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Tag: eBay

  • CES 2012: eBay, PayPal Investing Heavily In Mobile Transactions

    CES 2012: eBay, PayPal Investing Heavily In Mobile Transactions

    The mobile payment industry is booming and the eBay company is at the center of it.

    eBay was involved in two industry panels during CES that discussed the future of digital and mobile payment industries. The company was able to announce record mobile payment volume.

    The Ebay Ink Blog was kind of enough to recap the panels that Ebay was involved with. The first panel was PayPal at “Mobile Payment Basics: How the Technology Works.” The title sounds like a boring introductory course, but it turned into a discussion on the pros and cons of the “wallet in the cloud” versus NFC solutions for mobile payments.

    “We see the wallet in the cloud as the best way to bridge the gap between the online and offline world,” said David Marcus, VP/GM of Mobile for PayPal.

    Andrew Paradise, CEO of Aislebuyer, agreed saying, “If I lose my iPhone, I don’t want to have to cancel all my credit cards. It would be no different than losing my wallet.”

    Bill Gadja, Head of Mobile for Visa, was more in favor for NFC solutions, but said that “whatever technology we end up using, it’s all going to come down to the widespread education and adoption by the individual merchants.”

    All at the panel agreed that 2012 may very well be the year of the digital wallet. Paypal used this to announce that their mobile payment volume had reached $4 billion, a huge increase from the original prediction of $1.5 billion.

    The second panel, aptly named “Planet of the Apps,” included the eBay company proper with Steve Yankovich, VP of Ebay Mobile, speaking on the panel.

    The panelists discussed trends in mobile apps in 2011, but Yankovich stressed the importance of QR codes in 2011. He predicts that the next big trend will be apps that utilize the camera on mobile devices.

    Chris Hercik, Creative Director at Sports Illustrated, said that organizations need to adapt and react to shifts in consumer behavior. He presented the example of readers using the Sports Illustrated mobile app are asking for interactive ads instead of having to reject or be put off by them.

    Yankovich went on to equate eBay to plumbing in that they only exist to connect the buyer to the seller.

    eBay, like PayPal, did well in mobile in 2011 as well. The company’s global mobile gross merchandise volume reached $5 billion in 2011.

  • eBay Targeted By Class Action Suit Over Automatic Bidding

    eBay Targeted By Class Action Suit Over Automatic Bidding

    eBay is the target of a new class action lawsuit over its automatic bidding (also referred to as “proxy bidding”) feature.

    The suit, led by a seller from Phoenix, alleges breach of contract on eBay’s part, as well as violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and “tortious interference with the sellers’ prospective economic advantage”.

    eBay explains how automatic bidding works:

    1. When you place a bid, you enter the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for the item. The seller and other bidders don’t know your maximum bid.

    2. We’ll place bids on your behalf using the automatic bid increment amount, which is based on the current high bid. We’ll bid only as much as necessary to make sure that you remain the high bidder, or to meet the reserve price, up to your maximum amount.

    3. If another bidder places the same maximum bid or higher, we’ll notify you so you can place another bid. Your maximum bid is kept confidential until it is exceeded by another bidder.

    To illustrate this, eBay also shares the following example:

    1. The current bid for an item is $10.00. Tom is the high bidder, and has placed a maximum bid of $12.00 on the item. His maximum bid is kept confidential from other members.

    2. Laura views the item and places a maximum bid of $15.00. Laura becomes the high bidder.

    3. Tom’s bid is incremented to his maximum of $12.00. Laura’s bid is now $12.50.

    4. We send Tom an email that he has been outbid. If he doesn’t raise his maximum bid, Laura wins the item.

    Under a section on eBay’s help center labeled “The Fine Print,” eBay says, “In reserve price auctions, if your maximum bid is at least the reserve price, we’ll automatically increase your bid to meet the reserve, and bidding will continue from there.”

    Those who have further questions are directed to contact customer support.

    Here’s the complaint in its entirety (via AuctionBytes):

    Block v eBay Complaint

    The suit was filed on December 30 in the U.S. District Court for California’s Northern District.

  • Scott Thompson Gone to Yahoo, What’s Next For PayPal?

    Scott Thompson Gone to Yahoo, What’s Next For PayPal?

    As you may know, Yahoo announced that PayPal President Scott Thompson is its new CEO. That means he’s no longer going to be President of PayPal. This isn’t going to be a Jack Dorsey-like situation, where he has prominent roles in two companies.

    eBay CEO John Donahoe is taking over for Thompson at PayPal in the interim. eBay is sharing an internal memo that all PayPal employees received from Donahoe today. It says:

    As you may already have seen, Yahoo! announced this morning that Scott Thompson is joining the company as CEO, effective immediately. Scott informed me Tuesday afternoon, saying that despite his passion for PayPal, this was an opportunity he felt he had to take. I know I speak for everyone in wishing Scott the best.

    I will serve in the interim role as President and will be meeting with the PayPal leadership team this morning to plan a seamless transition. And while I’m sure Scott’s decision is a shock to many of you, as it was to me, there is one thing I am certain of: PayPal has an enormous opportunity in front of it and we will not slow down. We will not miss a beat. And we will continue driving the incredible momentum that each of you has helped to create.

    PayPal had an outstanding 2011 and a strong close to the fourth quarter. PayPal’s vision is clear. Our strategies are set and we have a strong, focused leadership team in place. And across PayPal, we have you — an incredibly talented team, committed to creating the future of money and changing how the world shops and pays.

    Let’s do it, and take this special business to the next level in 2012 and beyond.

    Amanda Pires, with PayPal Global Communications, said: “Scott was a terrific leader for the PayPal business over the last seven years, and I know all of PayPal joins me in wishing Scott the best in his new role. He will be missed.”

    Just before Christmas, eBay announced the acquisition of BillSafe, a purchase-on-invoice technology provider, which would be rolled into PayPal in Europe.

  • Vendalism.com Is The New Free Alternative To eBay

    Vendalism.com Is The New Free Alternative To eBay

    When one wants to buy or sell something online, the first things that tend to come to mind are eBay or Craigslist. Out of those two, only Craigslist is free to list items for sale and lacks the tools that eBay provides to their users.

    Two intrepid men seek to change all that. Marcos and Mateus Boyington of YUNiTi launched Vendalism.com in December of 2011. Its tool set rivals those that eBay employs while providing extra functions like Craigslist integration all for the low price of free.

    “I’ve been using eBay since about the time it was first launched. A few years ago, it occurred to me – why should I have to pay to sell my items?” Marcos Boyington said. “I thought: there really should be a free alternative to eBay.”

    The tools included are similar to eBay in that it allows users to set a fixed price, auction or both for their items. It also includes seller and buyer feedback, automatic cross-listings with Google’s Product Search index, allows use of both Paypal and Google Wallet, social networking features with both Twitter and Facebook and the option to submit listings to Craigslist.

    Vendalism includes Craigslist protection that does not reveal the users’ email addresses preventing automated spam being sent to said users.

    Vendalism also allows for trading of items and letting potential buyers list their best offers for items if the seller thinks the item may not sell at its current price.

    Having just launched, there are not many items or any at all for sale in the numerous item categories on Vendalism. Most of the items are being sold by the same person as well. That is likely to change in the coming months as the site picks up more traffic.

    At the moment though, it’s going to have to fight an uphill battle against the established Web sites it takes many of its design cues from.

    “By making Vendalism.com easy-to-use, powerful, yet free, we think we’ve created a website which is a powerful tool for netizens wanting to sell their products,” Boyington said.

  • BillSafe Acquired By eBay

    BillSafe Acquired By eBay

    eBay announced that it has acquired BillSafe, a purchase-on-invoice technology provider. eBay will combine the technology with PayPal in Germany.

    eBay has owned a minority stake in BillSafe since October 2010. Now it owns the whole thing.

    eBay says BillSafe works with merchants of all sizes in Germany, where there are already over 15 million PayPal accounts. Purchase-on-invoice is the most popular form of payment in Germany, as well as in Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, eBay says.

    “German customers are extremely security-conscious, and they enjoy the convenience and safety of invoicing when they shop online. One of PayPal’s greatest assets is the security of our system, and we’re glad that we can now offer customers even more peace of mind with a payment method that they already know and prefer and that drives more sales for the merchants,” says Arnulf Keese, managing director of PayPal Germany. “Together with BillSAFE, we can offer even more choices to our customers – whether they prefer to pay with their bank accounts, their credit cards or now through purchase on invoice.”

