eBay profit up 22 per cent

But hard strapped customers bidding less in online auctions

eBay sales revenue up to $2.2bn in second quarter

Online auction site eBay saw net income for the second quarter of 2008 grow to $460m (£230m) from $376m a year earlier, with revenue up to $2.2bn from $1.8bn in the same period.

Despite the positive results, the figures represented the company's slowest revenue growth since it became a public limited company in 1999, with gross merchandise volume growing by eight per cent as customers collectively paid less for goods purchased.

A French court last month ordered eBay to pay €40m (£31.6m) to luxury goods group LVMH for allowing fake Louis Vuitton handbags and Christian Dior clothes to be auctioned on its site. The ruling has lead to speculation that eBay will have to raise the tariffs it charges sellers to cover insurance costs.