Ebay sells Skype for half price.
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009It was always a strange partnership, eBay and Skype. When eBay bought the payment gateway PayPal you could understand it, PayPal was the most used method of payment on eBay’s site, the accusation must have saved eBay millions, as well as providing a greater feeling of security for it customers.
But Skype? Don’t get me wrong, I love Skype, it’s VoIP service allows for free video conferencing but… what does it have to do with eBay’s core business? At the time eBay said it would allow customers to Skype each other, and so increase confidence while selling and buying via eBay… But skype wasn’t just another IM client, it’s always been something more.
Anyway the chickens have finally come home. Ebay paid $3.9 Billion to it’s founders four years ago, and now was paid £1.9 Billion by it’s original founders to sell it back to them.