incurred prior to, at the time of, or within 18 months after, the latest of the acquisition (including, without limitation, by merger, consolidation or acquisition of Capital Stock) thereof or, in the case of property, the completion of construction, the completion of improvements or the commencement of substantial commercial operation of such property for the purpose of financing all or any part of the purchase price thereof, such construction or the making of such improvements, as the case may be;

(3) Liens in favor of, or which secure Debt owing to, us or any of our Subsidiaries;

(4) Liens existing on the date the debt securities of such series were first issued;

(5) Liens on property of a person existing at the time such person is merged with or into, or consolidated with, us or a Subsidiary of ours or otherwise acquired by us or a Subsidiary of ours or at the time of a sale, lease or other disposition of the properties of any person as an entirety or substantially as an entirety to us or a Subsidiary of ours, provided that such Liens were not incurred in anticipation of such merger, consolidation, sale, lease or other disposition and do not extend to any assets other than those of the person merged with or into, or consolidated with, us or a Subsidiary of ours or such property sold, leased or disposed of;

 

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(6) Liens in favor of the United States of America or any state, territory or possession thereof (or the District of Columbia), or any department, agency, instrumentality or political subdivision of the United States of America or any state, territory or possession thereof (or the District of Columbia), to secure partial, progress, advance or other payments pursuant to any contract or statute or to secure any Debt incurred for the purpose of financing all or any part of the purchase price of or the cost of constructing or improving the property subject to such Liens;

(7) Liens securing the debt securities of such series;

(8) Liens created in connection with a project financed with, or created to secure, Non-recourse Obligations;

(9) Liens to secure bonds, notes, debentures or similar instruments on which the interest is exempt from federal income tax; and

(10) extensions, renewals, refinancings or replacements (in whole or in part) of any Liens or Debt which is secured by Liens that were permitted to be incurred by the indenture; provided, however, that (a) the principal or accreted amount of any Debt of ours or any of our Significant Subsidiaries secured by such Lien immediately after such extension, renewal, refinancing or replacement shall not exceed the sum of the principal or accreted amount, as the case may be, of any Debt of ours or any of our Significant Subsidiaries so secured immediately prior to such extension, renewal, refinancing or replacement plus any costs and expenses (including, without limitation, any fees, premiums and penalties) related to such extension, renewal, refinancing or replacement and (b) such extension, renewal, refinancing or replacement Liens are limited to all or part of the same Principal Property (and any improvements thereon), shares of Capital Stock of any Significant Subsidiary or Intercompany Debt which secured any Debt of ours or any of our Significant Subsidiaries immediately prior to such extension, renewal, refinancing or replacement.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we and our Significant Subsidiaries may, without securing the debt securities of such series or any other debt securities issued under the indenture, issue, incur, create, assume or guarantee Debt secured by any Liens which would otherwise be subject to the restrictions set forth in the immediately preceding paragraph if, immediately after giving effect thereto and, if applicable, to the application of any proceeds therefrom to repay Debt on a pro forma basis, our Aggregate Debt does not exceed the greater of (1) 20% of our Consolidated Net Tangible Assets, determined as of the date of such issuance, incurrence, creation, assumption or guarantee, and (2) $500 million. (Section 4.1 of the supplemental indenture)

Limitation on Sale and Lease-Back Transactions

In the indenture, we covenant and agree, for the benefit of the holders of the debt securities of each series, that we will not, nor will we permit any Significant Subsidiary to, enter into any Sale and Lease-Back Transaction with respect to any Principal Property, unless:

(1) such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction involves a lease for a term of not more than three years;

(2) such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction is between us and one of our Subsidiaries or between any Subsidiaries of ours;

(3) we or such Significant Subsidiary would be entitled, at the time of such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction, to incur Debt secured by a Lien on the Principal Property involved in such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction at least equal in amount to the Attributable Debt with respect to such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction, without equally and ratably securing the debt securities of such series, pursuant to the first paragraph under “—Limitation on Liens” above;

(4) we or any of our Subsidiaries applies an amount equal to the net proceeds of such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction within 365 days after such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction to any of (or a combination of) (i) the prepayment or retirement of the debt securities of such series, (ii) the prepayment or retirement of other bonds, notes, debentures or similar instruments (including, without limitation, debt securities of any other series issued under the indenture) or Debt of ours or a Subsidiary of ours (other than bonds, notes,

 

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debentures, similar instruments or Debt of ours that is by its terms subordinated in right of payment to the debt securities of such series) that by its terms matures more than 12 months after its creation or (iii) the purchase, construction, development, expansion or improvement of properties or facilities that are used in or useful to our business or the business of any of our Subsidiaries; or

(5) such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction was entered into on or prior to the date the debt securities of such series were first issued.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we and our Significant Subsidiaries may, without securing the debt securities of such series or any other debt securities issued under the indenture, enter into a Sale and Lease-Back Transaction which would otherwise be subject to the restrictions set forth in the immediately preceding paragraph if, immediately after giving effect thereto and, if applicable, to the application of any proceeds therefrom to repay Debt on a pro forma basis, our Aggregate Debt does not exceed the greater of (1) 20% of our Consolidated Net Tangible Assets, determined as of the date of such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction, and (2) $500 million. (Section 4.1 of the supplemental indenture)

Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets

In the indenture, we covenant and agree, for the benefit of the holders of the debt securities of each series, that we will not consolidate with or merge into, or convey, transfer or lease all or substantially all of our properties and assets to, any person (a “successor person”) unless:

 

•

we are the surviving person or the successor person (if other than us) is organized and existing under the laws of the United States of America, any State thereof or the District of Columbia and expressly assumes our obligations under the debt securities of each series and the indenture;

 

•

immediately after giving effect to the transaction, no event of default (as defined below), and no event which, after notice or lapse of time or both, would be an event of default, shall have occurred and be continuing under the indenture; and

 

•

certain other conditions are met.

