Amusingly, seeing eBay's profitability early on, Amazon tried to build on an eBay wannabe product and failed miserably at auctions. eBay has had the segment to itself ever since. Why didn't Amazon solely focus on being the best retailer it could be, instead of pursuing a foray into auctions? They couldn't help themselves, they saw the $$$ eBay was earning, as Bezos did with the iPhone margins.

And while I fully understand the reasons for the valuation difference, I still find it hilarious that eBay is generating roughly as much net income annually as Amazon, at 1/12th the valuation.