Comments on: eBay Starts Stripping Skype Voice And Chat Buttons From Auction Listings

By: Web News Site » Blog Archive » eBay Finally Realizes That No One Is Interested In Voice Communication With Others During An Online Auction

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:59:34 +0000

[...] taken a huge writedown on the investment and is looking to spin off Skype, the company is finally removing the integrated Skype buttons on auctions, and are even admitting that the company is involved “in an effort to remove features with limited [...]

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:16:28 +0000

I think you’re right. eBay didn’t have a clue what to do with Skype and it was never a good fit with the eBay or PayPal business models, especially taking into consideration that eBay and PayPal are so last decade.

By: eBay begins removal of Skype services from auctions : TechVi: Technology matters.

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:54:22 +0000

[...] popular auction site will soon remove Skype voice and chat services from auction pages. Beginning June 10th, users will no longer see “Skype Me” links [...]

By: Ethan

Ethan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:03:41 +0000

I thought Ebay was gonna integrate Skype as another revenue model: each seller can enable the Skype feature that calls to a telephone number (a remake of Skype out) and have a button on his auction page for people to click on and inquire. This would work great in Asia since almost no one wants to pay “fees” on transaction and frequently find ways to get around it by meeting face to face for the actual transaction after meeting on an auction sight. This would have work GREAT in China when Ebay was still competing with Taobao, and I thought that was what Ebay purchased Skype for…I was wrong I guess or Ebay was incompetent in its handling of Skype. I never thought Skype would be pushed on US users who are willing to pay fees on their transactions because it would amount to canniablization…

By: hans g.

hans g. — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:02:27 +0000

Sequoia didn’t fund eBay either (that was Benchmark). And Benchmark had nothing to do with Skype either. Does BZ just make this stuff up?

By: hans g.

hans g. — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:01:27 +0000

Sequoia didn’t fund Skype. Sequoia wasn’t involved in Skype in any way. BZ doesn’t know what he/she is talking about.

By: eBay’s mishandling of Skype continues | Smith On VoIP

eBay’s mishandling of Skype continues | Smith On VoIP — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:20:45 +0000

[...] Scoop via TechCrunch [...]

By: xsuperstore

xsuperstore — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:51:00 +0000

you are wright, the ebay ecommerce model is dead, google is the leader to follow… i think…
This new “chat” between sellers and costumers was implemented by muncom http://www.muncom.com a year ago, with no fees. so…, muncom register 10000 stores the last moth..as I see in the Internet.
I move my cel phone store to muncom, I am happy and cost: nothing, zero… Why you have to pay to “show” your products, this is ridiculous.

By: Is Skype already sold? |

Is Skype already sold? | — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:47:05 +0000

[...] (Tech Crunch) [...]

By: xsuperstore

xsuperstore — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:19:59 +0000

I think is a copy of muncom.com

check http://www.muncom.com offers the same tools that ebay, free.

By: andy

andy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:24:07 +0000

there’s 3rd-party solution for this, G-Recorder – Skype plugin (Extra) that records skype calls and stores them along with chats in your gmail account, so they looks natively just like gtalk “past chats” look. what can be better than combining two great services using their better capabilities

By: oneiroi

oneiroi — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:49:49 +0000

This is similar to the issue of voicemail death that t4chcrunch talked about a while ago.

Why call someone when you can just leave a message that gets it done?

By: Dean Higginbotham

Dean Higginbotham — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:22:48 +0000

I agree with your statement and dare to push it a bit further: part of the draw is the easy purchase coupled with the ability to play like you’re haggling fiercely for a good deal without any real confrontation (vs/ going to the bazaar and yelling back and forth with the live chicken vendor).

A big percentage of eBay’s success, imo, is that psychology – like it or not – eBay users don’t want, or like, voice. And the more outgoing crowd (targeted by this Skype/eBay combo) is already at the store…not eBay.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:16:30 +0000

Furthermore, I sent this to eBay:

—-

“Thanks eBay. Way to go! Alienate one of the most successful eBay mediums ever by forcing Auctiva to charge their customers. You forgot one tiny morsel. Personally, the only reason why I use Ebay is because of Auctiva. The eBay fees keep getting higher and higher because you “lost” direction and are more focused on pleasing your shareholders instead of your sellers, which “made” eBay to begin with. The additional fees Auctiva are forced to charge have completely squeezed me. I’m sorry, but the level of stupidity (Skype, higher fees, the buy-it-now failure, etc..) from eBay management is astonishing. Auctiva has tools that make SELLING really EASY and CONVENIENT. You get that? That’s what you want eBay. It’s about the SELLERS. Now that Auctiva has to charge fees, It’s not worth it anymore.”