Notwithstanding the above, any Subsidiary of eBay Inc. may consolidate with, merge into or convey, transfer or lease all or part of its properties or assets to eBay Inc. or any other Subsidiary of eBay Inc.

Upon compliance with the provisions above, the successor person (if other than eBay) will succeed to and be substituted for and may exercise every right and power of us under the debt securities and the indenture with the same effect as if such successor person had been the original obligor under the debt securities and the indenture, and thereafter (except in the case of a lease) we will be released from all obligations and covenants under the debt securities and the indenture. (Section 5.1 of the base indenture)

Certain Definitions

As used in this “Description of Debt Securities” section, the following terms have the meanings set forth below.

“Aggregate Debt” means, with respect to the debt securities of any series, the sum of the following, calculated as of the date of determination on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP:

 

(1)

the aggregate amount of then outstanding Debt of us and our Significant Subsidiaries incurred after the date the debt securities of such series were first issued and secured by Liens not permitted under the first paragraph under “—Limitation on Liens” above, and

 

(2)

the aggregate amount of Attributable Debt of us and our Significant Subsidiaries then outstanding in respect of Sale and Lease-Back Transactions entered into by us and our Significant Subsidiaries after the date the debt securities of such series were first issued pursuant to the second paragraph under “—Limitation on Sale and Lease-Back Transactions” above.

 

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“Attributable Debt” with regard to a Sale and Lease-Back Transaction with respect to any Principal Property means, at the time of determination, the lesser of:

 

(1)

the fair market value (as determined in good faith by our board of directors, which term, as defined in the indenture, includes committees thereof) of the Principal Property subject to such Sale and Lease-Back Transaction; and

 

(2)

the present value of the total net amount of rent required to be paid under the applicable lease during the remaining contractual term thereof (including any period for which such lease has been extended but subject to the last sentence of this subparagraph), discounted at the rate of interest per annum set forth or implicit in the terms of such lease (or, if not practicable to determine such rate, the weighted average interest rate per annum borne (at the time of determination) by the debt securities then outstanding under the indenture) compounded semi-annually (assuming a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30 day months). For purposes of clarity, it is understood and agreed that (a) the total net amount of rent required to be paid under, and the term of, the applicable lease shall be determined upon the basis of the contractual terms of such lease and shall not be affected by the fact that all or any portion of such rent may, under GAAP, be characterized as interest or some other amount or that the amount of such rent or the term of such lease, as determined under GAAP, may be different from the amount of rent or the term specified by the contractual terms of such lease and (b) the total net amount of rent shall exclude any amounts required to be paid by the lessee, whether or not designated as rent or additional rent, on account of maintenance, repairs, insurance, taxes, assessments, water rates or similar charges or any amounts required to be paid by such lessee contingent upon the amount of sales or similar contingent amounts. In the case of any lease that is terminable by the lessee upon the payment of a penalty, such total net amount of rent shall be the lesser of (1) the net amount determined assuming termination upon the first date such lease may be terminated (in which case the net amount shall also include the present value, calculated as provided above, of the amount of the penalty, but no rent shall be considered as required to be paid under such lease subsequent to the first date upon which it may be so terminated) or (2) the net amount determined assuming no such termination, in each case determined in accordance with the contractual terms of such lease.

“Capital Stock” of any person means any and all shares, interests, participations or other equivalents (however designated) in the equity of such person.

“Consolidated Net Tangible Assets” means, as of any date on which we effect a transaction requiring such Consolidated Net Tangible Assets to be measured under the indenture, the aggregate amount of assets (less applicable reserves) after deducting therefrom (a) all current liabilities, except for current maturities of long-term debt and obligations under capital leases, and (b) all intangible assets (including goodwill), to the extent included in said aggregate amount of assets, all as set forth in the most recent consolidated balance sheet of us and our consolidated Subsidiaries prepared in accordance with GAAP contained in an annual report on Form 10-K or a quarterly report on Form 10-Q (in each case as amended, if applicable) filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission (or any successor thereto) or if, at such date, we shall have ceased filing such reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (or any successor thereto), our then most recent consolidated annual or quarterly balance sheet prepared in accordance with GAAP.

“GAAP” means accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, which are in effect as of the date of application thereof.

“holder” means any person in whose name a debt security is registered.

“Non-recourse Obligation” means indebtedness or other obligations substantially related to (1) the acquisition of assets not previously owned by us or any of our Subsidiaries or (2) the financing of a project involving the development or expansion of properties of ours or any of our Subsidiaries, as to which the obligee with respect to such indebtedness or obligation has no recourse to us or any Subsidiary of ours or to our or any

 

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such Subsidiary’s assets other than the assets which were acquired with the proceeds of such transaction or the project financed with the proceeds of such transaction (and the proceeds thereof).

“person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, limited liability company, joint-stock company, trust, unincorporated organization or any other entity, including any government or any agency or political subdivision thereof.

“Principal Property” means (1) our principal corporate office (whether owned on the date of the indenture or thereafter acquired, and including any leasehold interest therein) and (2) each data center, service and support facility or research and development facility (in each case, whether owned on the date of the indenture or thereafter acquired) which is owned by or leased to us or any of our Subsidiaries and is located within the United States of America, unless, with respect to clause (2), our board of directors (which term, as defined in the indenture, includes committees thereof) has determined in good faith that such center or facility is not of material importance to the total business conducted by us and our Subsidiaries, taken as a whole; provided, however, that any such center or facility (a) owned by us or any of our Subsidiaries for which the book value (less accumulated depreciation) on the date as of which the determination is being made is equal to or less than 1.0% of our Consolidated Net Tangible Assets as of such date, all determined in accordance with GAAP, or (b) leased by us or any of our Subsidiaries for which the annual lease obligation on the date as of which the determination is being made is equal to or less than $2.0 million shall in no event be deemed a Principal Property.