    “Purchase on invoice is an ideal addition to the payment options available with PayPal and makes it the most comprehensive service for consumers and merchants alike,” said Alexander Ey, managing director of BillSAFE. “Security-conscious shoppers can receive and inspect the merchandise they bought online before paying for their purchases. And merchants can sell to customers who were previously skeptical of buying online. It’s an ideal match.”

    Terms of the deal were not disclosed. eBay says it doesn’t expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial guidance as issued in its Q3 earnings release.

  • eBay’s Top Shopped List Reveals America’s Cultural Obsessions From 2011

    eBay’s Top Shopped List Reveals America’s Cultural Obsessions From 2011

    You can tell a lot about someone by how they shop. In that same vein, can you also tell a lot about a country by how they shop?

    eBay has issued their 3rd-annual “Top Shopped” report, where they analyze all of their sales data to come up with what pop culture forces captivated the nation throughout the year. The data was pulled from various eBay categories and solidified into a top 10 list featuring the most popular things of the year (at least in terms of $$$).

    Strangely enough, the Top Shopped list does seem to reflect what was popular in 2011. People really do “vote” with their dollars:

    1. NFL
    2. Harry Potter
    3. Twilight
    4. Call of Duty
    5. Green Bay Packers
    6. iPad
    7. Sade
    8. Justin bieber
    9. Glee
    10. Charlie Sheen

    eBay also dives deeper into the pop culture data with some more facts about the year-end sales figures. eBay shoppers bought 83,879 Lady Gaga-related items, as opposed to only 65,822 Katy Perry items. The Green Bay Packers had more related items sold that any other sport figure (234,089), but QB Aaron Rodgers couldn’t compete with Derek Jeter, who sold an athlete-most 131,250 related items.

    “eBay sales are a direct indicator of what Americans are most fascinated by and uniquely reflects the cultural zeitgeist,” said Karen Bard Sayah, eBay Spokesperson. “From the latest video games and tech devices, to royal wedding memorabilia and ‘Winning’ t-shirts, shoppers know that whatever it is they’re coveting, they can find it on eBay.”

  • eBay and StubHub Acquire Zvents

    eBay and StubHub Acquire Zvents

    eBay acquired StubHub back in early 2007. Now StubHub has acquired Zvents. So, essentially, eBay has acquired Zvents.

    Zvents has over 3 million events, generated from 140,000 local marketers in its catalog. It gets 14 million monthly unique visitors.

    eBay’s Richard Brewer-Hay writes on the eBay Ink blog, “StubHub currently offers around 30,000 events for discovery whereas Zvents users have access to 600,000 events on any given day and over 3 million during the course of a calendar year. Essentially, with this new acquisition (and after integration), StubHub users will eventually have access to 100x more events than the present.”

    StubHub

    That’s a lot of events.

    The Zvents Team says on its own blog:

    Joining StubHub is an exciting next phase in our evolution to be the world’s premier provider of event and entertainment content. Since launching Zvents in 2005, our team has worked tirelessly to build a strong product line for our users, advertisers and partner network. Zvents boasts over 14 million users via its various channels – Zvents.com and its media partner network of over 300 major sites, including Microsoft, AT&T and over 280 major newspapers.

    StubHub’s industry-leading service and platforms provide the ideal launching pad for us to accelerate our growth and expand our mission. We are dedicated to enabling our users to find fun and interesting things to do in their lives by providing the best events and entertainment information across our products and network. StubHub shares our passion and we will work together to drive a new vision for live entertainment.

    Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    If you’ll notice the images in this article, StubHub is displaying results for Louisville. That’s because it doesn’t have Lexington as a market. Zvents does. Presumably, this means StubHub will feature a significant amount of new markets.

  • Internet Sales Tax Returns to Congress; eBay Makes Their Case

    Internet Sales Tax Returns to Congress; eBay Makes Their Case

    eBay’s Todd Cohen made a spirited plea to the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary earlier today against the proposed remote sales tax. Were the proposal to pass, Cohen fears that small businesses will suffer the most and, given that small businesses are a thriving market for eBay, they’re right to look out for the little guys. Cohen also voiced his and eBay’s support for H. Res 95, which would protect Internet entrepreneurs and small businesses from the new tax proposals.

    In defense of small businesses and what they stand to lose, Cohen explained :

    The share of online sales being done by retailers with less than $20 million in sales is falling. Under the current mix of business costs, including the remote sales tax rules, the small business competitors are not taking over the field. Instead, it is the largest retailers that are growing. And not surprisingly, those giant retailers are lined up united in proposing a change in remote sales tax law that will harm the smaller retailers who do not have national physical presence. If small business retailers using the Internet were gaining unfair advantages from current remote sales tax laws, one would expect that their share of Internet sales would be growing. But it is not.

    Although Cohen did not identify Amazon.com by name, it’s probably the internet’s worst kept secret that he likely had them in mind as he made these pointed statements. Additionally, Cohen suggested a Small Business Exemption that would reduce the tax burden on small businesses:

    A real Small Business Exemption would protect small retailers who are already falling behind. Permanently protecting small business retailers from national remote sales tax collection burdens will promote new retail competition. … Protecting small business from burdens that will undermine their growth and even directly promoting small business operations is not a new or novel concept. There has traditionally been bipartisan support for small business promotion.

    Cohen’s full congressional statement can be read below.

    Amazon, alternately, has come out in favor of the online sales tax bill. From their official statement:

    Amazon strongly supports enactment of the Enzi-Durbin-Alexander bill and will work with Congress, retailers, and the states to get this bi-partisan legislation passed,” said Paul Misener, Amazon vice president, global public policy. “It’s a win-win resolution – and as analysts have noted, Amazon offers customers the best prices with or without sales tax.

    If enacted, the Enzi-Durbin-Alexander bill will allow states to require out of state retailers to collect sales tax at the time of purchase and remit those taxes on behalf of customers, and it will facilitate collection on behalf of third party sellers. Thus, this bill will allow states to obtain additional revenue without new taxes or federal spending and will make it easy for consumers and small retailers to comply with state sales tax laws.

    It’s hard to rationalize Amazon’s position given the points that Cohen made today. More interesting is Amazon’s volte-face on taxes for online commerce. Amazon certainly would suffer the brunt of more taxes easier than small businesses. Whose side are you on? Amazon or eBay? Or is this one situation where every party involved stands to take a loss?

    UPDATE: Shortly after this story was published, Ashley Morris, CRC Public Relations with Amazon.com, contacted WebProNews and delivered the following statement. It is the testimony given earlier today by Paul Misener, Vice President for Global Public Policy, Amazon.com:

    Testimony of Paul Misener, Vice President for Global Public Policy, Amazon.com
    Hearing on the Constitutional Limitations on States’ Authority to Collect Sales Tax in E-Commerce
    Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States House of Representatives
    November 30, 2011
    [Also available at www.amazon.com/pr]

    “Thank you, Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers, for inviting me to testify. Amazon has long supported an even-handed federal framework for state sales tax collection and, to that end, we have participated in the Streamlined Sales Tax Project for over a decade, and we are pleased to participate in this hearing. Amazon strongly supports enactment of a federal bill with appropriate provisions.

    Mr. Chairman, Congress – and only Congress – may, should, and feasibly can authorize the states to require out-of-state sellers to collect the sales tax already owed.

    At the Philadelphia Convention, which the Founders convened principally to consider the challenging issue of trade among the states, Congress was granted exclusive power to regulate interstate commerce. Exactly two centuries later, in 1987, North Dakota challenged this exclusivity and, following five years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Quill v. North Dakota that requiring out-of-state sellers to collect tax would impose an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. The Quill court also confirmed that Congress eventually could “disagree with our conclusions” and that this issue is “not only one that Congress may be better qualified to resolve, but also one that Congress has the ultimate power to resolve.”

    Far from an e-commerce “loophole,” the constitutional limitation on states’ authority to collect sales tax is at the core of our Nation’s founding principles. For this reason, Amazon has steadfastly opposed state attempts to require out-of-state sellers to collect absent congressional authorization.

    Mr. Chairman, Congress should authorize the states to require collection, with the great objects of protecting states’ rights, addressing the states’ needs, and leveling the playing field for all sellers.

    States’ rights should be protected. States need the freedom to make their own revenue policy choices. For example, Texas has chosen to eschew personal income tax, and that decision makes the Texas budget particularly sensitive to uncollected sales tax. The right of Texas to make this policy choice effective should be protected. Congress should protect the states’ rights, and authorize them to require collection of sales tax revenue already owed, and doing so would not violate pledges that are limited to questions of income tax rates and deductions.

