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  • eBay Earnings Released, Revenue Up 12%

    eBay Earnings Released, Revenue Up 12%

    eBay released its earnings report for the third quarter with revenue growth of 12%. Payments volume was up 29% while eBay Marketplaces volume growth was 9%.

    As you probably know, eBay and PayPal are splitting up next year.

    eBay CEO John Donahoe said, “Rapidly changing competitive environments in commerce and payments underscore the opportunities for eBay and PayPal, and highlight how each business will benefit from the focus and agility of being an independent company. PayPal had another strong quarter, and its mobile payments leadership and momentum continued with mobile volume up 72 percent to $12 billion. PayPal is on track to process 1 billion mobile transactions in 2014.”

    “And eBay continues to focus on enhancing its competitive position, improving the experience for buyers and sellers and investing in consumer engagement,” he added. “As we prepare to separate eBay and PayPal in 2015, our teams are focused on strong execution to ensure each business is set up for long-term success.”

    eBay Enterprise gross merchandise sales grew 14% with revenue reaching $259 million.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    SAN JOSE, Calif.–()–Global commerce platform and payments leader eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) today reported that revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014 increased 12% to $4.4 billion, compared to the same period in 2013. GAAP earnings of $673 million or $0.54 per diluted share, and Non-GAAP earnings of $848 million or $0.68 per diluted share, were driven by accelerating enabled commerce volume growth and double-digit revenue growth.

    “Rapidly changing competitive environments in commerce and payments underscore the opportunities for eBay and PayPal, and highlight how each business will benefit from the focus and agility of being an independent company”

    eBay Inc.’s enabled commerce volume (ECV) increased 27% in the third quarter to $63 billion. Mobile ECV advanced 67% to $14 billion representing 21% of volume. eBay Inc. mobile downloads since inception exceeded 282 million, attracting 7.3 million new customers in the quarter. Cross-border trade grew 27%, representing $14 billion, or 22%, of total company ECV.

    “Rapidly changing competitive environments in commerce and payments underscore the opportunities for eBay and PayPal, and highlight how each business will benefit from the focus and agility of being an independent company,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “PayPal had another strong quarter, and its mobile payments leadership and momentum continued with mobile volume up 72 percent to $12 billion. PayPal is on track to process 1 billion mobile transactions in 2014. And eBay continues to focus on enhancing its competitive position, improving the experience for buyers and sellers and investing in consumer engagement. As we prepare to separate eBay and PayPal in 2015, our teams are focused on strong execution to ensure each business is set up for long-term success.”

    PayPal net total payment volume (TPV) grew 29% with Merchant Services volume up 37% and on-eBay volume up 9%. Revenue grew to $2.0 billion. PayPal gained 4.4 million new active registered accounts to end the quarter at 157 million, up 14%. Global on-eBay penetration increased to 80.5%. Mobile payment volume grew 72% to $12 billion, representing 20% of TPV. Active accounts acquired on mobile were 2.9 million. Newly rebranded PayPal Credit grew 29%. PayPal also rolled out new product innovations like its One Touch offering making it simpler and easier to check-out and pay with PayPal.

    eBay Marketplaces gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 9%, with the U.S. up 7% and international up 11%. Revenue grew to $2.2 billion. Marketplaces gained 3.4 million new buyers to end the quarter with 152 million active buyers, up 13%. The selection of items available on Marketplaces grew to over 800 million listings, including both platform and non-platform offerings, reflecting the success of improved selling initiatives, particularly on mobile. Marketplaces mobile volume grew 41% to $7 billion. Fixed price sales grew 15% and now represent 79% of the total sales on the platform.

    eBay Enterprise gross merchandise sales (GMS) grew 14%. Revenue grew to $259 million. Enterprise enabled its clients to grow same-store sales 13%.

    Third Quarter 2014 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)
    Third Quarter
    2014 2013 Change
    eBay Inc.
    Net revenue $4,353 $3,892 $461 12%
    Enabled commerce volume (ECV) $63,056 $49,727 $13,329 27%
    GAAP
    Net income $673 $689 $(16) (2%)
    Earnings per diluted share $0.54 $0.53 $0.01 2%
    Non-GAAP
    Net income $848 $837 $11 1%
    Earnings per diluted share $0.68 $0.64 $0.04 6%
    Business Units
    Payments
    Net revenue $1,950 $1,620 $330 20%
    Net total payment volume (TPV) $56,576 $43,837 $12,739 29%
    Marketplaces
    Net revenue $2,156 $2,027 $129 6%
    Gross merchandise volume (GMV) $20,075 $18,345 $1,730 9%
    Enterprise
    Net revenue $259 $252 $7 3%
    Gross merchandise sales (GMS) $900 $787 $113 14%

    Other Selected Financial and Operational Results

    • Operating margin — GAAP operating margin decreased to 17.9% for the third quarter of 2014, compared to 20.5% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 23.7% in the third quarter, compared to 26.8% for the same period last year.
    • Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2014 was 15.9%, compared to 21.1% for the third quarter of 2013. For the third quarter of 2014 and 2013, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 19.2% for both periods.
    • Cash flow — The company generated $1.4 billion of operating cash flow and $0.9 billion of free cash flow during the third quarter of 2014.
    • Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $15.1 billion at September 30, 2014, up from $12.8 billion at December 31, 2013.

