If eBay, as a whole, continues in the direction it`s going now, they wont have to sell off Skype. It will be a part of the failed conglomerate. I don`t see that selling it now will help eBay at all because of their recent changes that have alienated their users. Thanks to their CEO that has put into place changes that have done nothing to help them, only drive away users.
bill

They should definitely jettison Skype. It was a bad idea to purchase the company and has never fit the core business of eBay. Maybe management should all read or re-read Adam Cohen's book "The Prefect Store". It was written in 2002, way before the Skype purchase and focused alot on the community aspect of eBay. That aspect of eBay is now gone and I am not sure if they can ever get it back. They had the optimal forum into social networking and really missed the boat. This stock will likely never recover. Management wants to create another Amazon.com while the users just want the old eBay back.

eBay should sell off Skype.

Current leadership can not properly manage eBay's existing marketplace as evidenced by their recent quarterly results and projections.

eBay's stock continues to set lows unseen since the days before eBay became a global success and it appears that the marketplace is headed for self destruction under current leadership.

There is no way that Mr Donahoe and his team will ever realize the full potential of Skype since they seem stuck in this 'destructive innovation' concept.

Once the 2008 Holiday Season proves to be an unprecedented disaster, eBay should clear their boardroom, and appoint a new leadership team from CEO on down.

The new team will need whatever revenue they can obtain for Skype to try and rebuild the eBay name which has been destroyed by the failed policies recently implemented by inept leadership.

I only wish they'd consider selling off Skype. It seems every since they've been acquisition hungry, while more and more selling restrictions are put in place (which do nothing but anger the sellers and provide a less stable marketplace). They're making Amazon more appealing by the day.

I agree with Bill above. Ebay is the worst. I sold my 2200 shares at $38 thank goodness. Buying Skype just goes to show how management had no idea what they were doing, just as they have no idea now. I was a buyer & seller for many years & will never return. They now manipulate all searches, allow the seller to receive negative feedback from people who don't pay. Then the seller can do nothing to respond to the deadbeat buyer other than leave a positive feedback & drop further in search results & pay more to list.

I went from averaging $3,400 a month in sales as a Powerseller with a 99.6% positive feedback rating, to a grand total of $167 in the month of September which is when I left. To top it off, I had to pay ebay $432 in fees, plus the cost of my products, plus my shipping costs, plus paypal fees. Needless to say, I'm done PERIOD!

It amazes me that I read how some of the analysts are talking about what a great buy ebay is at $13 per share. Trust me, they have obviously not used the site in a while & have no concept of how it actually operates these days. Try selling for 1 week & see how much money you lose. I challenge you to try it.

Ebay use to be fun & made me good money, it is now a losing proposition for anyone who trys to sell or buy. This company is self destructing with a CEO that has obviously never used the service. Furthermore, they've now manipulated the search results so bad, it's virtually impossible to find what you're looking for. I assure you that selling skype really won't have much of a bearing on the future of ebay. It took a lot of terrible changes to get this company where it's at right now & selling skype might give its stock a little boost for a few weeks, but that's it.

They've driven off thousands & thousands of great sellers who offered real bargains on unique products. These sellers will never return & I'm one of them. The old ebay would be thriving in this unstable economy. This new ebay is losing it's loyal buyers & sellers by the minute. Unfortunately, the old ebay is nothing more than a pleasant memory from the past.

Ebay has totally lost its original focus and by doing that, it has lost users. I am sick to death of sellers who sell items for a penny and then charge $20 shipping. More and more sellers have stores instead of auctions. The current feedback system is horrible - a seller cannot even leave a negative for a deadbeat. There are too many businesses who now sell on Ebay and not enough of the man on the street trying to make a few extra dollars. The little guy/gal has been drummed out by the high fees. The little guy has also been killed by the "Best Match" system Ebay now uses. I will search for an item and the ones near the top which are ending shortly are too expensive for me. It took me awhile to learn that I have to scroll down the page or pages to get to more sellers who are everyday people. Horrible system.

eBay is done. Burnt toast. Sold my shares.
I don't care to look back, I find it much easier to move on when I am looking where I am going.

They should sell eBay, keep the rest and rename eBayInc DisruptiveInnovation.com or We_don't_know_our biblical_donkey_from_a_hole_in_the_ground .com, either would be appropriate.

eBay is definitely in self destruct mode. The new leadership has implemented incredibly foolish changes that have alienated the backbone of their business ... the sellers. Any chance for survival and repair of their serious mistakes will require time and money and the sale of Skype could perhaps help... but not much. However, the chances of a turnaround look pretty slim and unfortunately for the sellers, buyers and stockholders the vibrant eBay of yore is probably a thing of the past.

eBay is making from Skype. Lots of money. Maybe not as much as orginally anticipated, based on the amount they paid for it, but Skype is highly profitable since the write down and cheap to run from an infrastructure standpoint. Still, it would be put to better use by a company that has a better idea had to integrate it and let it live to its potential.