“Sale and Lease-Back Transaction” means any arrangement with any person providing for the leasing by us or any Significant Subsidiary of ours of any Principal Property, whether owned on the date of the indenture or thereafter acquired, which Principal Property has been or is to be sold or transferred by us or such Significant Subsidiary of ours to such person with the intention of taking back a lease of such Principal Property.

“Significant Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary of ours that is a “significant subsidiary” as defined in Rule 1-02(w) of Regulation S-X as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (or any successor thereto) or any successor to such Rule.

“Subsidiary” of any specified person means any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity of which more than 50% of the total voting power of outstanding shares of Capital Stock entitled (without regard to the occurrence of any contingency) to vote in the election of directors, managers or trustees thereof (or persons performing similar functions) is at the time owned (and, in the case of a partnership, more than 50% of whose total general partnership interests then outstanding is at the time owned), directly or indirectly, by such person or other Subsidiaries of such person or a combination thereof and, in the case of an entity other than a corporation or a partnership, such person has the power to direct, directly or indirectly, the policies, management and affairs of such entity.

Events of Default

Unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, an “event of default” with respect to the debt securities of any series means any of the following:

 

•

default in the payment of any interest on any debt security of that series when it becomes due and payable, and continuance of that default for a period of 30 days (unless the entire amount of such payment is deposited by us with the trustee or with a paying agent prior to the expiration of such 30-day period); or

 

•

default in the payment of principal of or premium (if any) on any debt security of that series when due and payable; or

 

•

default in the performance or breach of any covenant or warranty of ours in the indenture (other than a covenant or warranty for which the consequences of nonperformance or breach are addressed by another event of default applicable to debt securities of that series and other than a covenant or warranty that has been included in the indenture solely for the benefit of a series of debt securities other

 

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than that series), which default or breach continues uncured for a period of 90 days after there has been given, by registered or certified mail, to us by the trustee or to us and the trustee by the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series, a written notice containing the statements required by the indenture; or

 

•

certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization of eBay; or

 

•

any other event of default with respect to the debt securities of that series that is specified in a resolution of our board of directors (or a committee thereof), supplemental indenture or officer’s certificate establishing the terms of the debt securities of that series as provided in the indenture and described in the applicable prospectus supplement. (Section 6.1 of the base indenture)

No event of default with respect to a particular series of debt securities (except as to certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization of eBay) necessarily constitutes an event of default with respect to any other series of debt securities. The occurrence of certain events of default or an acceleration of the debt securities of one or more series under the indenture may constitute an event of default under certain of our other indebtedness outstanding from time to time.

If an event of default with respect to the debt securities of any series at the time outstanding occurs and is continuing (other than an event of default relating to certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization of eBay), then the trustee or the holders of not less than 25% in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series may declare the principal (or, if any debt securities of that series are discount securities, such portion of the principal as may be specified in the terms of such debt securities) of and accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on all of the debt securities of that series to be due and payable immediately, by a notice in writing to us (and to the trustee if given by the holders). If an event of default resulting from certain events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization of eBay occurs and is continuing with respect to the debt securities of any series, the principal (or such specified amount) of and accrued and unpaid interest, if any, on all outstanding debt securities of such series will become and be immediately due and payable without any declaration or other act on the part of the trustee or any holder of debt securities of such series. At any time after acceleration with respect to debt securities of any series has occurred and before a judgment or decree for payment of the money due has been obtained by the trustee, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series may rescind and annul such acceleration and its consequences if all events of default with respect to the debt securities of such series, other than non-payment of the principal and interest, if any, of the debt securities of such series which have become due solely by such acceleration, have been cured or waived as provided in the indenture. (Section 6.2 of the base indenture) We refer you to the prospectus supplement relating to any series of debt securities that are discount securities for the particular provisions relating to acceleration of a portion of the principal amount of such discount securities upon the occurrence of an event of default.

The indenture provides that the trustee will be under no obligation to exercise any of its rights or powers under the indenture at the request or direction of any of the holders of debt securities of any series unless such holders shall have offered to the trustee security or indemnity reasonably satisfactory to it against the costs, expenses and liabilities which might be incurred by it in compliance with such request or direction. (Section 7.2(f) of the base indenture) Subject to certain rights of the trustee and to certain conditions specified in the indenture, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series will have the right to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the trustee or exercising any trust or power conferred on the trustee with respect to the debt securities of that series. (Section 6.12 of the base indenture)

No holder of any debt security of any series will have any right to institute any proceeding, judicial or otherwise, with respect to the indenture or the debt securities of such series, or for the appointment of a receiver, trustee or similar official, or for any other remedy under the indenture, unless:

 

•

that holder has previously given written notice to the trustee of a continuing event of default with respect to debt securities of that series;

 

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•

the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series have made written request to the trustee to institute proceedings in respect of such event of default in its own name as trustee under the indenture;

 

•

such holder or holders have offered to the trustee indemnity reasonably satisfactory to it against the costs, expenses and liabilities to be incurred in compliance with such request;

 

•

the trustee for 90 days after its receipt of such notice, request and offer of indemnity has failed to institute any such proceeding; and

 

•

no direction inconsistent with such written request has been given to the trustee during such 90-day period by holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series. (Section 6.7 of the base indenture).