    Business Outlook

    • Fourth quarter 2014 — The company expects net revenues in the range of $4,850 – $4,950 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.73 – $0.76 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.88 – $0.91.
    • Full year 2014 — The company is reducing full year revenue guidance to $17.85 – $17.95 billion.

    Quarterly Conference Call and Webcast

    eBay Inc. will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2014 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 athttp://investor.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.

    eBay Inc. uses its Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls and webcasts.

    About eBay Inc.

    eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce and payments leader, providing a robust platform where merchants of all sizes can compete and win. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. connects millions of buyers and sellers and enabled $205 billion* of commerce volume in 2013. We do so through eBay, one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, 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 digital payments; and through eBay Enterprise, which enables omnichannel commerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises in the U.S. and internationally. 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.

    * This adjusted number reflects decision to remove vehicles and real estate GMV from ongoing total GMV and ECV metrics (previously stated ECV for 2013 was $212 billion, incorporating vehicles and real estate GMV).

    Presentation

    All growth rates represent year over year comparisons, except as otherwise noted. All amounts in tables are presented in U.S. dollars, rounded to the nearest millions, except as otherwise noted. As a result, certain amounts may not sum or recalculate using the rounded dollar amounts provided.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission (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 of, or as a substitute for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). 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 and 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 planned separation of eBay Inc.’s Marketplaces and PayPal businesses and the future performance of eBay Inc. 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 the completion and timing of any such separation, the future performance of the Marketplaces and Payments businesses on a standalone business if the separation is completed, expected financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2014, the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and Enterprise businesses, mobile payments and mobile commerce. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. There is no assurance as to the timing of the spin-off or whether it will be completed. Other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: whether the operational, marketing and strategic benefits of the separation can be achieved; whether the costs and expenses of the separation can be controlled within expectations; changes in political, business and economic conditions, any European, Asian or general economic downturn or crisis and any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s need to successfully react to the increasing importance of mobile payments and mobile commerce and the increasing social aspect of commerce; 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; changes to the company’s capital allocation or management of operating cash; 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, payment card association-related and other risks specific to PayPal and PayPal Credit (formerly Bill Me Later), especially as PayPal continues to expand geographically and introduce new products and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its technology systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities at reasonable cost; 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; and the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired or may be acquired in the future. 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. All information in this release is as of October 15, 2014. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. The company assumes no obligation to update such statements.

