EBay integrates Skype into auctions

Alright! Bout time! Hopefully adoption will now go through the roof. Can’t wait till I can simply assume everyone has it.

I don’t get it. I was able to post a Skype button even before the “official” announcement. eBay has supported HTML auctions for awhile now and since Skype buttons are simply HTML code, it’s very easy to add a Skype button to eBay. In fact, I just wrote about it this afternoon -
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/to.....y-wait.asp

Tell me the official announcement isn’t simply automatically pasting the HTML code. If so, how lame!

Wow. Ebay has implemented API features that have been available for months. Way to go dudes.

You sound like a savvy ebay user. Others may not be. Others may not want to go through the “trouble” of including a Skype Me button on their auction. Simply making the copy/pasting easy as a checkbox (or however they’ll do it) will start making it a “given”. Simplicity breeds usage. Don’t you think?

most, it not all, of the upside of the eBay-Skype deal will come from the Skype-PayPal integration & related communications + payment combinations.

they might have paid too much, but i’d still say it’s an interesting bet… Skype growth internationally plus the Skype APIs married with PayPal’s installed base and payments has some real promise.

if internal bureaucracy doesn’t manage to choke off the enthusiasm and innovation coming out of those 2 divisions, eBay just might actually make their $4B pay off.

[full disclosure: i used to work for PayPal]

This is happening just as I thought it would. In fact, a blogged about it here. The only thing left for them to do is make a services play. Now that the eBay wiki and blogs are a go, the top content contributors to those services can easily roll an eBay service business on their particular topic of expertise. Does anyone else think Ether is in trouble if that happens?

Tom - I think it’s safe to say the majority of us reading and posting @ Techcrunch are geeks and generally know how to tweak some code but you have to consider the average (majority) of ebay users are pretty simple and basic when it comes to pc’s, let alone html. Ebay adding it as a simple control for joe blow to easily add to an auction is a good thing.

eh ?? where is the annouce ment ??

I am not seeing a link to this by either partner

manual trackback
http://blog.outer-court.com/forum/39100.html

I think the Paypal Skype integration is much more interesting…..
http://gigaom.com/2006/06/13/s.....tegration/

I don’t think that the role Ebay plays is to monetize transacations. Auctioned items would be exchanged for money even if they were marketed and sold another way. Bartering is very rare.

The benefits of adding presence-awareness and instant communication to listings are impressive. eBay claimed that a trial in China showed listings w/ it closed for twice that of listings w/o.

Last week a purpose-built solution for enabling presence-aware ads and listings was announced, targeting eBays’ online classified site and auction competitors. It is contrasted with the eBay/Skype solution here.

Presence-aware ads and listings are an important trend and eBay’s announcement is validation.

Full disclosure - I am the CEO of ContactAtOnce!.

It was interesting listening to Meg talk about the “Power of 3″ last night at the Keynote. One thing she said really stuck out, that there isn’t much overlap in the population of eBay users and the population of Skype users.

If anyone can get mainstream America using Skype, it will be eBay. They have a direct connection into middle class America. You really have to hand it to them - 16,000 people at eBay Live this year that drink the eBay Koolaid.

Let the spamfest begin!

I’m disapointed by this if it is just a link. I was thinking Ebay/Skype would work out a way so you can contact people through Skype but all it shows is an alias like EbayAuctioner2324. This would be useful as to not display your real contact information and then each Auction page could be disabled of this feature if you changed your mind.

>>Tom - (majority) of ebay users are pretty simple and basic when it comes to pc’s, let alone html.

True. I have no problem with that. Just disappointed if that’s all this announcement does is add a check box. There are other features that should have been added. And for $4 billion, you’d think eBay could add a simple checkbox months ago and then gradually add more features.

For instance, one commenter writes:
>>I was thinking Ebay/Skype would work out a way so you can contact people through Skype but all it shows is an alias like EbayAuctioner2324. This would be useful as to not display your real contact information

This is a good idea, since most won’t want spammers to find their Skype identity. If you take it one step further, eBay/Skype should allow for aliases that expire after the auction is over. Think of them like throw away email addresses or even throw away phone numbers that you can now get.

Perhaps the Skype client should popup with the fact that they are calling your alias and not your regular Skype identity to help you decide how/if to handle the call. Perhaps if you don’t pickup the caller to your alias is sent to a customized voice mail message that adds additional info about the auction item.

There’s a lot they could have done with this “announcement” but it seems sorely lacking in features.

Great point Tom, just putting a Skype icon falls way short what one would expect from eBay/Skype integration. Craigslist does a good job of keeping email addresses anonymous. Given Craiglist is part of the eBay family, why not do this on eBay.

A lilve communication channel with sellers - even via IM, if not voice - is way overdue. It seems that this is a first step in the right direction. They do need to start simple, let the community adopt it, and then slowly add bells and whistles that folks can understand and embrace over time.

Seen from another angle, what this does is reinforce the eBay ‘professional’ versus the one-off seller. Looking down the line, I could see eBay requiring a fully-staffed customer service Skype line in order for sellers to qualify as some or all categories of PowerSellers or to set up an eBay store.

That has pros and cons. Obviously it’s good for the consumer to have more communication opitons with a seller, but it’s not so good for the retailer if s/he is running a SoHo business and needs to add staff in order to comply.

It also might have ADA implications — a hearing-impaired person might be able to run a business just fine via web & e-mail, but being required to add voice service could be a problem.

While I agree that there could have been more here, I have to believe that the two companies are still feeling each other out and really trying to get a grasp of what they have to work with. We’re talking about two companies that really didn’t have a whole lot in common before the buyout. I think all of the great ideas that people were expecting to see will happen in due time. I can’t imagine eBay would have paid as much as they did for Skype to only take it this far.

hi!
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For more on hearing impairment try reading SWAP by Sam Moffie