    The states’ financial needs should be addressed. The states face serious budget shortfalls, yet the federal government faces its own fiscal challenges. Congress should help address the states’ budget shortfalls without spending federal funds, by authorizing the states to require collection of the billions of revenue dollars already owed.

    Fairness among sellers should be created and maintained. Sellers should compete on a level playing field. Congress should not exempt too many sellers from collection, for these sellers will obtain a lasting un-level playing field versus Main Street and other retailers. Congress should rectify the current imbalance and avoid a future imbalance.

    Mr. Chairman, Congress feasibly can authorize the states to require collection. The facts in the Quill decision arose a quarter of a century ago, and the Supreme Court’s decision was rendered a year before the World Wide Web was invented. With today’s computing and communications technology, widespread collection no longer would be an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce, and Congress feasibly can authorize the states to require all but the very smallest volume sellers to collect.

    Much attention has been paid to the size of a “small seller exception” threshold in federal legislation – and rightfully so. Such a threshold, which would exempt some sellers from a collection requirement, must be kept very low to attain the objectives of protecting states’ rights, addressing the states’ needs, and creating fairness among sellers.

    In this context, several kinds of small volume sellers must be considered.

    Foremost are the Main Street small business retailers who, unless the small seller exception threshold is kept very low, will forever face an un-level playing field compared to a newly-created exempt class of out-of-state sellers.

    Next are the online advertising affiliates, tens of thousands of whom have lost jobs or income as the result of ineffective, counterproductive sales tax laws recently enacted in a half-dozen states. Congress should act to make such laws uninteresting and irrelevant to the states – and thereby immediately restore the lost jobs and income – by authorizing the states to require collection.

    Small volume online sellers have received most of the attention, and not without reason. No one wants these sellers to shoulder alone burdens compared to those faced by the small business retailers who already collect sales tax in our local communities. Yet no one should want these online sellers to take advantage of a newly-created un-level playing field over small Main Street businesses, and no one should want government to pick business model winners and losers this way.

    The consequences of the threshold level to states’ rights, the states’ needs, and fairness are very significant, because a surprisingly large fraction of e-commerce is conducted by smaller volume sellers. For example, nearly 30% of uncollected sales tax revenue today is attributable to sellers with annual online sales below $150,000, and only one percent of online sellers sell more than this amount. In other words, a $150,000 exception would deny the states nearly 30% of the newly-available (yet already owed) revenue, but would exempt from collection 99% of online sellers. Any higher threshold would deny the states even more revenue and keep the playing field even more un-level.

    Fortunately, today’s computing and communications technology will allow all online sellers to collect and remit tax like Main Street retailers.

    Large volume online sellers already have and use this technology. Amazon and Overstock, for example, collect tax on sales to consumers in states where our retail businesses have nexus. And the online arms of large multichannel retailers collect in the states where they have retail stores. Quite obviously, state sales tax can be collected nationwide, at least by larger volume sellers like Amazon, Overstock, and the multichannel stores, for they have the technology.

    This technology is not limited to large sellers. Rather, service providers also make the technology available to medium and small volume sellers. Thus, collection is either by sellers or for sellers. There are many service providers already: ADP, Avalara, and FedTax, for example.

    Two other examples come to mind: Amazon and eBay.

    Both companies use sophisticated computing and communications technology to serve their seller customers. But, while Amazon is prepared to make its technology available as a service to help sellers by collecting sales tax for them, eBay seeks to avoid any role in collection, claiming that small volume sellers will be burdened and, implicitly, that eBay’s technology is not capable of helping its largest sellers to collect. And these claims are made despite the fact that eBay manages to collect the transaction fees it charges its sellers, and despite the fact that eBay already calculates state sales tax for eBay sellers, all the way down to the local jurisdiction level. Amazon and many other service providers will help smaller online sellers collect; surely eBay can as well.

    In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, Congress may, should, and feasibly can attain the objectives of protecting states’ rights, addressing the states’ needs without federal spending, and leveling the playing field for all sellers – but only if any “small seller exception” is kept very low.

    The time to act is nigh. Amazon is grateful for this hearing, and we look forward to working with you and your colleagues in Congress to pass appropriate legislation as soon as possible.

    Thank you. I look forward to your questions.”

  • eBay Acquires Hunch

    eBay Acquires Hunch

    eBay has acquired recommendation engine Hunch, with the aim of improving eBay’s personalized recommendations.

    Hunch has been around for a couple years now. The company’s stated mission is to “build a ‘taste graph’ of the entire web, connecting every person on the web with their affinity for anything, from books to electronic gadgets to fashion or vacation spots.”

    Here’s a video that it explains what it’s about:

    Hunch Intro – Homepage version from Hunch on Vimeo.

    “We’ll be tackling all kinds of interesting challenges as part of eBay including predictive merchandising, interpreting unstructured data and creating merchant insights,” Hunch co-founder Chris Dixon says on the company’s blog.

    This happened: http://t.co/D63K77os Thanks to everyone at hunch and nyc tech community. 49 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    “We are engaging consumers in innovative ways and attracting top technologists to shape the future of commerce,” said Mark Carges, eBay CTO and SVP, Global Products, Marketplaces. “With Hunch, we’re adding new capabilities to personalizing the shopping experience on eBay to the individual relevant tastes and interests of our customers. We expect Hunch’s technologies to benefit eBay shoppers as they browse and buy, and to bring sellers on eBay new ways to connect the right products with the right customers.”

    Hunch.com will continue to operate as a standalone site, and the data that users have already shared will be governed by the company’s existing privacy policy.

    Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Michael Arrington believes the price to be somewhere around $80 million.

  • SOPA Meets Massive Resistance

    SOPA Meets Massive Resistance

    The Stop Online Piracy Act, or any of its many variations, something WebProNews has discussed before, is finally meeting a great deal of resistance as various online movements, and the long-awaited push back from entities like Google, Facebook, and Mozilla have (finally?) decided to throw their own weight around.

    Where do you stand concerning the Stop Online Piracy Act? Do you side with the web giants or the government? Does the power SOPA give to stop piracy go too far? Let us know what you think in the comments.

    It looks like the American public is also getting wise about the consequences of such a bill to pass, as the SOPA acronym is currently the top Google Trend. One hopes this isn’t a case of too little, too late. The resistance that’s getting the most coverage has to do with the rebellious responses of a consortium of well-known — and powerful — web companies, all of which banded together to create the following letter as their opening means of disagreement.

    The letter, found under the Protect Innovation TLD, is signed by the following entities:

    Google
    Facebook
    Twitter
    AOL
    eBay
    LinkedIn
    Yahoo
    Zynga
    Mozilla

    The stance of this group is one of disapproval concerning SOPA, and the crux of their position is here, with our own emphasis added:

    We support the bills’ stated goals — providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign “rogue” websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting. Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring of web sites. We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation, as well as to our Nation’s cybersecurity. We cannot support these bills as written and ask that you consider more targeted ways to combat foreign “rogue” websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that has made the Internet such an important driver of economic growth and job creation.

    Essentially, these companies would like to stop piracy as well, they just don’t want it to be under the guise of “The Great Firewall of America,” which is what some entities have started calling SOPA.

    The push back doesn’t stop there, however. With Mozilla, besides co-signing the letter, they also created a page that clearly states their position in relation to SOPA in its current form. The page links to an Electronic Frontier Foundation page that, in part, generates letters of opposition to whatever state representatives are applicable. The page also features valuable information about the potential harm SOPA can cause.

    An example:

    As drafted, the legislation would grant the government and private parties unprecedented power to interfere with the Internet’s domain name system (DNS). The government would be able to force ISPs and search engines to redirect or dump users’ attempts to reach certain websites’ URLs. In response, third parties will woo average users to alternative servers that offer access to the entire Internet (not just the newly censored U.S. version), which will create new computer security vulnerabilities as the reliability and universality of the DNS evaporates.

    I urge you to continue reading.

    Google, which also signed the letter of opposition, has also posted about their intentions over at their public policy blog, which includes Google copyright policy counsel Katherine Oyama testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Oyama was scheduled to testify earlier today, and the post has a link to her written and oral testimony.

    An example from the written portion explains Google’s position quite well:

    We support SOPA’s stated goal of providing additional enforcement tools to combat foreign rogue websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement and counterfeiting. Unfortunately, we cannot support the bill as written, as it would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that could require monitoring of web sites and social media. Moreover, we are concerned that the bill sets a precedent in favor of Internet censorship and could jeopardize our nation’s cybersecurity. In short, we believe the bill, as introduced, poses a serious threat to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation.