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the holder of any debt security will have an absolute and unconditional right to receive payment of the principal of, and premium and interest, if any, on, that debt security on the due dates expressed in that debt security and to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment. (Section 6.8 of the base indenture)

The indenture requires that we deliver to the trustee, within 120 days after the end of each of our fiscal years, an officers’ certificate stating whether or not, to the knowledge of the signers thereof, we are in default in the performance or observance of any of the terms, provisions and conditions of the indenture and, if we are in default, specifying all such defaults and the nature and status thereof of which the signers may have knowledge. The indenture also requires that, so long as any debt securities are outstanding, we deliver to the trustee promptly upon becoming aware of any default or event of default under the indenture, an officers’ certificate specifying such default or event of default and what action we are taking or propose to take with respect thereto. (Section 4.3 of the base indenture) The indenture provides that the trustee may withhold notice to the holders of debt securities of any series of any default or event of default with respect to debt securities of that series (except a default in payment of principal of or premium or interest, if any, on any debt securities of that series) if it in good faith determines that withholding notice is in the interest of the holders of the debt securities of that series. (Section 7.5 of the base indenture)

Modification and Waiver

We and the trustee may enter into a supplemental indenture in order to amend or supplement the indenture with respect to the debt securities of one or more series or amend or supplement the debt securities of one or more series, without notice to or the consent of any holders of any debt securities, to:

 

•

cure any ambiguity, defect or inconsistency;

 

•

make any change that does not adversely affect the rights of any holder of debt securities in any material respect;

 

•

comply with the provisions described above under “Covenants–Consolidation, Merger and Sale of Assets;”

 

•

provide for the issuance of uncertificated debt securities in addition to or in place of certificated debt securities or reflect any changes in the rules or procedures of any depositary for global securities;

 

•

add to the covenants or the events of default for the benefit of holders of all or any series of debt securities or surrender any right or power conferred on us by the indenture with respect to the debt securities of one or more series or to secure the debt securities of one or more series or to provide guarantees for the benefit of one or more series of debt securities;

 

•

amend or supplement any of the provisions of the indenture in respect of one or more series of debt securities, provided, however, that any such amendment or supplement either (A) shall not apply to any outstanding debt security of any series issued prior to the date of such amendment or supplement and entitled to the benefit of such provision or (B) shall become effective only if or when, as the case may be, there is no outstanding debt security of any series issued prior to the date of such amendment or supplement and entitled to the benefit of such provision;

 

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•

establish the form and terms of any series of debt securities as permitted by the indenture;

 

•

evidence and provide for the acceptance of appointment under the indenture by a successor trustee with respect to the debt securities of one or more series and to add to or change any of the provisions of the indenture as shall be necessary to provide for or facilitate the administration of the trusts thereunder by more than one trustee;

 

•

supplement any provisions of the indenture as is necessary to permit or facilitate the legal defeasance, covenant defeasance or satisfaction and discharge of any debt securities as described below under “Defeasance of Debt Securities and Certain Covenants” or “Satisfaction and Discharge;” and

 

•

comply with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission or any applicable law or regulation in order to effect or maintain the qualification of the indenture under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended, or conform the indenture with any other mandatory provision of law or regulation, or conform the indenture or the debt securities of any series to the description thereof contained in any applicable prospectus, prospectus supplement, free writing prospectus, offering memorandum, term sheet or other offering document. (Section 9.1 of the base indenture)

We and the trustee may enter into supplemental indentures for the purpose of supplementing or amending in any manner the indenture with respect to the debt securities of any series, or supplementing or amending the debt securities of any series, with the consent of the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of such series; provided that no such consent of holders of debt securities shall be required for any amendment or supplement described in the immediately preceding paragraph. In addition, the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series may, on behalf of the holders of all debt securities of that series, waive compliance by us with any covenants or other provisions of the indenture and the debt securities of such series.

However, the indenture provides that, subject to the provisions described in the next succeeding paragraph, an amendment, supplement or waiver described in the immediately preceding paragraph affecting the debt securities of any series may not, without the consent of the holder of each debt security of such series then outstanding:

 

•

reduce the rate of or extend the time for payment of interest (including default interest, if any) on any debt security of that series;

 

•

reduce the principal of or premium on or change the stated maturity of any debt security of that series or reduce the amount of, or postpone the date fixed for, the payment of any sinking fund or analogous obligation with respect to any debt securities of that series;

 

•

reduce the principal amount of any discount securities of that series payable upon acceleration of its maturity;

 

•

waive a default or event of default in the payment of the principal of or premium or interest, if any, on any debt security of that series (except a rescission of acceleration of the debt securities of such series by the holders of at least a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of such series and a waiver of the payment default that resulted from such acceleration);

 

•

make the principal of or premium or interest, if any, on any debt security of such series payable in a currency other than that stated in such debt security;

 

•

make any change, insofar as relates to the debt securities of that series, to the provisions of the indenture relating to, among other things, the right of holders of debt securities of that series to receive payment of the principal of, and premium and interest, if any, on, the debt securities of that series when due and to institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment or relating to waivers of past defaults and events of default with respect to the debt securities of that series;

 

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•

reduce the amount payable upon the redemption of any debt security of that series at our option or the repayment of any debt security of that series at the option of the holder; or

 

•

reduce the percentage in principal amount of debt securities of that series, the consent of the holders of which is required for any of the foregoing modifications or otherwise necessary to supplement or amend the indenture with respect to the debt securities of that series, or to waive any past default or event of default with respect to the debt securities of that series. (Section 9.3 of the base indenture)

