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eBay appoints new CEOs for Skype and Shopping.com

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ebay.jpgeBay Inc. has named Josh Silverman the Chief Executive Officer of Skype. Silverman, currently CEO of Shopping.com, an eBay company, brings more than nine years of experience in running hyper-growth global consumer Internet companies. Silverman will join Skype on March 24, 2008 and report directly to John Donahoe, President and CEO-elect of eBay Inc. Michael van Swaaij, who was appointed interim CEO in October 2007, will stay actively involved with Skype. Before joining eBay in 2003, Silverman was co-founder and CEO of Evite, the leading social event planning web site.

Succeeding Silverman as Shopping.com CEO is another eBay veteran, Andre Haddad. Haddad joined the company in 2001, when eBay acquired iBazar, a leading European online marketplace he co-founded and successfully ran in Paris.

Originally posted on February 25, 2008 @ 4:30 pm

Irate eBay sellers to organize weeklong protest over new policies

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ebay-gag.gifAnother trouble is brewing at eBay. Its irate sellers are plotting a strike against the company’s “unfair” policies such as increasing fees and preventing them from sending negative feedbacks to customers.

The weeklong organized protest is slated in February 18 to 25 to preempt the initial implementation of new policies in February 20. The attacks are seen in several fronts from eBay’s own forum to social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube.

Acting tough, eBay shows an unfazed stance on this alarming strike. According to its spokesman Usher Lieberman:

We have a passionate community, and we are not surprised to hear them voicing concern. However, when our sellers have had ample opportunity to evaluate the entire package we now offer and consider the traffic and trading velocity we deliver every day, we are confident that they will conclude eBay remains their best business partner.

Unfortunately, the previous strikes organized by sellers were futile due to lack of unity. As expected, many greedy sellers will take advantage of this opportunity to increase sales while others remain loyal to eBay.

Will this end just like those other failed attempts or can it deliver a blow powerful enough to hurt the auction giant’s operations and heed it to listen to their demands?

Via CNN Money

Originally posted on February 11, 2008 @ 4:20 am

eBay to gag sellers from criticizing buyers

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ebay.gifMaybe eBay is so desperate now that it will do everything just to win back its lost customers. Now, it’s willing to suppress open communication with its new feedback policy banning sellers from leaving negative comments to buyers.

It’s very obvious sellers are fuming about this rule. In defense, eBay says sellers are 8 times more likely to send negative feedbacks against buyers. In the words of eBay North America president Bill Cobb:

Overall, the current feedback system isn’t where it should be,” wrote Cobb. “Today, the biggest issue with the system is that buyers are more afraid than ever to leave honest, accurate feedback because of the threat of retaliation. In fact, when buyers have a bad experience on eBay, the final straw for many of them is getting a negative feedback, especially of a retaliatory nature.

Though some sellers and even buyers tend to abuse the feedback system to smear the image of each other, putting a gag on one’s mouth will not solve the problem. It might even worsen the situation. Remember, communication is a 2-way process. It’s time for folks at eBay to use their overpaid brains and think of more intelligent solutions to this problem.

Via ars technica

Originally posted on February 8, 2008 @ 1:44 am

eBay CEO plans to retire soon

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whitman.gifAfter a decade in the driver seat of online auction giant eBay, beleaguered CEO Meg Whitman is thinking about retirement amid the company’s sluggish growth.

According to WSJ, people familiar with the situation said she has been delegating her tasks to subordinates for the last few months and will be announcing her final decision in a few weeks. John Donahue, the president of eBay’s Marketplaces or the auction unit, is the leading candidate to replace Whitman, if the rumors are true.

Retirement or resignation usually happens when you fail to impress the all-profit stockholders. Although she is credited for making eBay a global success, her recent leadership was questioned for the current slowdown and the controversial $1.4 billion write-down for not generating enough ROI on the popular VoIP company, Skype.

Maybe Whitman is right when she said no chief executive must stay in power for more than a decade. Perhaps it’s time to give other guys the reins in this global online business.

Originally posted on January 22, 2008 @ 11:59 am

eBay, Yahoo Japan to faciliate cross-border trading

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seikamonOnline auction giant eBay will have another chance to establish foothold in Japan with its new partnership with Yahoo Japan to link up their auction sites.

The two companies will launch a separate website called Sekaimon which means “Gateway to the World” and or “global shopping” in English. The goal of this venture is to expand online auction and make online purchase a lot easier between Japan and the U.S. In English, it means additional income for both companies.

The Japanese-language Sekaimon will break language barriers by translating all items in eBay to Japanese. Moreover, it will assist in all aspects of online shopping from shipping, payment to custom clearance.

With only 15 million auction items listed, Yahoo Japan will now have access to more than 248 million users registered under eBay. The auction giant, on the other hand, will benefit from the strong presence of Yahoo in the Japanese market.

Originally posted on December 4, 2007 @ 10:18 am