    These more well-known companies are not the only voices of dissension concerning SOPA. Even Vice President Joe Biden spoke out against the spirit of the act, and although the White House clearly supports the reduction of online piracy, at least one component of the United States Government disagrees with how SOPA goes about its prevention:


    Biden, apparently, is on the side of the pirates. Levity aside, while he’s not operating from the same stance as Google, Mozilla, et al, but the fact remains, a visible member of the White House has spoken out — quite articulately, I might add — about how the ideas that help give structure to SOPA are harmful and do not represent such standards like freedom and due process.

    It doesn’t stop here, either. Websites all over are using “No Censorship” graphics for their logos, including such well known properties as Reddit and Boing Boing. There are a veritable avalanche of articles speaking out against SOPA as the backlash continues to build.

    If you’re still wondering what all the hubbub is about, watch this video — in its entirety — and if, after finishing it, you still don’t understand why Google and their cohorts are against it, watch it again:


    Remember, if you’re as against SOPA as our Internet benefactors are, there are a number of ways to speak out against it.

    Are you for or against SOPA? Do you stand with the tech industry or not? Does being against SOPA mean you support online piracy? Is there no middle ground? Let us know what you think.

  • The Journey of John Henson’s Game-Worn Jersey

    The Journey of John Henson’s Game-Worn Jersey

    Last Friday, North Carolina and Michigan State played in the Carrier Classic, which took place on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson. Besides acting as the official start to the college basketball season, the game also acted a celebration of Veteran’s Day, acknowledging those who those who fight for the United States.

    Besides playing on a floating military installation, both schools adopted a camouflage design for the jerseys they wore during the game. After the game was finished, apparently, North Carolina player, John Henson, gave his jersey to a “wounded veteran” who attended the Carrier Classic. Now, however, the jersey in question is appearing on eBay, much to Henson’s consternation.

    The auction, which has been ended by the seller. , offered Henson’s “game used” jersey for the low, low starting bid of 99 cents.

    There were zero bidders. Corrected in the comments.

    John Henson's Jersey

    Once Henson learned of jersey’s auction, he responded like most of the free world does nowadays, with his social platform of choice, of course. In this case, Henson turned to Twitter to voice his displeasure:

    Whoever is selling my jersey I gave to a wounded veteran from the ship is not cool at all… smh.. 1 hour ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry · powered by @socialditto

    Hopefully he is selling it for a good cause…but on another note..ITS A GREAT DAY TO BE A TARHEEL!!!!!!!!! LOL 1 hour ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry · powered by @socialditto

    Does Henson have a right to be disappointed in the now-ended auction, or is this a case of once he gives his jersey away, he has no say over what happens to it? While the second position is probably the most accurate, Henson’s disappointment is understandable, and refreshing. He wanted his jersey to go to a wounded vet, not someone looking to make a quick buck.

    Unfortunately, the recipient had other ideas. One wonders, however, if Henson’s reaction played a part in the auction being taken down? Or was it the complete lack of bids that influenced the decision?

  • EBay Taps The Power Of Celebrity To Raise Money For Charity

    EBay Taps The Power Of Celebrity To Raise Money For Charity

    eBay is teaming up with various celebrities to build a charity auction destination that harnesses the power of celeb culture and uses it for good.

    You can already see evidence of our fascination with celebrities by performing a quick eBay search. Whether it’s something basic like a guitar pick autographed by Eric Clapton or something a little more extreme like a T-shirt worn by a Jonas brother – eBay has become a destination for people looking to buy and sell items that have been touched by celebrity in some way.

    And celebrity.ebay.com is tapping into that potential for a good cause.

    The new site, which launched on Monday, provides a platform for celebrity items or celebrity experiences to be auctioned – with the proceeds going to the particular celeb’s charity of choice.

    For instance, one current auction with 9 days remaining is for the chance to hang out with Brad Pitt for a night. Right now, the current bid is $10,000. All of the money generated from the auction will go to Pitt’s cause, the Make It Right Foundation – a program that builds homes for New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

    Another example is with Katy Perry, whose sequined red dress will go up for auction on November 9th. All proceeds for that will benefit the American Red Cross.

    As of launch day, there are 13 celebrities involved in the project inlcuding NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson, famous actor Robert Duvall, boxer Vladimir Klitschko and NFL athlete Troy Polamalu.

    As you can see, each celeb has their own page that includes information on their charity, as well as any current auctions taking place. The page also suggests other eBay searches based on the celebs’ interests and links to associated eBay items.

    So even though eBay isn’t taking a portion of the proceeds, they will benefit from the new initiative.

    “We know that our customers have been coming to eBay specifically to look for and connect with their favorite charities and celebrities,” says eBay CMO Richelle Parham. “For many years, the eBay platform has been the choice for celebrities who are looking to raise funds for their charities.”

    Celeb-crazy fans will pay an unbelievable amount of money to own items that bring them closer to the culture – no matter what the cause. So why not benefit the less fortunate is the process?

  • Someone Spent $1725 at eBay for an Illegal Copy of Modern Warfare 3

    Someone Spent $1725 at eBay for an Illegal Copy of Modern Warfare 3

    Yes, this is one of the posts where the title says it all, because yes, some amazingly intelligent life form spent almost $2000 for an illegal copy of Modern Warfare 3, which was acquired from eBay. There are a number of things to address about the abject stupidity on display for such impatience, but first and foremost, the game comes out in about three days, which is the amount of time it will take for the item to be shipped to the buyer.

    This means the person was smart enough to acquire almost two grand worth of disposable money, but they weren’t smart enough to do simple math in regards to shipping dates and the game’s official release date, which is November 8th.

    Unfortunately, the eBay auction in question is can no longer be viewed, but Destructoid was kind enough to take a screenshot:

    Modern Warfare eBay

    So, not only was the math ignored, the person who made the purchase overpaid for an item that could very well get them kicked off of Xbox Live, especially if they try to play it online.

    As a Destructoid comment pointed out, someone should give kudos to the seller for making such a nice sum for a game that will be available on Tuesday morning for around $60. Now, it’s true the buyer could’ve duped the seller by bailing out on the sale, but if it actually went through as a legitimate purchase, the person who paid that much for a game that comes out after the weekend deserves all the scorn in the world.

    Something else that occurred to me concerning the purchase of a copy of a game that hasn’t been made publicly available yet, if the PROTECT-IP act goes through, would eBay be liable for facilitating the acquisition of an illegal copy of what’s almost guaranteed to be a huge-selling video game? If illegal streaming sites are punishable for having the content, what about the largest online auction house in the world?

    Hopefully, that little allegory shows just how misguided the PROTECT-IP act is, especially when you have non-tech savvy politicians trying to regulate a technology they clearly don’t understand.

  • Zaarly: The Next eBay?

    Zaarly: The Next eBay?

    Mobile commerce startup Zaarly announced today that it has closed a $14 million Series A round of funding led by Kleiner Perkins. They also announced that they’ve added Meg Whitman to their board. Whitman, of course, is the President and CEO of HP, and spent ten yeasras as President and CEO of eBay.

    “Conceived and built from the ground up in less than three months, with funding from Ashton Kutcher and LightBank (Groupon’s founders), Zaarly has taken the country by storm with more than $6.8 million in service and product listings in cities such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago,” a Zaarly representative tells WebProNews.

    Zaarly lets consumers buy and sell with people near them. A buyer tells Zaarly what they want, naming a price and a need, then others in the vicinity resound with offers – an interesting mix of location and e-commerce.

    Buying on Zaarly 

    Zaarly Selling

    “Just as consumers once left off-line marketplaces to join online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist and Amazon, they’re now migrating to mobile marketplaces, like Zaarly,” says Whitman. “Mobile, local marketplaces will shift how people buy and sell goods, services, and experiences. This is the next generation of ecommerce.”

    “No one understands the process of creating and growing marketplaces better than Meg Whitman and we’re thrilled to have her on the team,” said Zaarly CEO and co-founder Bo Fishback. “As we expand our local marketplaces across the globe, we’re fortunate to have Meg share with us her in-depth understanding of eCommerce and wisdom around company-building.”

    Zaarly says that in its first five months, nearly $6.5 million in requests have been posted on the service, and that New York, San Francisco, and Kansas City each topped half a million dollars in listings.

    Zaarly is available as an iPhone or Android app, but it’s also available as a mobile site.

    What do you think? Does this service have the potential to be the next eBay?

  • eBay Q3 Earnings Released

    eBay Q3 Earnings Released

    eBay released its Q3 earnings report, which includes $3 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 32% year-over-year.