The indenture provides that any amendment, supplement or waiver shall bind every holder of debt securities of each series affected by such amendment, supplement or waiver unless it is of the type, or relates to any of the matters, described in any of the bullet points in the immediately preceding paragraph. In that case then, anything in the indenture to the contrary notwithstanding, the amendment, supplement or waiver shall bind every holder of a debt security who has consented to it and every subsequent holder of a debt security or portion of a debt security that evidences the same debt as the consenting holders debt security. (Section 9.5 of the base indenture)

The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series may, on behalf of the holders of all debt securities of such series, waive any past default or event of default under the indenture with respect to that series and its consequences, except a default or event of default in the payment of the principal of, or premium or interest, if any, on, any debt security of that series; provided, however, that the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series may rescind an acceleration of the debt securities of that series and its consequences, including any related payment default that resulted from the acceleration. (Section 6.13 of the base indenture)

Defeasance of Debt Securities and Certain Covenants

The indenture provides that, upon satisfaction of the conditions specified in the indenture, we shall be deemed to have paid and discharged the entire indebtedness on all outstanding debt securities of any series on the 91^st day after the date of the deposit referred to in clause (a) under “—Conditions to Legal Defeasance and Covenant Defeasance” below with respect to the debt securities of such series and the provisions of the indenture, as it relates to the outstanding debt securities of such series, shall no longer be in effect except for:

 

•

the rights of holders of debt securities of such series to receive, solely from the funds described in clause (a) under “—Conditions to Legal Defeasance and Covenant Defeasance” below, payment of the principal of and premium and interest, if any, on the outstanding debt securities of such series when due; and

 

•

a limited number of other provisions of the indenture, including provisions relating to transfers and exchanges of, and the maintenance of a registrar and paying agent for, the debt securities of such series and the replacement of stolen, lost or mutilated debt securities of such series.

We sometimes refer to this as “legal defeasance.” Upon the legal defeasance of the debt securities of any series, we will be discharged from our obligations to make payments on the debt securities of such series and (subject to the exceptions as described above) all of our other obligations under the indenture with respect to the debt securities of such series.

The indenture further provides that, upon satisfaction of the conditions specified in the indenture, we will be released from our obligations under, and may omit to comply with, the covenants described under the heading “Covenants” above and certain other covenants in the indenture with respect to the debt securities of any series, as well as any additional covenants applicable to the debt securities of such series which may be identified in the applicable prospectus supplement as being subject to covenant defeasance, and the failure to comply with any such covenants shall not constitute a default or event of default with respect to any debt securities of such series. We sometimes refer to this as “covenant defeasance.”

 

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Conditions to Legal Defeasance and Covenant Defeasance. In order to effect legal defeasance or covenant defeasance of the debt securities of any series, we must, among other things:

 

(a)

deposit with the trustee money and/or U.S. government obligations or, in the case of debt securities of any series denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars, money and/or foreign government obligations, that, through the payment of interest and principal in accordance with their terms, will provide an amount in cash sufficient, in the opinion of a nationally recognized firm of independent public accountants, to pay and discharge each installment of principal of, premium and interest, if any, on and any mandatory sinking fund payments in respect of the debt securities of that series on the dates those payments are due or, if applicable, any redemption date;

 

(b)

in the case of legal defeasance, deliver to the trustee an opinion of counsel to the effect that we have received from, or there has been published by, the United States Internal Revenue Service a ruling or, since the date of the indenture, there has been a change in the applicable United States federal income tax law, in either case to the effect that, and based thereon such opinion shall confirm that, the holders of the debt securities of that series will not recognize income, gain or loss for United States federal income tax purposes as a result of such deposit, legal defeasance and discharge and will be subject to United States federal income tax on the same amounts and in the same manner and at the same times as would have been the case if such deposit, legal defeasance and discharge had not occurred; and

 

(c)

in the case of covenant defeasance, deliver to the trustee an opinion of counsel to the effect that the holders of the debt securities of that series will not recognize income, gain or loss for United States federal income tax purposes as a result of such deposit and covenant defeasance and will be subject to United States federal income tax on the same amounts and in the same manner and at the same times as would have been the case if such deposit and covenant defeasance had not occurred. (Sections 8.3 and 8.4 of the base indenture)

In the event we exercise our option to effect covenant defeasance with respect to any series of debt securities and the debt securities of that series are declared due and payable because of the occurrence of an event of default (including an event of default due to our failure to comply with any covenant that remains in effect following such covenant defeasance), the amount of money and/or U.S. government obligations or foreign government obligations, as the case may be, on deposit with the trustee will be sufficient to pay amounts due on the debt securities of that series on the dates those payments are due or, if applicable, a redemption date but may not be sufficient to pay amounts due on the debt securities of that series at the time of the acceleration resulting from the event of default. However, we shall remain liable for those payments.

When we use the term “U.S. government obligations,” we mean:

 

•

securities which are (a) direct obligations of the United States of America for the payment of which its full faith and credit is pledged or (b) obligations of a person controlled or supervised by and acting as an agency or instrumentality of the United States of America, the payment of which is unconditionally guaranteed as a full faith and credit obligation by the United States of America, and which in the case of (a) and (b) are not callable or redeemable at the option of the issuer thereof; and

 

•

depository receipts issued by a bank or trust company as custodian with respect to any such U.S. government obligations or a specific payment of interest on, or principal of or other amount payable with respect to, such U.S. government obligations held by such custodian for the account of the holder of a depository receipt, provided that (except as required by law) such custodian is not authorized to make any deduction from the amount payable to the holder of such depository receipt from any amount received by the custodian in respect of the U.S. government obligation or the specific payment of interest on or principal of or other amount payable with respect to the U.S. government obligation evidenced by such depository receipt.