    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
    September 30,
    2014
    December 31,
    2013
    (In millions)
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 4,790 $ 4,494
    Short-term investments 5,601 4,531
    Accounts receivable, net 755 899
    Loans and interest receivable, net 3,162 2,789
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 9,962 9,260
    Other current assets 1,384 1,310
    Total current assets 25,654 23,283
    Long-term investments 5,875 4,971
    Property and equipment, net 2,825 2,760
    Goodwill 9,220 9,267
    Intangible assets, net 642 941
    Other assets 260 266
    Total assets $ 44,476 $ 41,488
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Short-term debt $ 250 $ 6
    Accounts payable 339 309
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers 9,962 9,260
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 5,617 2,799
    Deferred revenue 185 158
    Income taxes payable 138 107
    Total current liabilities 16,491 12,639
    Deferred and other tax liabilities, net 709 841
    Long-term debt 7,346 4,117
    Other liabilities 120 244
    Total liabilities 24,666 17,841
    Total stockholders’ equity 19,810 23,647
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 44,476 $ 41,488
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income
      Three Months EndedSeptember 30, Nine Months EndedSeptember 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    Net revenues $ 4,353 $ 3,892 $ 12,981 $ 11,517
    Cost of net revenues (1) 1,389 1,224 4,132 3,587
    Gross profit 2,964 2,668 8,849 7,930
    Operating expenses:
    Sales and marketing (1) 923 755 2,642 2,223
    Product development (1) 511 433 1,491 1,318
    General and administrative (1) 442 415 1,368 1,242
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 249 185 685 553
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 58 81 210 245
    Total operating expenses 2,183 1,869 6,396 5,581
    Income from operations 781 799 2,453 2,349
    Interest and other, net 20 74 24 89
    Income before income taxes 801 873 2,477 2,438
    Provision for income taxes (128 ) (184 ) (3,454 ) (432 )
    Net income (loss) $ 673 $ 689 $ (977 ) $ 2,006
    Net income (loss) per share:
    Basic $ 0.54 $ 0.53 $ (0.78 ) $ 1.55
    Diluted $ 0.54 $ 0.53 $ (0.78 ) $ 1.53
    Weighted average shares:
    Basic 1,242 1,295 1,258 1,296
    Diluted 1,251 1,310 1,258 1,314
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Cost of net revenues $ 19 $ 9 $ 56 $ 45
    Sales and marketing 46 38 133 112
    Product development 57 42 167 120
    General and administrative 51 51 132 135
    $ 173 $ 140 $ 488 $ 412
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
    Three Months EndedSeptember 30, Nine Months EndedSeptember 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    (In millions)
    Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net income (loss) $ 673 $ 689 $ (977 ) $ 2,006
    Adjustments:
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 249 185 685 553
    Depreciation and amortization 365 357 1,120 1,033
    Stock-based compensation 173 140 488 412
    Gain on sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner (75 ) (75 )
    Deferred income taxes (64 ) (89 ) 2,996 258
    Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition effects (28 ) 127 (276 ) (905 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 1,368 1,334 4,036 3,282
    Cash flows from investing activities:
    Purchases of property and equipment (427 ) (317 ) (902 ) (969 )
    Changes in principal loans receivable, net (261 ) (212 ) (493 ) (395 )
    Purchases of investments (3,238 ) (3,702 ) (6,879 ) (5,726 )
    Maturities and sales of investments 1,330 912 4,594 2,710
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (20 ) (70 ) (59 ) (85 )
    Repayment of Kynetic note receivable and sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner 485 485
    Other (6 ) (14 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (2,616 ) (2,904 ) (3,745 ) (3,994 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock 24 57 178 301
    Repurchases of common stock (8 ) (146 ) (3,476 ) (1,088 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 4 19 90 180
    Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of restricted stock units and awards (14 ) (21 ) (224 ) (247 )
    Proceeds from issuance of debt 3,482 3,482
    Net borrowings under commercial paper program (1,200 )
    Funds receivable and customer accounts, net 75 (61 ) (702 ) (979 )
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers, net (75 ) 61 702 979
    Other (7 ) (7 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 2,281 (91 ) 43 (854 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (77 ) 86 (38 ) 29
    Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents 956 (1,575 ) 296 (1,537 )
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 3,834 6,855 4,494 6,817
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 4,790 $ 5,280 $ 4,790 $ 5,280
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Summary of Consolidated Net Revenues
    Net Revenues by Type (1) Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    Net transaction revenues (In millions, except percentages)
    Marketplaces $ 1,707 $ 1,722 $ 1,727 $ 1,828 $ 1,609
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (1 )% % (6 )% 14  % 2  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 6  % 9 % 11 % 13  % 13  %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 57  % 58 % 58 % 57  % 55  %
    Payments 1,783 1,741 1,700 1,693 1,493
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2  % 2 % % 13  % 1  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 19  % 18 % 19 % 18  % 18 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 56  % 56 % 56 % 57  % 56  %
    Enterprise 199 207 208 333 185
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (4 )% % (38 )% 80  % (5 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 8  % 7 % 12 %  % 9  %
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international 4  % 4 % 4 % 3  % 4  %
    Total net transaction revenues 3,689 3,670 3,635 3,854 3,287
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 1  % 1 % (6 )% 17  % 1  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12  % 13 % 14 % 14  % 15  %
    Marketing services and other revenues
    Marketplaces 449 452 428 471 418
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (1 )% 6 % (9 )% 13  % (1 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 7  % 7 % 6 % 8  % 10  %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 70  % 72 % 71 % 69  % 70  %
    Payments 167 205 145 143 127
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (19 )% 41 % 1 % 13  % (15 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 31  % 38 % 27 % 31  % 25  %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 4  % 3 % 3 % 4  % 3  %
    Enterprise 60 60 61 74 67
    Current quarter vs prior quarter  % (2 )% (17 )% 11  % 2  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter (10 )% (9 )% (1 )% (3 )% (1 )%
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international  % % %  %  %
    Total marketing services and other revenues 676 717 634 688 612
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (6 )% 13 % (8 )% 12  % (4 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 10  % 12 % 10 % 11  % 11  %
    Elimination of inter-segment net revenue (2) (12 ) (21 ) (7 ) (12 ) $ (7 )
    Total net revenues $ 4,353 $ 4,366 $ 4,262 $ 4,530 $ 3,892
    Current quarter vs prior quarter  % 2 % (6 )% 16  %  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12  % 13 % 14 % 13  % 14  %
    (1) During the first quarter of 2014, we changed our reportable segments based on changes in our organizational structure which reflect the integration of our Magento platform into our Enterprise segment. Prior to this change, Magento was reported in corporate and other. Also during the quarter, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we reclassified our Marketplaces vehicles and real estate revenues from net transaction revenues to marketing services and other revenues. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.
    (2) Represents revenue generated between our reportable segments.
    Net Revenues by Geography (1) Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    U.S. net revenues $ 2,050 $ 2,047 $ 1,998 $ 2,180 $ 1,873
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 2 % (8 )% 16 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 9 % 9 % 12 % 11 % 14 %
    Percent of total 47 % 47 % 47 % 48 % 48 %
    International net revenues 2,303 2,319 2,264 2,350 2,019
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (1 )% 2 % (4 )% 16 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 16 % 16 % 16 % 15 %
    Percent of total 53 % 53 % 53 % 52 % 52 %
    Total net revenues $ 4,353 $ 4,366 $ 4,262 $ 4,530 $ 3,892
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 2 % (6 )% 16 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12 % 13 % 14 % 13 % 14 %
    (1) 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 eBay Inc. Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    ECV (1) $63,056 $61,639 $58,495 $59,607 $49,727
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 5 % (2 %) 20 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 27 % 26 % 24 % 23 % 23 %

