What came first....the buyer or the seller?
I mean, if we are to determine which one is more important, or at the very least, which one is more important to eBay, it's imperative we examine the origins of the buyer - seller relationship. Now, it's true that the seller came first on eBay, because the buyer of the first item ever listed couldn't have purchased that broken laser pointer unless there was a seller of it, but, in order for a seller to actually become a seller, they need a buyer (otherwise they are just a lister), and therefore an awareness that buyers exist (this means, at the root, we will also explore "is a buyer / seller still a buyer / seller when they are not buying / selling anything?".
So, many, many years ago, Grug was sitting by the cave fire and saw a round log dislodge and roll out of the fire, moving quickly and unimpeded towards him. After first waving his arms about and grunting (not to mention getting a few leg hairs singed when the log smacked against his ankle), Grug realised something. That log could move, and fast! 'Neat', he thought (well, 'neat' didn't exist as a word back then, so that's an approximate translation of the original thought).
The next day, Grug found an unsinged round log and decided to play with it a little. He took it to a hill, and rolled it down, watching with delight as it tumbled to the bottom of the hill. Except, now there was a problem, he needed to retreive the log so he could continue the fun, so he flung himself down the hill, mimicing the shape of the log and rolling down to the bottom (interesting fact, this is the first recorded instance of a person rolling down a hill, only back then it wasn't for fun, it was because it was clear that rolling is faster than walking, and Grug wanted to get that log back quickly to continue playing with it).
A short while later, Brod approached the hill where Grug was playing. By this stage, Grug had realised that the cylindrical shape of a log was problematic and had whittled it into a sphere shape, thus creating the first ever (non-bouncy) ball, and also inventing the forward roll - the pre-cursor to somersaults - as he continued to mimic the shape of his toy for maximum effectiveness. Brod watched as Grug rolled the ball down the hill, quickly following after it, with hands on his hips and 'tsk-ing' (the tsk actually pre-dates all spoken languages, just so you know).
Now, Brod was a shrewd man, and as he watched Grug play, he noticed that the unusually shaped log might be good for something more than Grug's simple application. When Grug had made yet another trek back up to the top of the hill, log-ball in hand, Brod called him over. He pointed at the log-ball, indicating that he would like to take it. Grug vehemently denied this request, clutching the ball to his chest, and the two began to get quite annoyed with each other, their shouts increasing in volume until Crork, Grug's brother, noticed the argument and came over to investigate.
They continued to argue until Brod made a grab for the log-ball, but Grug was too quick (and tall), and held it aloft, out of Brod's reach. What ensued resulted in the first ever game of keepaway, as well as - eventually - dodgeball, which (as you can imagine) was a lot more dangerous back then.
That's not too important, though, what is important is that, unable to quell his desire to possess the round, fast-moving thing Grug had, Brod brooded constantly over how to acquire it. Fed up with his moodiness and hoping to make him forget about his problems for a while, Brod's wife, Inger, cozied up to him and asked him if he remembered how they met (in such a way as primitive language allows, which here involves Inger pointing to the extremely effective club Brod had fashioned out of some fine wood 8 years earlier, now mounted on the cave-wall as a constant testament to Brod's prowess).
This did not quite go as planned for Inger, as rather than inspire Brod's romanticism, instead he was inspired to use his trusty club as a means to acquire the log-ball, intending to catch Grug unawares and take it for himself at last (here the seeds of super-villainry were sown, so if you ever ponder what came first, the superhero or the super-villain, there's your answer).
Later that night, Brod approached Grug's cave, brandishing his club.
"Grug!" he shouted, and when both Grug and Crork emerged from the cave, heated negotiations began, but they took a sudden and unexpected turn, with Crork suggesting the two swap items instead of fighting.
Grug, however, was not convinced of the club's usefulness or effectiveness, and doubted that it could improve his quality of life in the same way the log-ball had.
Brod, however, refusing to give up, decided Grug just needed a demonstration. Grinning widely, he quickly and effortlessly smacked Crork over the head with the club, who then went down faster than Grug could blink, laying flat on his back and unconscious in an instant.
Grug was amazed and impressed, allowing himself to now be convinced to make the trade - playing with his ball was definitely fun, but dating might be more fun.
This is the first known transaction to occur in the history of man, and from this we can clearly see that it was a mutually beneficial arrangement, neither being able to be 'buyer' or 'seller' without the other, thus the conclusion is that it is a symbiotic relationship that exists in the moment, and neither is more important than the other. (Brod later discovered that he could have acquired a similar log-ball from Zord for a mere slingshot, but that's another story).
