Bob Page at Replacements sees eBay growing rapidly at the time of the case and potentially starting to take some of his market share. He wants to quickly preempt eBay from gaining a foothold in the tabletop market in Europe where Bob sees great opportunity. Bob feels as though he has all the necessary inventory in place to begin selling in Europe but lacks the ability to effectively utilize the various postal systems, import / export rules, and emerging internet channel in Europe. Bob's best strategy option in 1997 at the time of the case would probably be to

a. "Build" - Acquire land in major European cities, erect distribution centers on that land, hire staff, and begin advertising to residents of those European cities
b. "Borrow" - form a joint venture in Europe with the china manufacturers that Replacements already does business with
c. "Buy" - acquire eBay and expand to Europe immediately with the merged firms and expanded product lines from the two companies
d. Export- obtain mailing lists of residents in the most populous European countries, send catalogs, take their orders over the phone, and ship their purchases from their warehouse in the U . S .