    During the first quarter of 2014, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we correspondingly excluded vehicles and real estate gross merchandise volume from our total gross merchandise volume. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.

    (1) Includes Marketplaces GMV (excluding vehicles and real estate), Payments Merchant Services Net TPV and eBay Enterprise Gross Merchandise Sales not earned on eBay or paid for via PayPal or PayPal Credit (formerly Bill Me Later) during the period; excludes volume transacted through the Magento platform. PayPal Merchant Services Net TPV is the total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Venmo, and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period, excludes PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses and payments for transactions on our Marketplaces platforms.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Payments Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active registered accounts (1) 156.9 152.5 148.4 142.6 137.4
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 3 % 4 % 4 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 15 % 16 % 16 % 17 %
    Net number of payments (2) 894.6 850.2 834.4 846.1 729.4
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 5 % 2 % (1 )% 16 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 23 % 21 % 22 % 22 % 24 %
    Net total payment volume (3) $56,576 $55,046 $52,006 $51,973 $43,837
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 6 % % 19 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 29 % 27 % 25 % 25 %
    On eBay net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 25 % 27 % 29 % 29 % 30 %
    Merchant Services net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 75 % 73 % 71 % 71 % 70 %
    Take rate (4) 3.45 % 3.53 % 3.55 % 3.53 % 3.70 %
    Transaction rates (5)
    Expense rate 0.95 % 0.95 % 0.99 % 0.97 % 1.05 %
    Loss rate 0.33 % 0.28 % 0.27 % 0.32 % 0.30 %
    Margin rate 62.8 % 65.1 % 64.6 % 63.5 % 63.4 %
    Loan portfolio rates
    Risk adjusted margin (6) 16.8 % 16.6 % 16.2 % 15.8 % 16.1 %
    Net charge-off rate (7) 5.3 % 5.5 % 5.4 % 6.3 % 5.5 %
    90-day delinquency rate (8) 3.3 % 2.7 % 2.8 % 2.9 % 3.2 %
    (1) All registered accounts that successfully sent or received at least one payment or payment reversal through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit and Venmo, but excluding users of Braintree’s unbranded payment checkout solutions, within the last 12 months and which are currently able to transact.
    (2) Total number of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Venmo and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period; excludes payments sent or received through PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses.
    (3) Total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Venmo, and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period; excludes payments sent or received through PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses.
    (4) Take Rate reflects total net revenues earned through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, PayPal’s payment gateway business, subscription fees and other net revenues, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    (5) Expense Rate reflects third party payment processing expenses and other related service costs, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    Loss Rate reflects expense associated with our customer protection programs, fraud, chargebacks and merchant credit losses, bad debt expense associated with our accounts receivable balances and loan reserves associated with our loan receivables balances, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    Margin Rate reflects Take Rate less Expense Rate and Loss Rate, divided by Take Rate.
    (6) The risk adjusted margin represents annualized credit portfolio revenue, excluding contra-revenue incentives to customers or merchants, less cost of funds and less net credit and fraud losses during the period, divided by average loan receivables for the period.
    (7) Net charge-off rate is the annualized ratio of net credit losses over the average daily loan receivables balance during the period. Net credit losses are the principal loan losses, exclusive of interest and late fee write offs, less recoveries of previously charged off balances.
    (8) 90-day delinquency rate is the end of period PayPal Credit account balances that have missed three or more consecutive payments, divided by total ending loan receivables.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Marketplaces Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active Buyers (1) 152.3 148.9 145.1 140.3 134.9
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2  % 3 % 3 % 4 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 13  % 14 % 14 % 14 % 13 %
    Gross Merchandise Volume (2) $20,075 $20,485 $20,545 $21,503 $18,345
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (2 )% % (4 )% 17 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 9  % 12 % 12 % 13 % 13 %
    U.S. GMV as % of total GMV 39  % 39 % 40 % 39 % 40 %
    International GMV as % of total GMV 61  % 61 % 60 % 61 % 60 %

    eBay’s classifieds web sites, brands4friends and Shopping.com are not included in these metrics.