 

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Satisfaction and Discharge

The indenture will cease to be of any further effect with respect to any series of debt securities if:

 

•

all outstanding debt securities of such series have (subject to certain exceptions) been delivered to the trustee for cancellation; or

 

•

all outstanding debt securities of such series not previously delivered to the trustee for cancellation have become due and payable, will become due and payable at their stated maturity within one year, have been called for redemption or are to be called for redemption within one year, or have been legally defeased as described above under “Defeasance of Debt Securities and Certain Covenants,” and (except in the case of debt securities that has been legally defeased) we have deposited with the trustee an amount sufficient to pay the principal of, and premium and interest, if any, on, such debt securities to the date of such deposit (in the case of debt securities which have become due and payable on or prior to the date of such deposit) or to the stated maturity or redemption date, as the case may be;

and, in either case, we also pay or cause to be paid all other sums payable under the indenture by us with respect to the debt securities of that series and satisfy certain other conditions specified in the indenture. We sometime refer to this as “satisfaction and discharge.” (Section 8.1 of the base indenture)

Notwithstanding the satisfaction and discharge of the indenture with respect to the debt securities of any series, a limited number of provisions of the indenture shall remain in effect, including provisions relating to transfers and exchanges of, and the maintenance of a registrar and paying agent for, debt securities, and the replacement of stolen, lost or mutilated debt securities.

Repayment of Unclaimed Funds

The indenture provides that the trustee and any paying agent shall pay to us upon request any money, U.S. government obligations or foreign government obligations held by them for payment of principal, interest or premium, if any, or any sinking fund payment on any debt securities that remain unclaimed for two years after the respective dates such principal, interest or premium, if any, or sinking fund payment shall have become due and payable. Thereafter, holders of debt securities entitled to those payments must look to us for payment as general creditors unless an applicable abandoned property law designates another person. (Section 8.5 of the base indenture).

Legal Holidays

Unless otherwise provided in the applicable prospectus supplement, if a payment date for any debt security is not a business day (as defined in the indenture) at a place of payment, payment may be made at that place on the next succeeding business day, and no interest shall accrue for the intervening period.

Governing Law

The indenture and the debt securities will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of New York.

No Recourse Against Others

The indenture provides that a director, officer, employee or stockholder, as such, of ours shall not have any liability for any of our obligations under the debt securities or the indenture or for any claim based on, in respect of or by reason of such obligations or their creation. The indenture further provides that each holder of debt securities, by accepting a debt security, waives and releases all such liability and that such waiver and release are part of the consideration for the issuance of the debt securities.

 

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Concerning Our Relationship with the Trustee

Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, the trustee, provides commercial banking services to us and our subsidiaries. In addition, Wells Fargo Bank, National Association serves as a syndication agent, joint lead arranger and joint book manager and as a lender under our current unsecured revolving credit facility.

 

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BOOK-ENTRY FORM AND TRANSFER

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, the debt securities of each series will be issued in the form of one or more global securities, in definitive, fully registered form without interest coupons. Each such global security will be deposited with DTC or the trustee as custodian for DTC and registered in the name of DTC or a nominee of DTC (we sometimes refer to DTC or any other depositary for the global securities of any series as the “Depositary”).

Investors may hold their interests in a global security directly through DTC if they are DTC participants (as defined below) or indirectly through organizations that are DTC participants. Except in the limited circumstances described below, holders of beneficial interests in the global securities of any series will not be entitled to receive debt securities of such series in definitive, certificated form or to have debt securities of such series registered in their names.

We understand that DTC is a limited-purpose trust company organized under the New York Banking Law, a “banking organization” within the meaning of the New York Banking Law, a member of the Federal Reserve System, a “clearing corporation” within the meaning of the New York Uniform Commercial Code and a “clearing agency” registered pursuant to the provisions of Section 17A of the Exchange Act. DTC holds securities of institutions that have accounts with DTC (“participants”) to facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions among its participants in such securities through electronic book-entry changes in accounts of the participants, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. DTC’s participants include both U.S. and non-U.S. securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations. Access to DTC’s book-entry system is also available to others such as U.S. and non-U.S. securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies and clearing corporations that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a participant, whether directly or indirectly. The rules applicable to DTC and its participants are on file with the SEC.

Upon the issuance of a global security, DTC will credit, on its book-entry registration and transfer system, the respective principal amounts of the individual beneficial interests in the global security to the accounts of the applicable participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in each global security will be limited to participants or persons that hold interests through participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in each global security will be shown on, and the transfer of those ownership interests will be effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to participants’ interests) and such participants (with respect to the interests of persons that are not participants).

So long as DTC or its nominee is the registered holder of a global security, DTC or such nominee, as the case may be, will be considered the sole holder and owner of the debt securities represented by such global security for all purposes under the indenture and such debt securities. Owners of beneficial interests in a global security will not be considered the owners or holders of those debt securities under the indenture, will not be able to transfer those beneficial interests except in accordance with the procedures of DTC and its participants and, except under the limited circumstances set forth below, will not be entitled to receive certificated debt securities or to have debt securities registered in their names. Accordingly, each owner of a beneficial interest in a global security must rely on the procedures of DTC and, if such person is not a participant, on the procedures of the participant through which it owns its beneficial interest to exercise any rights of a holder of debt securities under the indenture. We understand that, under existing industry practice, in the event owners of beneficial interests in global securities of any series wish to take any action that DTC or its nominee, as the holder of such global securities, is entitled to take, DTC would authorize the applicable participants to take such action, and that such participants would authorize beneficial owners owning through such participants to take such action or would otherwise act upon the instructions of such beneficial owners. Because DTC can only act on behalf of participants, who in turn act on behalf of others, the ability of a person having a beneficial interest in a global security to pledge that interest to persons that do not participate in the DTC system, or otherwise to take actions in respect of that interest, may be impaired by the lack of a physical certificate representing that interest.