    “Our company reported another strong quarter, with eBay, PayPal and GSI each performing well,” said President and CEO John Donahoe. “Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay. We expect eBay mobile commerce to generate almost $5 billion in merchandise volume this year and PayPal mobile to exceed $3.5 billion in payment volume. Mobile is one way online and offline shopping are blending into a single commerce environment. We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes.”

    PayPal accounts were up 14% year-over-year, with 103 million active registered accounts. PayPal’s revenue alone was up 32% year-over-year. The company attributes this to increased penetration on eBay itself, in addition to continued merchant and consumer adoption.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    eBay Inc. Reports Strong Third Quarter 2011 Results

    SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Global ecommerce and online payments leader eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) today reported that revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011, increased 32% to $3.0 billion, compared to the same period of 2010. The company reported third quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $490.5 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $628.2 million, or $0.48 per diluted share. The year-over-year increase in third quarter GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was driven primarily by strong top-line growth, partially offset by continued investment in key strategic initiatives and the impact of acquisitions.

    “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

    “Our company reported another strong quarter, with eBay, PayPal and GSI each performing well,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay. We expect eBay mobile commerce to generate almost $5 billion in merchandise volume this year and PayPal mobile to exceed $3.5 billion in payment volume. Mobile is one way online and offline shopping are blending into a single commerce environment. We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes.”

    The company’s PayPal business continued to expand its leadership position in global payments. PayPal ended the quarter with 103.0 million active registered accounts, a 14% increase year over year. PayPal revenue increased 32% year over year driven primarily by increased penetration on eBay as well as continued merchant and consumer adoption. PayPal’s net total payment volume (TPV) grew 31% to $29.3 billion in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of last year. PayPal continues to invest in innovation, focusing on the core platform, as well as mobile and point of sale initiatives. PayPal expects to generate more than $3.5 billion in mobile TPV in 2011, up from $750 million in 2010.

    The company’s Marketplaces business also delivered a strong third quarter performance. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) excluding vehicles increased by 16% year over year to $14.7 billion. U.S. GMV excluding vehicles increased 14% year over year, driven by continued improvements in customer experience on the site and growth in key shopping categories. International GMV excluding vehicles increased 18% year over year to $9.1 billion, reflecting solid growth in Europe, continued improved performance in Korea, as well as a positive impact from foreign exchange. Improved cross border trade performance contributed to GMV growth as currencies strengthened against the U.S. dollar. The company continued to benefit from growing adoption of its suite of mobile applications as downloads surpassed 50 million globally since the launch of mobile in the third quarter of 2008. eBay expects to generate almost $5 billion in mobile GMV in 2011, more than double mobile GMV in 2010.

    The company’s GSI business, which was acquired in the second quarter of 2011, contributed $202.6 million in revenue for the third quarter. GSI generated $608 million in global ecommerce (GeC) merchandise sales during the quarter.

    Third Quarter 2011 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)

    Third Quarter
    2011 2010 Change
    GAAP
    Net revenue $ 2,966 $ 2,249 $ 717 32 %
    Net income $ 491 $ 432 $ 59 14 %
    Earnings per diluted share $ 0.37 $ 0.33 $ 0.04 12 %
    Non-GAAP
    Net income $ 628 $ 531 $ 97 18 %
    Earnings per diluted share $ 0.48 $ 0.40 $ 0.08 20 %
    Business Units
    Payments
    Net revenue $ 1,107 $ 838 $ 269 32 %
    Net total payment volume $ 29,282 $ 22,365 $ 6,917 31 %
    Merchant Services $ 19,314 $ 14,161 $ 5,153 36 %
    On eBay $ 9,968 $ 8,204 $ 1,764 22 %
    Marketplaces
    Net revenue $ 1,653 $ 1,411 $ 242 17 %
    Gross merchandise volume (excl. vehicles) $ 14,666 $ 12,591 $ 2,075 16 %
    U.S. $ 5,588 $ 4,900 $ 688 14 %
    International $ 9,078 $ 7,691 $ 1,387 18 %
    GSI
    Net revenue $ 203 $ $ 203 N/A
    GeC Merchandise Sales $ 608 $ $ 608 N/A

    Other Selected Financial Results

    • Operating margin — GAAP operating margin decreased to 18.1% for the third quarter of 2011, compared to 21.8% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 25.3% for the quarter, compared to 28.7% for the same period last year. The decrease in GAAP and non-GAAP operating margin was due primarily to the impact of acquisitions and business mix, partially offset by productivity gains.
    • Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2011 was 20%, compared to 16% for the third quarter of 2010. The higher effective tax rate was due to geographic mix, acquisitions and other factors. For the third quarter of 2011 and 2010, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 21%.
    • Cash flow — The company generated $809 million of operating cash flow and $526 million of free cash flow during the third quarter.
    • Stock repurchase program — The company repurchased approximately $33 million of its common stock in the third quarter.
    • Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $5.8 billion at September 30, 2011, compared to $7.8 billion at December 31, 2010.

    Business Outlook

    • Fourth quarter 2011 — eBay expects net revenues in the range of $3,200 – $3,350 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.47 – $1.53 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.55 – $0.58. GAAP earnings per diluted share includes the gain from the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype.
    • Full year 2011 — eBay now expects net revenues in the range of $11,500 – $11,600 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.42 – $2.48 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $1.98 – $2.01. GAAP earnings per diluted share includes the gain from the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype.

    Quarterly Conference Call

    eBay will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2011 results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.

    About eBay Inc.

    Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about enabling commerce. We do so through eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento, an ecommerce platform, to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC: non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate and free cash flow. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures, see “Business Outlook,” “Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate” and “Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow” included in this press release.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future performance of eBay and its consolidated subsidiaries that are based on the company’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2011 and the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and GSI businesses. The company’s actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in political, business and economic conditions, including any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired recently or may be acquired in the future, including GSI; the company’s need to increasingly achieve growth from its existing users, particularly in its more established markets; the company’s ability to deal with the increasingly competitive ecommerce environment, including competition for its sellers from other trading sites and other means of selling, and competition for its buyers from other merchants, online and offline; the company’s need to manage an increasingly large enterprise with a broad range of businesses of varying degrees of maturity and in many different geographies; the effect of management changes and business initiatives; the company’s need and ability to manage other regulatory, tax and litigation risks as its services are offered in more jurisdictions and applicable laws become more restrictive; any changes the company may make to its product offerings; the competitive, regulatory, credit card association-related and other risks specific to PayPal and Bill Me Later, especially as PayPal continues to expand geographically and grow its open platform initiative and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities, including GSI’s v.11 initiative, at reasonable cost; and the company’s ability to maintain site stability and performance on all of its sites while adding new products and features in a timely fashion. The forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.

    More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.

    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet

    September 30,
    2011
    December 31,
    2010
    (In thousands)
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 2,998,950 $ 5,577,411
    Short-term investments 1,013,924 1,045,403
    Accounts receivable, net 595,716 454,366
    Loans and interest receivable, net 1,186,870 956,189
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 3,295,115 2,550,731
    Other current assets 671,770 481,238
    Total current assets 9,762,345 11,065,338
    Long-term investments 3,018,596 2,492,012
    Property and equipment, net 1,859,190 1,523,333
    Goodwill 8,341,910 6,193,163
    Intangible assets, net 1,452,723 540,711
    Other assets 465,773 189,205
    Total assets $ 24,900,537 $ 22,003,762
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Short-term debt $ 1,015,830 $ 300,000
    Accounts payable 269,031 184,963
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers 3,295,115 2,550,731
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 1,427,706 1,343,888
    Deferred revenue 108,274 96,464
    Income taxes payable 29,196 40,468
    Total current liabilities 6,145,152 4,516,514
    Deferred and other tax liabilities, net 1,005,732 645,457
    Long-term debt 1,528,158 1,494,227
    Other liabilities 56,169 45,385
    Total liabilities 8,735,211 6,701,583
    Total stockholders’ equity 16,165,326 15,302,179
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 24,900,537 $ 22,003,762
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income

