Ebay to acquire Skype

[Angel]

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200509.shtm...9-12035125

And best of all, conversations between Skype users via PC are free

Im sure it wont be for long  lol  :


Angel 

[mandy]

Skype offers a free service when users make computer-to-computer calls to other Skype users. Charges apply when Skype users make calls to regular phone numbers.

But in a move to strengthen the bonds between eBay buyers and sellers, the company will also encourage eBay merchant sites to use Skype software to allow customers with last-minute sales questions to click to talk to a customer service agent.

..two companies justified the combination by saying that the power of so-called "click-to-call" services to convert shoppers into buyers represents a far more lucrative form of selling proposition than advertising can.

and perhaps most importantly:

While allowing potential benefits from providing communications services between buyers and sellers, particularly in China,

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-09-12T115950Z_01_FOR227652_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SKYPE-EBAY.xml

eBay Official Press Release: http://investor.ebay.com/downloads/eBay_...elease.pdf

[bargainbloodhound]

I think China is the key reason for the acquisition and the Skype purchase is likely a panic move on eBay's part after China's largest instant messaging company TenCent (170 million users compared to eBay China's 11 million and Alibaba/Taobao's 7 million) announced last month it would start a China auction site by year end.  http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...248.0.html

[accentnepal]

There is a thread on FAS:
http://www.freeauctionscripts.com/commun...php?t=6172
It is a copy of a thread said to be from the Ebay boards, from an Australian seller who has been going round and round with Ebay because he has dial-up with only one phone line, and often cannot take phone calls because he is on line. The story is that Ebay "randomly" tested his number and found it busy. They sent emails requiring him to get another method of phone contact citing "invalid contact data" and threatening him with suspension.

My first reaction was BS - Aussies love tall tales and this, well constructed as it is, is too much - even for Ebay.

With this coming so soon after.....

You know I have gotten several dozen "ask seller a question" emails from Ebay. I answered each quickly and kindly, although nearly every one was answered clearly in the listing. I still have yet to make a sale from any of them. And I have strange hours. I have no wish to offer 24 hour customer phone service and dedicate all my time to Ebay.

Of course the big sellers can hire someone to do it.

[bargainbloodhound]

I have no wish to offer 24 hour customer phone service

either does eBay...  :twistedevil:

[jezebel]

Ebay to acquire Skype

[mandy]

Mr Delaney believes the deal represents a return to the hysteria and hype that characterised the dotcom era. "The whole thing about the dotcom era was that company valuations were justified by the number of people that visited their sites not the revenues they made,"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story...e_continue

[bargainbloodhound]

Small poll of Skype users, but 72% say the eBay deal sucks 

http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=34932

Reuters also saying the acquisition could dampen user enthusiasm that has been largely responsible for Skype's rapid growth:

But the sale to eBay could signal the end of the evangelical zeal from users that drove Skype's rapid growth. Its software ....- has spread in classic viral fashion, as each new user convinces friends and family to sign up.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCom...835_newsml

[sneakymagenta]

I voted for sucks 

[mandy]

Compared to Vonage, Skype's connections to the traditional POTS network are notoriously lousy, and its billing systems are held together with string: a patchwork operation that relies on eBay's own PayPal. So all Skype can offer is its brand and its user base - shades of AOL all over again.

.eBay hopes to monetize the user based by selling their account details to junk callers, at $2 to $12 per lead. Whether Skype users even get the chance to opt-out from this new form of "voice spam" remains to be seen,

If eBay wants to go down in history as the company which made spam talk, it's paid a lot of money for the privilege.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/13/...kype_spam/