 

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All payments on the debt securities represented by a global security registered in the name of DTC or its nominee will be made to DTC or its nominee, as the case may be, as the registered holder of the global security. We expect that DTC or its nominee, upon receipt of any payment of principal of, or, premium or interest, if any, on, a global security, will credit the applicable participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in the principal amount of the global security as shown on the records of DTC. We also expect that payments by participants to owners of beneficial interests in the global security held through such participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices as is now the case with securities held for accounts for customers registered in “street name”; those payments will be the responsibility of such participants. Neither we, the trustee nor any agent of ours or of the trustee will have any responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to, or payments made on account of, beneficial interests in any global security or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial interests or for any other aspect of the relationship between DTC and its participants or the relationship between such participants and the owners of beneficial interests in the global securities.

Unless and until it is exchanged in whole or in part for certificated debt securities under the limited circumstances described below, a global security may not be transferred except as a whole by DTC to a nominee of DTC or by a nominee of DTC to DTC or another nominee of DTC or by DTC or any such nominee to a successor Depositary or a nominee of such successor Depositary. Transfers between participants in DTC will be effected in the ordinary way in accordance with DTC rules and will be settled in same-day funds.

The indenture provides that the global securities of any series will be exchanged for debt securities of the same series in certificated form only in the following limited circumstances:

(1) we receive notice from the Depositary that it is unwilling or unable to continue as depository for the global securities of such series or if the Depositary ceases to be a clearing agency registered under the Exchange Act and, in either case, we fail to appoint a successor Depositary for the global securities of such series registered as clearing agency under the Exchange Act within 90 days after the date we receive such notice or learn that the Depositary has ceased to be so registered;

(2) we in our sole discretion determine that the global securities of such series shall be exchanged (in whole but not in part) for debt securities of such series in certificated form and we deliver to the trustee an officers’ certificate to such effect; or

(3) an event of default with respect to the debt securities of such series shall have occurred and shall be continuing.

Any global security of any series that is exchanged for certificated securities as provided above will be exchanged for an equal aggregate principal amount of certificated securities of the same series, in authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Depositary instructs the trustee. It is expected that such instructions will be based upon directions received by the Depositary from participants with respect to ownership of beneficial interests in global securities.

Euroclear and Clearstream

If so provided in the applicable prospectus supplement, you may hold interests in the global security through Clearstream Banking, société anonyme, which we refer to as “Clearstream,” or Euroclear Bank S.A./N.V., as operator of the Euroclear System, which we refer to as “Euroclear,” either directly if you are a participant in Clearstream or Euroclear or indirectly through organizations which are participants in Clearstream or Euroclear. Clearstream and Euroclear will hold interests on behalf of their respective participants through customers’ securities accounts in the names of Clearstream and Euroclear, respectively, on the books of their respective depositaries, which in turn will hold such interests in customers’ securities accounts in such depositaries’ names on DTC’s books.

 

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Clearstream and Euroclear are securities clearance systems in Europe. Clearstream and Euroclear hold securities for their respective participating organizations and facilitate the clearance and settlement of securities transactions between those participants through electronic book-entry changes in their accounts, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of certificates.

Payments, deliveries, transfers, exchanges, notices and other matters relating to beneficial interests in global securities owned through Euroclear or Clearstream must comply with the rules and procedures of those systems. Transactions between participants in Euroclear or Clearstream, on one hand, and other participants in DTC, on the other hand, are also subject to DTC’s rules and procedures.

Investors will be able to make and receive through Euroclear and Clearstream payments, deliveries, transfers and other transactions involving any beneficial interests in global securities held through those systems only on days when those systems are open for business. Those systems may not be open for business on days when banks, brokers and other institutions are open for business in the United States.

In addition, because of time-zone differences, investors who hold their interests in the global securities through Clearstream or Euroclear and wish on a particular day to transfer their interests, or to receive or make a payment or delivery or exercise any other right with respect to their interests, may find that the transaction will not be effected until the next business day in Luxembourg or Brussels, as applicable. Thus, investors who wish to exercise rights that expire on a particular day may need to act before the expiration date. In addition, investors who hold their interests through both DTC and Clearstream or Euroclear may need to make special arrangements to finance any purchase or sales of their interests between the U.S. and European clearing systems, and those transactions may settle later than would be the case for transactions within one clearing system.

Other

The information in this section of this prospectus concerning DTC, Clearstream, Euroclear and their respective book-entry systems has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable, but we do not take responsibility for this information. This information has been provided solely as a matter of convenience. The rules and procedures of DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear are solely within the control of those organizations and could change at any time. Neither we nor the trustee nor any agent of ours or of the trustee has any control over those entities and none of us takes any responsibility for their activities. You are urged to contact DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear or their participants directly to discuss those matters. In addition, although we expect that DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear will perform the foregoing procedures, none of them is under any obligation to perform or continue to perform such procedures and such procedures may be discontinued at any time. Neither we nor the trustee nor any agent of ours or of the trustee will have any responsibility for the performance or nonperformance by DTC, Clearstream and Euroclear or their respective participants of these or any other rules or procedures governing their respective operations.

 

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PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We may sell the debt securities described in this prospectus from time to time in one or more transactions:

 

•

to purchasers directly;

 

•

to underwriters for public offering and sale by them;

 

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through agents;

 

•

through dealers; or

 

•

through a combination of any of the foregoing methods of sale.