    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    Nine Months Ended
    September 30,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    Net revenues (2) $ 2,965,761 $ 2,249,488 $ 8,271,644 $ 6,660,924
    Cost of net revenues (1) 919,697 640,268 2,425,752 1,862,194
    Gross profit 2,046,064 1,609,220 5,845,892 4,798,730
    Operating expenses:
    Sales and marketing (1) 623,309 483,653 1,763,226 1,408,050
    Product development (1) 318,902 226,803 890,921 662,259
    General and administrative (1) 336,606 261,662 1,018,234 800,505
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 146,054 97,964 371,641 296,025
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 84,605 45,957 181,978 148,104
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005 (482 ) 20,437
    Total operating expenses 1,509,243 1,119,044 4,225,518 3,335,380
    Income from operations (2) 536,821 490,176 1,620,374 1,463,350
    Loss on divested business (256,501 )
    Interest and other income (expense), net 78,704 26,825 110,972 47,692
    Income before income taxes 615,525 517,001 1,474,845 1,511,042
    Provision for income taxes (125,022 ) (85,072 ) (225,070 ) (269,268 )
    Net income $ 490,503 $ 431,929 $ 1,249,775 $ 1,241,774
    Net income per share:
    Basic $ 0.38 $ 0.33 $ 0.97 $ 0.95
    Diluted $ 0.37 $ 0.33 $ 0.95 $ 0.94
    Weighted average shares:
    Basic 1,289,631 1,308,888 1,290,921 1,303,217
    Diluted 1,309,334 1,328,415 1,311,173 1,324,509
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Cost of net revenues $ 14,210 $ 11,833 $ 42,637 $ 36,116
    Sales and marketing 32,259 26,350 100,370 80,030
    Product development 25,665 24,389 90,778 75,544
    General and administrative 36,088 31,208 112,147 96,142
    $ 108,222 $ 93,780 $ 345,932 $ 287,832

    (2) For the three-month period ended September 30, 2011, foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar, including the impact of any effective hedging activities, positively impacted net revenues by approximately $84.7 million and positively impacted operating income by approximately $31.2 million compared to the same period of the prior year. For the nine-month period ended September 30, 2011, foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar, including the impact of any effective hedging activities, positively impacted net revenues by approximately $213.8 million and positively impacted operating income by approximately $62.2 million compared to the same period of the prior year.

    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

    Three Months Ended
    September 30,
    Nine Months Ended
    September 30,
    2011 2010 2011 2010
    (In thousands)
    Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net income $ 490,503 $ 431,929 $ 1,249,775 $ 1,241,774
    Adjustments:
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 146,053 97,964 371,641 296,025
    Depreciation and amortization 266,716 194,338 667,400 570,177
    Stock-based compensation 108,222 93,780 345,932 287,832
    Loss on divested business 256,501
    Gain on acquisition of a business (56,345 ) (73,400 )
    Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition effects (146,081 ) (70,897 ) (526,435 ) (504,053 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 809,068 747,114 2,291,414 1,891,755
    Cash flows from investing activities:
    Purchases of property and equipment, net (283,500 ) (166,988 ) (671,851 ) (526,445 )
    Changes in principal loans receivable, net (155,447 ) (90,134 ) (254,097 ) (138,244 )
    Purchases of investments (654,254 ) (728,441 ) (1,883,599 ) (2,022,642 )
    Maturities and sales of investments 437,094 430,617 1,297,592 1,183,523
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (308,236 ) (3,155,122 ) (7,000 )
    Repayment of Skype note receivable 125,000
    Other 1,083 (151 ) (101,818 ) (4,924 )
    Net cash used in investing activities (963,260 ) (555,097 ) (4,768,895 ) (1,390,732 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock 31,261 19,213 187,720 118,852
    Repurchases of common stock (32,752 ) (297,662 ) (814,132 ) (297,662 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 6,849 2,192 65,457 26,649
    Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of restricted stock awards and units (16,465 ) (33,192 ) (130,259 ) (106,925 )
    Net borrowings under commercial paper program 700,000
    Repayment of acquired debt (13,038 ) (199,271 )
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 67,093 (235,871 ) (696,060 ) (334,911 )
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers (67,093 ) 235,871 696,060 334,911
    Net cash used in financing activities (24,145 ) (309,449 ) (190,485 ) (259,086 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (88,539 ) 260,897 89,505 (60,848 )
    Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents (266,876 ) 143,465 (2,578,461 ) 181,089
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 3,265,826 4,037,442 5,577,411 3,999,818
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 2,998,950 $ 4,180,907 $ 2,998,950 $ 4,180,907
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Summary of Consolidated Net Revenues

    Net Revenues by Type
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    Net transaction revenues (In thousands, except percentages)
    Marketplaces $ 1,353,660 $ 1,349,640 $ 1,284,755 $ 1,259,179 $ 1,185,562
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 5 % 2 % 6 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 14 % 10 % 3 % 3 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 56 % 56 % 56 % 57 % 54 %
    Payments 1,032,816 991,118 942,709 926,161 797,826
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 4 % 5 % 2 % 16 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 29 % 23 % 22 % 23 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 53 % 52 % 50 % 51 % 49 %
    GSI (1) 148,444 16,060 N/A N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior quarter N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter N/A N/A
    Percent of GSI revenue from international 3 % 5 %
    Total net transaction revenues 2,534,920 2,356,818 2,227,464 2,185,340 1,983,388
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 8 % 6 % 2 % 10 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 28 % 21 % 15 % 5 % 1 %
    Marketing services and other revenues
    Marketplaces 299,246 313,799 268,507 264,996 225,761
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (5 )% 17 % 1 % 17 % 5 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 33 % 45 % 26 % 9 % 6 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 74 % 74 % 74 % 69 % 69 %
    Payments 74,386 81,878 49,638 45,014 40,339
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (9 )% 65 % 10 % 12 % (13 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 84 % 77 % 16 % 17 % 4 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 9 % 6 % 9 % 10 % 10 %
    GSI (1) 54,174 7,779 N/A N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior quarter N/A N/A
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter N/A N/A
    Percent of GSI revenue from international % %
    Corporate and other 3,035 N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Total marketing services and other revenues 430,841 403,456 318,145 310,010 266,100
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 7 % 27 % 3 % 17 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 62 % 54 % 24 % 7 % 1 %
    Total net revenues $ 2,965,761 $ 2,760,274 $ 2,545,609 $ 2,495,350 $ 2,249,488
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 7 % 8 % 2 % 11 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 32 % 25 % 16 % 5 % 1 %
    Net Revenues by Geography (2) Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    (In thousands, except percentages)
    U.S. net revenues $ 1,427,811 $ 1,249,303 $ 1,141,051 $ 1,119,642 $ 1,058,258
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 14 % 9 % 2 % 6 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 35 % 21 % 14 % 7 % 4 %
    Percent of total 48 % 45 % 45 % 45 % 47 %
    International net revenues 1,537,950 1,510,971 1,404,558 1,375,708 1,191,230
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 8 % 2 % 15 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 28 % 18 % 4 % (3 )%
    Percent of total 52 % 55 % 55 % 55 % 53 %
    Total net revenues $ 2,965,761 $ 2,760,274 $ 2,545,609 $ 2,495,350 $ 2,249,488
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 7 % 8 % 2 % 11 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 32 % 25 % 16 % 5 % 1 %
    (1) Net revenue attributable to the GSI segment for the three months ended June 30, 2011, reflects net revenues for the period from June 17, 2011 (the date that the acquisition was completed) to June 30, 2011.
    (2) Revenues are attributed to U.S. and international geographies primarily based upon the country in which the seller, payment recipient, customer, website that displays advertising, or other service provider, as the case may be, is located.
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited Payments Supplemental Operating Data

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active registered accounts (1) 103.0 100.3 97.7 94.4 90.5
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 3 % 3 % 4 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 15 % 16 % 17 % 16 %
    Net number of payments (2) 459.2 432.0 424.6 421.1 357.0
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 6 % 2 % 1 % 18 % 7 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 29 % 26 % 28 % 31 %
    Net total payment volume (3) $ 29,282 $ 28,742 $ 27,362 $ 26,866 $ 22,365
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 5 % 2 % 20 % 5 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 31 % 34 % 28 % 26 % 26 %
    Merchant Services net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 66 % 66 % 64 % 63 % 63 %
    Transaction rates
    Take rate 3.78 % 3.73 % 3.63 % 3.61 % 3.75 %
    Transaction expense 1.14 % 1.11 % 1.11 % 1.11 % 1.20 %
    Loss rate 0.31 % 0.25 % 0.21 % 0.20 % 0.22 %
    Transaction margin (4) 61.5 % 63.6 % 63.7 % 63.5 % 62.1 %
    Loan portfolio rates
    Risk adjusted margin (5) 18.0 % 16.5 % 14.7 % 14.4 % 11.5 %
    Net charge-off rate (6) 4.3 % 4.4 % 4.9 % 6.1 % 7.3 %
    90-day delinquency rate (7) 2.6 % 2.2 % 2.2 % 2.4 % 3.1 %
    (1) All registered accounts that successfully sent or received at least one payment or payment reversal through the PayPal system or Bill Me Later accounts that are currently able to transact and that received a statement within the last 12 months.
    (2) Number of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through PayPal’s payments network and on Bill Me Later accounts during the quarter, excluding PayPal’s payments gateway business.
    (3) Total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our Payments networks and Zong, excluding PayPal’s payment gateway business, and on Bill Me Later accounts during the period.
    (4) Transaction Margin calculation has been adjusted to include total revenues (including revenue from credit) less transaction expense (including credit cost of funds) less transaction loss (including credit loan losses), divided by global take rate (based on global total revenues divided by total TPV).
    (5) The risk adjusted margin represents the annualized ratio of Bill Me Later revenue, excluding contra-revenue incentives to customers or merchants, less cost of funds, and less net credit and fraud losses relative to average loans receivable for the quarter.
    (6) Net charge-off rate represents the annualized ratio of Bill Me Later net credit losses relative to average loans receivable for the quarter.
    (7) 90-day delinquency rate is the ratio of Bill Me Later end of period account balances that have missed three or more consecutive payments relative to total ending loan receivables.
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited eBay Marketplaces Supplemental Operating Data