I agree with everyone on this board! ebay is probably toast in the long run.

Today eBay stock is down to $12.00.
Makes me wonder if Mr. Donahoe is celebrating?
How can a CEO just sit by idle and watch his stock go down the drain month after month and do nothing?

He knows what he has to do...he needs to start paying his stock holders a dividend to shore up stock price!
Put their money where their mouth is so to speak! They claim to make money hand over fist!
Let the stock holders see some of this cash!

Second, bring back the old eBay before it's too late. He knows what his eBay community wants yet he defies his sellers!

When will this man wake up?

America does not need Two Amazons! One company will fail!
eBay is already failing big time!

Sorry I do not think Ebay deal welll with Skype,It's better the next (Maybe Cisco Can use it proverbially.

Ebay's stock is under-valued and Skype is an excellent service that's been very well developed by Ebay. Ebay should definitely hold on to Skype.

I personally would love to see Google buy it, open it up and turn it into a way to undercut the Telcos. If Google can put it into a position to legitimately compete with cellphones (android/iphone) and landlines, they could seriously dampen the profitability of Telcos. By doing so it would be in a stronger position to free up wireless spectrum.

The truth is that circuit switching should be dead in almost all cases that deal with consumers. Only certain businesses legitimately need circuit switching (electronic trading in the financial markets for example).

By buying Skype, Google could help accelerate the movement to pure data links where the customer chooses what protocols run over it (data, voice, video, etc.)

Major telcos are a major drag on communication innovation.

I think ebay should get rid of Skypem, it loses money and doesnt fit in with the profitable and successful online store. As the author of the topic states a communication company could make better use of skype and maybe turn it into a profitable outfit.

As a business owner who uses Skype, and a personal Skype user in the home, I wouldn't want to see it in the hands of the telecom company. I don't agree with your thoughts about the best option being to sell it, but if they were going to do it then I would think that it would be best in the hands of Google. They seem to be able to monetize web services well and they have the knowledge to build apps that will expand it more. Who knows, that could be one of their primary components in their future plans to continue launching services that compete with Microsoft. Having a service like Skype would rival MS Messenger and could give them a great platform for branding their their new browser Crome and possibly and OS down the line.

------I think ebay should get rid of Skypem, it loses money and doesnt fit in with the profitable and successful online store.------

It doesn't lose money. Skype earns money. This is a huge factual mistake by the author.

Mike, you are correct that Skype is now profitable. The commentor you refer to was a bit glib. However. I said eBay was finding it hard to monetize the segment...that is true.

If it achieves this years projection it will gross close to $500 million. The net income will be a small fraction of that...so small eBay does not emphasize it and it is a pittance of over all income. AND the ROIC is tiny.

Furthermore, eBay itself has stated they are considering selling if it cannot be better integrated and more profitable.

Thanks for taking the time to comment and keeping a watchful eye.

Ebay has lost users. I agree with it.
www.unusualprofit.com

Why would Ebay want to auction off anything .... I been with ebay since 1997
Had a Store on there with 678 things ...
Since SOME KING ASSSS HOLE Made up their new LAW Paperless payment ,Just so GREEDBAY Can make more on their customers.... Well Since I refuse to join or OBEY Their NEW LAWS They have taken just about every items out with in the last 3 weeks in my store ,,, So now I am down to under 98 items ..... I Think Ebay Should Auction it self off : to some people who cared about ebay and not just their wallets ..... 3 Weeks ago EBAY left go 1,000 of its SAN JOSE WORKERS -- The same ones that help made ebay what it is today ... Just to buy up 3 more companies in another country .... Dont worry , It was only your or my friends or even family ..... So Lets see how many other people they lay off and lets see how many customers stores in ebay they lose by JANUARY ..... Cant wait to see the Good time rolling .... I mean FALL !!!
BTW Would anybody like to auction up MY STORE ?? Or Buy IT !!! Its now for sale .... Thanks to the GREAT PEOPLE AT EBAY !!!!

Goog already has a skype-like service they just launched yesterday. skype is soon to be worthless. ebay should hold onto skype and go down with it titanic fashion.

http://mail.google.com/videochat