    During the first quarter of 2014, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we reclassified our Marketplaces vehicle and real estate revenue from net transaction revenues to marketing services and other revenues. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.

    (1) All buyers (including buyers of Half.com, StubHub, GittiGidiyor, and our Korean subsidiary) who successfully closed a transaction within the previous 12-month period. Buyers may register more than once, and as a result, may have more than one account.
    (2) Total value of all successfully closed transactions between users on Marketplaces platforms during the period regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction; excludes vehicles and real estate gross merchandise volume.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Enterprise Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Gross Merchandise Sales (1) $900 $940 $936 $1,771 $787
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (4 %) % (47 %) 125 % (3 %)
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 15 % 16 % 11 % 13 %
    (1) Represents the retail value of all sales transactions, inclusive of freight charges and net of allowance for returns and discounts, which flow through our Enterprise commerce technologies, whether we record the full amount of such transaction as a product sale or a percentage of such transaction as a service fee; excludes volume transacted through the Magento platform.

    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 the company’s future performance is difficult to predict. Such guidance is based on information available on the date of this press release, and the company assumes no obligation to update it.

    The company’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 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 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 Ending
    December 31, 2014
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (a)
    Net Revenue $4,850 – $4,950 $4,850 – $4,950
    Diluted EPS $0.73 – $0.76 $0.88 – $0.91
    (a) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the three months ending December 31, 2014, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $70 – $80 million and estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $170 – $180 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, the company 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 the company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate the company’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 its 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 the company 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, the company’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, certain gains and losses on investments, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, the company’s management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of the company.

    The company 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 and related employer payroll taxes. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. The company excludes stock-based compensation expense from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. The related employer payroll taxes is dependent on the company’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 the company’s operation of the business.

    Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and certain gains or losses on investments. The company 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. The company also excludes certain gains and losses on investments. The company excludes the impact of the accretion of a note receivable associated with the disposal of certain businesses. The company excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of the company’s business.

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

    Other certain significant gains, losses, or charges that are not indicative of the Company’s core operating results. These are significant gains, losses, or charges during a period that are the result of isolated events or transactions which have not occurred frequently in the past and are not expected to occur regularly or be repeated in the future. The company excludes these amounts from its results primarily because management does not believe they are indicative of its current or ongoing operating results.

    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments. 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, the company also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less purchases of property and equipment. The company 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 the company’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,
    2014 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    GAAP operating income $ 781 $ 799
    Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes 173 141
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20 19
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 58 81
    Total non-GAAP operating income adjustments 251 241
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 1,032 $ 1,040
    Non-GAAP operating margin 23.7 % 26.8 %
    Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and
    GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    GAAP income before income taxes $ 801 $ 873
    GAAP provision for income taxes (128 ) (184 )
    GAAP net income $ 673 $ 689
    Non-GAAP adjustments to net income:
    Non-GAAP operating income adjustments (see table above) 251 241
    Accretion of note receivable (5 )
    Amortization of intangibles of investments 1 2
    Gain on sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner (75 )
    Other (3 )
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments (74 ) (15 )
    Non-GAAP net income $ 848 $ 837
    Diluted net income per share:
    GAAP $ 0.54 $ 0.53
    Non-GAAP $ 0.68 $ 0.64
    Shares used in GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net income per-share calculation 1,251 1,310
    GAAP effective tax rate 16  % 21  %
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments to net income 3  % (2 )%
    Non-GAAP effective tax rate 19  % 19  %
    Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions)
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 1,368 $ 1,334
    Less: Purchases of property and equipment (427 ) (317 )
    Free cash flow $ 941 $ 1,017

     

    Image via eBay

  • What The eBay PayPal Split-Up Means For Them And For You

    What The eBay PayPal Split-Up Means For Them And For You

    Big news in the world of e-commerce. eBay announced that it will separate eBay and PayPal into two independent, publicly-trade companies next year.

    Do you expect each of these companies to thrive separately? Let us know what you think.

    Investor Carl Icahn had famously called for such a spin-off, and it looks like he is now getting his wish. He’s reportedly the company’s six-largest shareholder.