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 2011 2010 2010
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active Users (1) 98.7 97.2 95.9 94.5 93.2
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 1 % 1 % 1 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 6 % 6 % 5 % 5 % 4 %
    Gross Merchandise Volume (excluding vehicles) (2) $ 14,666 $ 14,680 $ 14,496 $ 15,039 $ 12,591
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 1 % (4 )%   19 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 16 % 17 % 8 % 6 % 3 %
    Vehicles Gross Merchandise Volume (3) $ 2,149 $ 2,238 $ 2,050 $ 1,920 $ 2,157
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (4 ) % 9 % 7 % (11 ) % (1 ) %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter % 2 % 1 %   (8 ) %   (10 ) %
    Fixed Price Trading (4) as % of total gross merchandise volume 63 % 62 % 61 % 62 % 60 %

    eBay’s classifieds websites (including Rent.com) and Shopping.com are not included in these metrics.

    (1) All users, excluding users of Half.com, StubHub, GittiGidiyor and our Korean subsidiaries (Gmarket and eBay Auction Co.), who bid on, bought, listed or sold an item within the previous 12-month period. Users may register more than once, and as a result, may have more than one account.
    (2) Total value of all successfully closed items between users on eBay Marketplaces trading platforms during the quarter, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction, excluding vehicles gross merchandise volume.
    (3) Total value of all successfully closed vehicle transactions between users on eBay Marketplaces trading platforms during the quarter, regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction.
    (4) Primarily, total gross merchandise volume related to eBay’s “Buy It Now” feature on eBay Marketplaces trading platforms relative to total gross merchandise volume during the quarter.
    eBay Inc.

    Unaudited GSI Supplemental Operating Data

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2011 2011 (1) 2011 2010 2010
    (In millions, except percentages)
    GeC Merchandise Sales (2) $ 608.1 $ 75.6 N/A N/A N/A
    (1) Reflects the period from June 17, 2011 (the date that the acquisition was completed) to June 30, 2011.
    (2) Represents the retail value of all sales transactions, inclusive of freight charges and net of allowance for returns and discounts, which flow through the GSI ecommerce services platform, whether we record the full amount of such transaction as a product sale or a percentage of such transaction as a service fee.

    eBay Inc.
    Business Outlook
    (In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)

    The guidance figures provided below and elsewhere in this press release are forward-looking statements, reflect a number of estimates, assumptions and other uncertainties, and are approximate in nature because eBay’s future performance is difficult to predict. Such guidance is based on information available on the date of this press release, and eBay assumes no obligation to update it.

    eBay’s future performance involves risks and uncertainties, and the company’s actual results could differ materially from the information below and elsewhere in this press release. Some of the factors that could affect the company’s operating results are set forth under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” above in this press release. More information about factors that could affect eBay’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s investor relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    Three Months Ended
    December 31, 2011
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (a)
    Net Revenue $3,200 – $3,350 $3,200 – $3,350
    Diluted EPS $1.47 – $1.53 $0.55 – $0.58
    Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, 2011
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (b)
    Net Revenue $11,500 – $11,600 $11,500 – $11,600
    Diluted EPS $2.42 – $2.48 $1.98 – $2.01
    (a) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the three months ending December 31, 2011, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $110-$120 million, estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $120-$140 million, a gain on the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype of approximately $1.7 billion and the accretion of a note receivable of approximately $5 million as well as the related tax impact.
    (b) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the twelve months ending December 31, 2011, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $330-$345 million, estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $480-$505 million, a loss on a divested business of approximately $257 million, acquisition related transaction expense of approximately $57 million, a gain on the sale of our remaining equity interest in Skype of approximately $1.7 billion, gains from the acquisition of businesses of approximately $73 million, amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation for Skype of approximately $45 million, and the accretion of a note receivable of approximately $9 million as well as the related tax impact.

    eBay Inc.
    Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance

    To supplement the company’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, eBay uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate, and free cash flow.

    These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with eBay’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate eBay’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.

    Reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure of all non-GAAP measures included in this press release can be found in the tables included in this press release.

    These non-GAAP measures are provided to enhance investors’ overall understanding of the company’s current financial performance and the company’s prospects for the future. Specifically, the company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains and losses or net purchases of property and equipment, as the case may be, that may not be indicative of its core operating results and business outlook. In addition, because eBay has historically reported certain non-GAAP results to investors, the company believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures provides consistency in the company’s financial reporting.

    For its internal budgeting process, and as discussed further below, eBay’s management uses financial measures that do not include stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation, amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses from the disposal/acquisition of a business, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, eBay’s management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of eBay.

    eBay excludes the following items from non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP effective tax rate:

    Stock-based compensation expense. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. eBay excludes stock-based compensation expenses from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. eBay also excludes its proportionate share of Skype’s stock-based compensation expense.

    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation. This amount is dependent on eBay’s stock price and the timing and size of exercises by employees of their stock options and the vesting of their restricted stock, over which management has limited to no control, and as such management does not believe it correlates to eBay’s operation of the business.

    Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill and significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business. eBay incurs amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets and goodwill in connection with acquisitions and may incur significant gains or losses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and therefore excludes these amounts from its non-GAAP measures. eBay also excludes its proportionate share of Skype’s amortization of acquired intangibles expense. eBay also settled a legal exposure in conjunction with the acquisition of a business and excludes this settlement payment. In addition, eBay’s results are also impacted by hedge transactions related to unique movements of cash from significant business acquisitions or dispositions. eBay excludes the impact of the accretion of a note receivable associated with the disposal of certain businesses. eBay excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of eBay’s business.

    Restructuring. These charges consist of expenses for employee severance and other exit and disposal costs. eBay excludes restructuring charges primarily because management does not believe they are reflective of ongoing operating results.

    Income taxes associated with certain non-GAAP entries. This amount is used to present stock-based compensation and the other amounts described above on an after-tax basis consistent with the presentation of non-GAAP net income.

    In addition to the non-GAAP measures discussed above, eBay also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less net purchases of property and equipment. eBay considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business after the purchases of property, buildings, and equipment, which can then be used to, among other things, invest in eBay’s business, make strategic acquisitions, and repurchase stock. A limitation of the utility of free cash flow as a measure of financial performance is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in the company’s cash balance for the period.

    eBay Inc.

    Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin

    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands, except percentages)
    GAAP operating income $ 536,821 $ 490,176
    Stock-based compensation expense 108,222 93,780
    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation 1,739 2,475
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20,253 9,604
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 84,605 45,957
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 751,407 $ 644,997
    Non-GAAP operating margin 25.3 % 28.7 %
    Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands, except per share amounts)
    GAAP net income $ 490,503 $ 431,929
    Stock-based compensation expense 108,222 93,780
    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation 1,739 2,475
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20,253 9,604
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 84,605 45,957
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005
    Amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation for Skype 24,121 9,469
    Gain from the acquisition of a business (56,345 )
    Accretion of note receivable (3,949 )
    Contingencies associated with the sale of Skype that were settled during the quarter (10,000 )
    Income taxes associated with certain non-GAAP entries (40,678 ) (55,631 )
    Non-GAAP net income $ 628,238 $ 530,588
    Diluted net income per share:
    GAAP $ 0.37 $ 0.33
    Non-GAAP $ 0.48 $ 0.40
    Shares used in GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net income per-share calculation 1,309,334 1,328,415
    Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands, except percentages)
    GAAP provision for income taxes (a) $ 125,022 $ 85,072
    Income taxes associated with certain non-GAAP entries 40,678 55,631
    Non-GAAP provision for income taxes (b) $ 165,700 $ 140,703
    GAAP income before income taxes (c) $ 615,525 $ 517,001
    Stock-based compensation expense 108,222 93,780
    Employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation 1,739 2,475
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20,253 9,604
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 84,605 45,957
    Restructuring (233 ) 3,005
    Amortization of intangibles and stock-based compensation for Skype 24,121 9,469
    Gain from the acquisition of a business (56,345 )
    Accretion of note receivable (3,949 )
    Contingencies associated with the sale of Skype that were settled during the quarter (10,000 )
    Non-GAAP income before income taxes (d) $ 793,938 $ 671,291
    GAAP effective tax rate (a/c) 20 % 16 %
    Non-GAAP effective tax rate (b/d) 21 % 21 %
    Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2011 2010
    (In thousands)
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 809,068 $ 747,114
    Less: Purchases of property and equipment, net (283,500 ) (166,988 )
    Free cash flow $ 525,568 $ 580,126

     

  • Meg Whitman Named New CEO of HP

    Meg Whitman Named New CEO of HP

    It’s official: Meg Whitman is your new CEO of HP, replacing Leo Apotheker after just under a year on the job.

