Dawn Gregg and Madhavan Parthasarathy
Small Business Economics, Vol. 49, Issue 2, August 2017 pp. 405–419

With 40% of the world able to access the internet, online marketplaces provide the small entrepreneur with a hitherto incomprehensible opportunity to reach a global audience with very low barriers to entry and low risk. Yet, academic research has not studied the factors unique to online businesses that affect their long-term survival. This study is the first of its kind that does so using data gathered from eBay’s feedback system in 2004, 2009, and 2013. The results present data on the rate of discontinuance of eBay ventures. Further, a logistic regression analysis suggests that unique factors such as venture size, age, and feedback reputation positively influence the likelihood of long-term survival of an eBay venture. Based on these results and the ensuing discussion, implications for researchers and practitioners are provided.