    The decision came after the Board of Directors reviewed the company’s growth strategies and structure. They concluded that creating two separate businesses best positions them to “capitalize on their respective growth opportunities in the rapidly changing global commerce and payments landscape.”

    Indeed, both eBay and PayPal face greatly increased competition from numerous big players including Google, Apple, Amazon, Alibaba, and Square, to name a few. Then there are companies like Stripe, which already has deals in place with Facebook and Twitter.

    “eBay and PayPal are two great businesses with leading global positions in commerce and payments,” said President and CEO John Donahoe. “For more than a decade eBay and PayPal have mutually benefited from being part of one company, creating substantial shareholder value. However, a thorough strategic review with our board shows that keeping eBay and PayPal together beyond 2015 clearly becomes less advantageous to each business strategically and competitively. The industry landscape is changing, and each business faces different competitive opportunities and challenges.”

    “eBay and PayPal will be sharper and stronger, and more focused and competitive as leading, standalone companies in their respective markets,” Donahoe added. “As independent companies, eBay and PayPal will enjoy added flexibility to pursue new market and partnership opportunities. And we are confident following a thorough assessment of the relationships between eBay and PayPal that operating agreements can maintain synergies going forward. Our board and management team believe that putting eBay and PayPal on independent paths in 2015 is best for each business and will create additional value for our shareholders.”

    In its announcement, eBay listed the following as three conclusions the Board came to upon completing its review:

    1. A changing competitive landscape creates enormous opportunities for eBay and PayPal; separation will create sharper strategic focus and better position each business to capitalize on those growth opportunities as independent companies. The pace of industry change and innovation in commerce and payments requires maximum flexibility to stay competitive and drive global leadership.

    2. The benefits of the existing relationships between eBay and PayPal will naturally decline over time and can be optimized in arm’s length operating agreements between the two entities. Arm’s length operating agreements can formalize the existing relationships between the two companies and capture ongoing synergies.

    3. This is the best path for delivering sustainable shareholder value. eBay is a leading global commerce platform that has benefited from PayPal, and PayPal is a strong, rapidly growing global payments leader because it has been part of eBay. But beyond 2015, eBay and PayPal will each benefit more and create greater value from the strategic focus, speed, flexibility and agility that come with being independent publicly traded companies.

    Donahoe and CFO Bob Swan will lead the separation of each business with oversight from the board, including the determination of management and capital structures for both companies. Interestingly, neither Donahoe nor Swan will have an executive management role in either of the separated companies, though they’ll most likely serve on the Boards.

    eBay’s new CEO will become Devin Wenig, who is currently president of eBay Marketplaces. Scott Schenkel, who is currently CFO of eBay Marketplaces will become CFO of eBay.

    “eBay has been a leading innovator in the world of commerce for almost 20 years; it’s an incredibly special business,” Donahoe said. “Since joining eBay three years ago, Devin has proven to be an exceptional global leader and operating executive. He is steadily enhancing eBay’s unique assets and capabilities and creating new commerce experiences to ensure long-term growth and commerce leadership. He will make a fantastic CEO of eBay.”

    Dan Schulman joins PayPal from American Express, where he was president of Enterprise Growth, to be President of PayPal, effective immediately, he will also be responsible for designating the CEO of the standalone PayPal company.

    “As both a leading global technology platform and a financial services business, PayPal requires a diverse blend of leadership skills and operating experience in its president and future CEO,” Donahoe said. “Dan has a proven track record of leading complex technology businesses at scale, driving sustainable growth and understanding how to innovate to drive competitive advantage and deliver compelling experiences for customers. I am thrilled to have him lead PayPal forward as a publicly traded, independent global payments leader, and we welcome him to the team.”

    What does the mean split mean for current customers and businesses using eBay and PayPal? eBay had this to say:

    The creation of independent eBay and PayPal businesses will take up to 12 months to complete so this has no immediate impact on your account. Likewise, you can continue to count on everything you expect from eBay today. Innovation, value, trust, selection, and global reach will remain central to our business. And we will continue to work closely with PayPal to ensure payments remain a seamless part of the eBay experience.

    As an active customer, you help make eBay what it is. eBay has always been more than a store. It is a community of people—buyers and sellers—connecting around the world. Thank you for being part of this amazing community. As we begin this next chapter of the eBay story, you have our commitment to make sure people like you remain at the heart of everything we do.

    The spin-off is expected to be completed in the second half of 2015. It is subject to market, regulatory, and other conditions.

    Some are already speculating that another company like Google could make a play to acquire PayPal, but given that it’s not even going to be its own company for another year, there’s no telling what will happen in the space in the meantime.

    eBay has a history of getting rid of companies it previously acquired. It sold Skype to an investment group, which in turn sold it to Microsoft. It also sold StumbleUpon, which became profitable a year ago.

