by Richard
A report on Silicon Beat suggests that eBay is talking with Skype about a takeover. It may be hot air - Skype and its investors have recently been quite vocal in denying it's available for sale (which, naturally, is a reasonable indicator that it probably is). But, assuming it is true, the obvious question is...WTF? What is the world's largest consumer auction site planning to do with the world's largest VOIP app?
Better minds than mine are trying to figure it out - see Techdirt, Rob Hof at Business Week, Fred Wilson.
Here's my take...
Although ebay wouldn’t necessarily admit it, several of their categories (mostly in the capital equipment sector) do not perform well within the auction format and are effectively used by sellers as classified advertising platforms. Sellers in these categories use eBay for distribution, hoping that buyers will find their listing, make contact and potentially close a deal outside the auction.
The cost of placing a listing/advert on eBay is high compared to other classified sites, and sluggish growth in the US might suggest they’re starting to feel some price pressure. If this is the case, they may well be anticipating erosion to listing revenue by introducing paid “call me” features to run on each listing and to be premium charged to the sellers each time a buyer makes contact. As previously posted, generating revenue from buyer:seller interaction (rather than the promise of interaction) is a GOOD THING for the classifieds business.
Paying $2-3bn for Skype would be an expensive way to acquire this technology so clearly there must be further motives at work but, as with PayPal, I would anticipate the motivation to be “what can Skype do for eBay” rather than “what can eBay do for Skype”.
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