The IHT has an article showing how "anyone who thought that Europeans were not as entrepreneurial as Americans has not been watching people doing business on eBay".

Over 170,000 people in 12 European countries make money selling on the site and 50 million Europeans buy or browse, according to research commissioned by the company. Trading activity generated sales worth $947 million in 2004.

In the United States, buyers and browsers total roughly 90 million. EBay's home market generated 55 percent of the company's $4.55 billion in global sales last year.

"Europe is one of our fastest-growing markets,"

And about what is sold:

in France, someone uses eBay to sell a comic book every minute, on average. In Germany, someone buys a bulldozer every three hours, while in Britain a teddy bear changes hands every two minutes on the online auction site.

Somehow related to the minipreneur or consumactor trend.