    Do you think users will benefit from the separation of eBay and PayPal? Will it make any difference? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • PayPal Announces Support For Bitcoin Processors

    PayPal Announces Support For Bitcoin Processors

    PayPal announced that it will now let merchants accept Bitcoin payments by way of processors BitPay, Coinbase, and GoCoin, which it says have taken steps to ensure customer protection. It will enable this via the PayPal Payments Hub in North America.

    PayPal has not added Bitcoin as a currency in its digital wallet, and it is not processing Bitcoin payments on its own secure payments platform. The company says in a blog post:

    PayPal has always embraced innovation, but always in ways that make payments safer and more reliable for our customers. Our approach to Bitcoin is no different. That’s why we’re proceeding gradually, supporting Bitcoin in some ways today and holding off on other ways until we see how things develop.

    But giving our digital goods merchants an easy, one-stop way to test the waters with this new form of payment isn’t the only way we work with Bitcoin. For some time now, we’ve helped merchants selling Bitcoin mining equipment to accept PayPal payments. This will continue. But to safeguard customers, we’ve decided not to work with merchants who pre-sell these products. This is consistent with our approach to pre-sales of other goods; we hold off anytime we determine that pre-selling may not provide a good buyer experience.

    The company also notes that it must follow laws and regulations in countries where it operates, and that means virtual currency exchangers and administrators have to secure “appropriate licenses” and put anti-money laundering procedures in place before PayPal will work with them.

    It will be interesting to see how PayPal’s support of Bitcoin evolves over time.

    Image via PayPal

  • PayPal Here Hits Android Tablets

    PayPal Here Hits Android Tablets

    PayPal Here is the card reader offering and Square competitor PayPal launched over two years ago. They’ve just now made the app available for Android tablets.

    “We want you, the businesses we work with, to be able to accept payments wherever you are and on whatever device works best for your business,” the company says in a blog post. “Earlier this year, Gartner reported that 62 percent of tablets purchased in 2013 were Android. A lot of you are probably in that percentage.”

    “Just like the PayPal Here app for Android phones, the tablet version has all your favorite features so you won’t miss a sales opportunity, whether you’re using your phone or tablet to take payments,” PayPal says.

    These include: acceptance of credit/debit cards and mobile payments; inventory/product management; sales activity monitoring; discount/tax/tip customization; and card swiping via PayPal’s dongle.

    The app is available from Google Play in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong.

    Earlier this month, PayPal launched a new PayPal Here SDK for both iOS and Android. More on that here.

    Image via PayPal

  • PayPal Launches SDK For Card Reader ‘PayPal Here’

    PayPal Launches SDK For Card Reader ‘PayPal Here’

    PayPal announced the launch of the new PayPal Here SDK aimed at making it easier for businesses to sell in-store from their iOS or Android device.

    PayPal Here is the card reader offering and Square competitor the company launched over two years ago. The company says this about the new SDK:

    The PayPal Here SDK, though complex in its capabilities, is simple to integrate with an easy to use API. We built a system that allows partners and developers to use the same SDK to implement payment solutions across several different geographic locations. We’ve also listened to the needs of our growing merchant customers, and have included the features and functionality important to them in our new PayPal Here SDK. This includes the ability to interact with credit card readers so customers can easily swipe their card at the merchant’s point-of-sale (POS), streamline payments, manage CRM and inventory, create and maintain invoices, calculate totals, discounts and taxes, and the ability to provide a more personalized and engaging customer experience at checkout.

    At PayPal, we’re focused on a partner-based approach when it comes to payments. So we’re announcing the PayPal Here SDK with a couple key partners that are already seeing benefits from the new PayPal Here SDK, including: Ecwid, which helps businesses create beautiful online storefronts, and GoDaddy, the world’s largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses. Ecwid and GoDaddy integrated their native apps with our PayPal Here SDK to help their merchants provide a seamless buying experience for their in-store customers, and in turn, drive cross-channel sales. With our Ecwid collaboration, merchants will be able to link their in-store and on-mobile sales with their existing online sales data and inventory – blending together the online, in person and mobile worlds to be able to better personalize experiences for their customers.

    A couple weeks ago, PayPal announced a new one-touch payment feature powered by Braintree, which it acquired for $800 million last fall. eBay is expected to spin off PayPal next year.

    Image via PayPal

  • eBay Could Spin Off PayPal Next Year [Report]

    eBay Could Spin Off PayPal Next Year [Report]

    A new report out today from The Information says that eBay is considering spinning off PayPal as soon as next year – a move investor Carl Icahn very publicly called on eBay to make earlier this year.