    Apotheker was tapped in September of last year to replace CEO Mark Hurd, after Hurd resigned his position amid a sexual harassment investigation. HP said that they found no sexual harassment violations as a result of the investigation, but did unearth violations of their “standards of business conduct.”

    Of course, Meg Whitman had another high-profile CEO gig in past, as CEO of eBay. She also was a candidate for governor of California. Whitman is already a current HP board member, but now she is taking the reins as full-time President and CEO. This move had been expected.

    Ray Lane has been appointed Executive Chairman, as he had this to say about Whitman in a release –

    We are fortunate to have someone of Meg Whitman’s caliber and experience step up to lead HP. We are at a critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead. Meg is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution. She is a strong communicator who is customer focused with deep leadership capabilities. Furthermore, as a member of HP’s board of directors for the past eight months, Meg has a solid understanding of our products and markets.

    Whitman inherits a company going through some tough times. Apotheker was ousted after HP stock fell over 40% this year. Last month, HP announced that they were spinning ff their PC business. And just seven weeks after the promising HP TouchPad tablet hit the shelves, they discontinued all webOS devices, which resulted in a $99 firesale of the TouchPad.

    Whitman said that she is “honored and excited to lead HP. I believe HP matters – it matters to Silicon Valley, California, the country and the world.”

  • eBay Craigslist Dispute Turns Into Criminal DoJ Investigation

    eBay Craigslist Dispute Turns Into Criminal DoJ Investigation

    Prosecutors with the U.S. Justice Department are reportedly investigating claims that eBay employees took confidential info from Craigslist to use in a service that would compete with it.

    Reuters reports that it has obviated a copy of a grand jury subpoena as an old civil dispute turns into a criminal investigation. Reuters quotes an eBay spokeswoman as saying in an email, “EBay believes that Craigslist’s allegations against eBay are without merit. We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, and we will aggressively pursue our claims against Craigslist.”

    She also said eBay would cooperate in any inquiry related to the dispute. Bloomberg reports:

    The Sept. 7 grand jury subpoena of Craigslist seeks information pertaining to “incidents where EBay employees engaged in alleged criminal activities and misconduct focused around the misappropriation of proprietary/confidential information from Craigslist.”

    The incidents include a February 2005 request by Pierre Omidyar, EBay’s chairman and founder, for information about Craigslist’s approach to adding new cities and advance notice of plans to launch new cities, according to the subpoena.

    eBay’s rival site would be eBayClassifieds.com.

    eBay purchased a 28% stake in Craigslist all the way back in 2004.

  • Marty McFly’s Nikes Available Through eBay Auction

    Marty McFly’s Nikes Available Through eBay Auction

    Yesterday, we discussed Nike’s awesome Air Mag shoe, which is a recreation of the shoes worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II. The buzz these shoes received was tremendous. However, the information surrounding them was not. However, thanks to Nike, who released a press release to commemorate the Air Mag’s release, there’s much more information available.

    First and foremost, even though Nike has patented a self-lacing system, it will not be available on the current edition of Marty’s shoes. While the shoes are indeed incredible-looking, they aren’t just available in an effort to introduce a new fashion sense. No, the Air Mags are being sold for charitable purposes. As many of you already know, Marty McFly was played by Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, and the Air Mag auction is being done to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which was created to help combat the debilitating illness.

    From Nike:

    1500 pairs of the 2011 NIKE MAG will be auctioned on eBay with all net proceeds going directly to The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Each day for the duration of the ten-day auction, one hundred and fifty pairs of the 2011 NIKE MAG shoes will be made available via eBay’s Fashion Vault. The auction starts September 8, 8:30PM PST, and will end September 18. Thanks to a previous 50 million dollar match given to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, all donations will be matched, effectively doubling the contributions from the auction.

    As indicated, the auction started last night at 11:30 PM, eastern standard time, and the reaction to the cause has been almost overwhelming. While most of the bids are hovering at or above the $4000 marker, there’s at least one pair with a current bid of $8,200.

    A screenshot of the auction page gives a great idea of what’s going on:

    Nike Auction Page
    Click for bigger image

    As indicated yesterday, Nike took a viral approach to marketing these shoes, and that become even more apparent when they released additional content for the shoe, in the form of video:

    And, a word from Michael J. Fox:


    While the auction looks to be a success, one has to think that if the power laces were included, the bids on these shoes would be off the charts.

  • eBay to Delete Users’ Emails, Provide Less Storage

    eBay to Delete Users’ Emails, Provide Less Storage

    eBay announced that it will be reducing the length of time that users are able to store emails in their Messages folders. Until now, users have been able to save a year’s worth of messages, but this is being reduced to six months, effective in five days from now.

    The company says they are doing this because “most users don’t look at emails older than six months,” and that the additional capacity gained by removing old messages will be used to help the Messages system run faster.

    “Over the next couple of months, we’ll be making changes to improve the Messages system within My eBay,” the company said. “Once complete, you’ll enjoy enhanced search functionality, a new auto-archive function for easy email organization and more.”

    eBay will start removing old emails on September 12, so if you have anything that needs saved, you better get to it.

    “This includes messages that you have saved in an Archive folder,” eBay says. “You will not be able to retrieve these emails once they are deleted.”

    Users are advised to save messages by either forwarding the messages to their personal inboxes or simply saving them to their computers.

  • eBay One Cent  Auction Listings Today (August 30)

    eBay One Cent Auction Listings Today (August 30)

    eBay announced that it is doing one cent auction-style listings for one day only – today.

    eBay Seller Experience Vice President Todd Lutwak says:

    On August 30, list Auction-style for just 1¢ Insertion Fees—even high-ticket items! This offer applies to listings on eBay.comeBay Motors Parts & Accessories and eBay Canada. Most categories are included—get complete details.

    This promotion applies to both eBay Stores subscribers and sellers who do not have an eBay Store subscription. Sellers who do not have an eBay Store subscription are still eligible to list Auction-style listings for free—up to 50 listings per month. Once the free insertion fees have been used, the 1¢ promotional rate will apply to eligible listings.

    This isn’t the first time eBay has done this of course. Every now and then, gives sellers one-day discounts on listings. Most recently, they offered one-cent listings on August 9 and July 25. Sometimes they’ll make the fee 5 cents or 25 cents.

  • eBay Acquires Magento (Officially)

    eBay Acquires Magento (Officially)

    eBay announced that it has officially completed its acquisition of Magento, which it announced in June. eBay has owned a minority stake in the company since 2010. Now, it owns the whole thing.

    Magento is an open source e-commerce platform. eBay CEO John Donahoe discussed the acquisition and its plans for it here:

    Magento will be integrated into eBay’s open commerce platform group X.commerce. More details about this will be discussed in October at the company’s X.commerce Innovate Developer Conference, which Donahoe says will be “a big moment for all of us.”

    “The Magento platform serves tens of thousands of merchants worldwide and is supported by a global community of solution partners and third-party developers,” eBay says. “Magento is a feature-rich, open-source, enterprise-class commerce solution that offers merchants a high degree of flexibility and control over the user experience, catalog, content and functionality of their online stores. Magento Go, the company’s hosted software-as-a-service solution, provides small and growing merchants with the tools to help them succeed online – from payments to inventory management.”

    Terms of the deal were still not disclosed.

    Last week, the company announced the completion of another previously announced acquisition in that of Zong, which provides payments through mobile carriers billing. That became part of PayPal.