By: Rauswurf: eBay nimmt Skype aus eBay-Auktionen raus | TechFieber | Hot Gadget Blog. Smart Tech News.

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:02:13 +0000

[...] eBay Starts Stripping Skype Voice And Chat Buttons From Auction Listings Share and Enjoy: [...]

By: Pking

Pking — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:16:10 +0000

Really bz? Really? Remove your tinfoil hat and think through what you’re suggesting. Did eBay really need to give Sequoia a handout, really? Haven’t then made Sequoia hundreds of millions of dollars just by being, um, eBay? Did Google really need to give a handout to Sequoia for YouTube? Really? What would you have paid for one of the most popular, Internet-changing sites (YouTube)? 10 bucks? I think Google got a bargain.

Oh, YouTube was also started and funded by ex-PayPal people. OMG the controversy!

By: Wayne Martin

Wayne Martin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:44:04 +0000

The idea that adding Skype to eBay was going to generate over $2.6B in additional revenue doesn’t make much sense. While I have come to greatly appreciate “Contact Us” buttons on commercial web-sites, that is because there is generally someone that on the other end to talk to. With individuals selling things in Cyberspace, there is no reason to expect to be able to talk to a seller expect during the 6PM-9PM time slot. The point, made in another comment, about Skype not adding a “voicemail” capability is well taken. This is not a particularly difficult thing to do (Yahoo Messenger provides this feature).

Give that the core business of eBay is providing a platform for individuals to sell “stuff”, and the business of Skype is to provide telecommunications service that is very tied to Internet/voice technology–the marriage between these two entities seemed very problematic, from the beginning. The comment about VCs being “paid off” via this purchase seems like the most compelling explanation as to why eBay purchased Skype for that large sum of money.

By: Anderson Mccutcheon

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:57:58 +0000

It was sold in that exact way, hence the “skype me” button in auctions.

Duuh.

By: eBay rimuove i pulsanti Skype dalle sue aste | VoipBlog.it

eBay rimuove i pulsanti Skype dalle sue aste | VoipBlog.it — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:36:43 +0000

[...] eBay Starts Stripping Skype Voice And Chat Buttons From Auction Listings Articoli [...]

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:04:05 +0000

I’ve been trading on eBay since 1998. The last thing I want or need is to contact the seller via voice, or have the buyer contact me (for the occasional item I sell).

In fact, I thought the acquisition was a bad idea from the get-go. Adding Skype to eBay’s site is an afterthought, not a huge step forward for eBay’s core service. Based on the price eBay paid, this was a ridiculous decision.

Not at all surprised that it blew up.

By: Ben Thompson

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:59:13 +0000

I think the reasoning behind the Skype purchase is sound, just not for a consumer based company like eBay. For websites that concentrate on B2B commerce and partnerships where deals are larger and longer term, Skype or DimDim would be a perfect partner or acquisition but not for a consumer driven site…in my humble opinion.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:54:46 +0000

I think this is great. eBay is going back to their core business, an online auction company, THE LEADING online auction company.

StubleUpon, Skype and others were a bad buy from a previously crazed CEO, although I can see where PayPal fits in so I have no problem there.

The streamlining of this business and the new CEO focussing eBay on their core business along with excellent financials since the companies inception has lead me to put my money where my mouth is.

Andy

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:43:55 +0000

So why would eBay pull these links just before selling Skype? What was so urgent that they would risk hurting Skype’s value?

By: Mike Mozart Toy Reviewer

Mike Mozart Toy Reviewer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:40:58 +0000

I have bought THOUSANDS of Items from Ebay, But Never sold one. The SELLING Price of Items I buy has dropped Dramatically in the past 16 months or so. Many sellers I prefer to buy from have given up due to the DRAMATICALLY increased fees for posting items that will sell for under twenty dollars. NOW Ebay has Declining Sales so they believe that by increasing seller fees and reducing features will help increase sales? How can I complain though? If the Ebay Execs were doing their jobs, I’d be shelling out twice as much money for the items I need for my business.

By: No Exit: Why Exit Strategies are Bad for Business « Cool Rules Pronto

No Exit: Why Exit Strategies are Bad for Business « Cool Rules Pronto — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:25:11 +0000

[...] “profit” and “YouTube” can ever be mentioned in the same sentence), or when eBay’s Meg Whitman squandered $2.6 billion on Skype (yeah, she’ll fix California’s budget problems as governor — insert sardonic [...]