We may distribute the debt securities from time to time in one or more transactions at:

 

•

a fixed price or prices, which may be changed;

 

•

market prices prevailing at the time of sale;

 

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prices related to such prevailing market prices; or

 

•

negotiated prices.

Direct Sales

We may sell the debt securities directly to institutional investors or others. A prospectus supplement will describe the terms of any sale of debt securities we are offering to purchasers directly. Direct sales may be arranged by a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary.

To Underwriters

The applicable prospectus supplement will name any underwriter involved in a sale of debt securities. Underwriters may offer and sell debt securities at a fixed price or prices, which may be changed, or from time to time at market prices or at negotiated prices. Underwriters may be deemed to have received compensation from us from sales of debt securities in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions and may also receive commissions from purchasers of debt securities.

Underwriters may sell debt securities to or through dealers, and such dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the underwriters or commissions from purchasers.

Unless we state otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, the obligations of any underwriters to purchase debt securities will be subject to certain conditions, and the underwriters will be obligated to purchase all the applicable debt securities if any are purchased.

Underwriters may over-allot or effect transactions that may stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the market price of the applicable debt securities at levels above those that might otherwise prevail in the open market, including, for example, by entering stabilizing bids, effecting syndicate covering transactions or imposing penalty bids. However, the underwriters will be under no obligation to perform any such transactions and any such transactions, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time without notice.

To or Through Agents and Dealers

We will name any agent involved in a sale of debt securities, as well as any commissions payable by us to such agent, in a prospectus supplement.

 

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If we utilize a dealer in the sale of the debt securities being offered pursuant to this prospectus then, unless otherwise stated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will sell the debt securities to the dealer, as principal, and the dealer may then resell the debt securities at varying prices to be determined by the dealer at the time of resale.

Delayed Delivery Contracts

If we so specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, we may authorize underwriters, dealers or agents to solicit offers by institutions to purchase the debt securities pursuant to contracts providing for payment and delivery on future dates. Such contracts may be subject to conditions described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

The underwriters, dealers and agents will not be responsible for the validity or performance of any delayed delivery contracts. We will set forth in the prospectus supplement relating to the contracts the price to be paid for the debt securities, the commissions payable for solicitation of the contracts and the date in the future for delivery of the debt securities.

Other

Underwriters, agents or dealers involved in the offering or sale of our debt securities and their affiliates may engage in transactions with or perform services for us or our affiliates in the ordinary course of business.

There is no existing market for the debt securities and, unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we do not intend to apply for listing of the debt securities on any securities exchange or automated quotation system. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that a trading market for the debt securities will develop or will be maintained. Further, there can be no assurance as to the liquidity of any market that may develop for the debt securities, whether you will be able to sell your debt securities or the prices at which you may be able to sell your debt securities. See “Risk Factors—There may not be an active trading market for the debt securities.”

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

Sidley Austin LLP, San Francisco, California, will pass upon the validity of the debt securities being offered by this prospectus for us.

EXPERTS

The financial statements and management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (which is included in management’s report on internal control over financial reporting), incorporated in this prospectus by reference to the eBay Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for information about the operation of the Public Reference Room. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC, including us. The SEC’s Internet site can be found at http://www.sec.gov.

This prospectus constitutes part of a registration statement filed under the Securities Act. As permitted by the SEC’s rules, this prospectus omits information and exhibits included in the registration statement. For further information about us and the debt securities, you should read the registration statement and the exhibits thereto. You may read and copy those documents as described in the immediately preceding paragraph. Statements contained in this prospectus or any applicable prospectus supplement as to the contents of any contract or other document are not complete and in each instance we refer you to the copy of the contract or document filed or incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or to a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus, and each such statement is qualified in all respects by such reference.

The SEC allows us to incorporate by reference in this prospectus information that we file with the SEC, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document that we have filed with the SEC. The information incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference is deemed to be part of this prospectus.

We incorporate by reference the documents listed below that we have filed with the SEC (Commission File No. 0-24821) (other than any information in or portion of any such document or any exhibit thereto that is deemed to have been “furnished” to the SEC):

 

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our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010;

 

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our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2011 and June 30, 2011; and

 

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our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on March 30, 2011, June 13, 2011, June 20, 2011 and June 28, 2011.

We also incorporate by reference into this prospectus any documents (other than any information furnished under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 (and related information furnished under Item 9.01 or as an exhibit) in any current report on Form 8-K and other than any other document or any information in or portion of any document or any related exhibit that we have “furnished” to the SEC) that we may file with the SEC pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act from the date of this prospectus until we have terminated the offering.

 

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Documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus after the date hereof will automatically update and, to the extent inconsistent, supersede information in this prospectus. In that regard, any information contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus will be deemed to have been modified or superseded to the extent that a subsequent statement contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any other document that is also incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus modifies or supersedes the original statement. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to be part of this prospectus.

Documents incorporated by reference herein, excluding all exhibits unless an exhibit has been specifically incorporated by reference into this prospectus, are available without charge to each person (including a beneficial owner) to whom this prospectus is delivered by requesting them in writing, by telephone or via the Internet, at:

eBay Inc.

2145 Hamilton Avenue

Attn: Investor Relations

San Jose, CA 95125

(866) 696-3229

http://investor.ebayinc.com

The information contained on or that can be accessed through our website is not a part of this prospectus, any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, any prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus.

 

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$                

 

eBay Inc.

$                % Notes due 2015

$                % Notes due 2017

$                % Notes due 2022

$                % Notes due 2042

 

 

PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

 

 

J.P. Morgan

Citigroup

Credit Suisse

Deutsche Bank Securities

                , 2012