Comments on: eBay's $4.1B Bet on Skype: I Just Don't Get It

By: What Now for Skype, StumbleUpon? | Mark Evans

What Now for Skype, StumbleUpon? | Mark Evans — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 11:54:48 +0000

[...] be an easier sale, although eBay will take a financial bath given it will get nowhere near the $4.1-billion that it wildly overpaid to steal Skype away from Google. It’s hard to tell how much [...]

By: aimee

aimee — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 20:31:57 +0000

I wasn't getting this either. I couldn't imagine where the synergy was…it only seemed to fit into eBay's Google-like desire for world domination. And even then, not in a sensible sort of way.
But the pay-per-call aspect seems like a reasonable one. I imagine higher-end eBay vendors will be happy to pay for customers to call them with auction questions if it means closing the deal. This will be a useful tool for vendors.
Thanks for the great insight. Really glad I found your blog!

By: Nashman

Nashman — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:28:03 +0000

In some of the circles I've been privy to apparantly Ebay was afraid of a Telco-Celco firm getting the nod on Skype, so Ebay overbid from the start to avoid a bidding war.
I'm actually surprised no Telco firm tried to take over Skype earlier. 55 million users is a lot of people, especially for a competing start-up VOIP firm.

By: Rob Hyndman

Rob Hyndman — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 11:20:36 +0000

The deal just makes no sense for eBay. I see the deal as another sign that eBay has run out of runway on its existing business model and is losing focus. We'll remember this the way we remember Time Warner / AOL.
But on the bright side, it's an opportunity for the Skype wannabes, because now we need another Skype …