    Jessica Lessin reports:

    Ebay has been telling potential recruits for the position of PayPal CEO that it’s considering spinning off the payments business as soon as next year, according to two people briefed on the conversations. The search for a new head of the unit began in June after former PayPal CEO David Marcus said he was leaving for Facebook.

    eBay’s PR department has been passing around this statement:

    “The board will continue to assess all alternatives to create that long-term value and to enhance the growth and competitive positions of both eBay and PayPal. This position has not changed.”

    Marcus is heading up the messaging unit at Facebook, and is expected to turn Messenger, which Facebook recently began requiring mobile users to use for chatting, into an ecommerce offering of sorts.

    Spinning off companies would be nothing new for eBay. In the past, it has bought and sold the likes of Skype and StumbleUpon. The former, of course, eventually went on to be acquired by Microsoft. The latter became profitable last fall.

    Earlier this week, PayPal announced a new “One Touch” payment feature for mobile apps, which it is making available at first to certain developers, but plans to roll out more broadly in the near future.

    Image via PayPal

  • PayPal Announces One Touch Payment Feature

    PayPal Announces One Touch Payment Feature

    As you may recall, eBay bought payments platform Braintree for $800 million last fall. Now, PayPal and Braintree have introduced One Touch, a new way to pay for things in mobile apps. In fact, it’s the fastest way to do so, according to the company.

    One Touch payments are open for developer beta with select merchants for the time being. Those using the Braintree v.zero SDK and all PayPal app users will be able to use it soon. In a post on the PayPal blog, the company says:

    With One Touch, PayPal’s 152+ million active users will be able to securely pay in many of their favorite mobile apps in a single touch, making remembering user IDs, passwords and card numbers a thing of the past. One Touch payments will be the magical experience that every mobile user will come to expect, not unlike the experience PayPal pioneered for online shopping and paying many years ago.

    You’ll soon discover that checking out with One Touch will enable you to easily, quickly and securely pay in a single touch. Of course, you’ll be able to opt in and out of the experience by app and choose any source of funding – from your PayPal balance, credit card or linked bank account – with each purchase. This One Touch experience will be the absolute fastest way to pay on a mobile device, letting you get what you want when you want it.

    PayPal is sure to note that there is no trade off of security when you use One Touch. It’s just as secure as any other PayPal transaction, they say.

    The beta is open to select developers in the U.S. using Braintree v.zero SDK.

    Image via PayPal

  • Google Announces Google Play Payment Improvements And Expansions

    Google Announces Google Play Payment Improvements And Expansions

    Google announced the addition of PayPal support for Google Play in 12 countries as well expanded carrier billing and gift card availability.

    The company says sales of apps and games on Google Play are already up by over 300% versus last year, with two-thirds of them happening outside of the U.S. These announcements are aimed at fueling that momentum.

    Users in the following countries can now use PayPal as a payment option: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United States, United Kingdom.

    Google Play product manager Ibrahim Elbouchikhi writes, “When you make a purchase on Google Play in these countries, you’ll find PayPal as an option in your Google Wallet; just enter your PayPal account login and you’ll easily be able to make purchases. Our goal is to provide users with a frictionless payment experience, and this new integration is another example of how we work with partners from across the payments industry to deliver this to the user.”

    Google has expanded the carrier billing option, which lets people simply have payments billed to their phone bill, is being expanded into seven more countries for a total of 24. The following countries can now use that: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and US. You can see the specific carriers here.

    Google also announced that developers based in 13 new countries can now sell apps on Google Play. These include Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey. Google’s buyer currency is also now available in 28 new countries.

    Image via Google

  • PayPal Just Revealed Its New Logo

    PayPal Just Revealed Its New Logo

    PayPal announced today that it has a new logo, and is altering its brand identity. Behold:

    “When PayPal was first founded in 1998, our image was designed for the online world…making it easier to pay and get paid online…right as consumers were considering e-commerce for the first time,” says Christina Smedley, Vice President, Global Brand at PayPal. “Today, online is just one of the ways we show up to our consumers, merchants and developers, along with in-store, on mobile and elsewhere. To reflect the dozens of ways we make it easier and safer for you to use your money every day, we’re pleased to share our new logo, designed to exemplify that simplicity, convenience and security in this new omni-channel world.”

    “With the help of award-winning design firm, fuseproject and feedback from people who use our products every day, our new brand identity flexes to fit all screen sizes, from wearables and mobile to the biggest, flattest high-definition TVs,” she adds. “It’ll be more legible and recognizable in both type and colors and will easily extend to be usable across the look/feel of various systems, and in the 193 markets we serve worldwide. Connection is a motivating principle behind the redesign — connection to money, to people and between people. It was important to evoke connection that was human and approachable, not too technical.”

    You’ll see the new look immediately on the PayPal site, as well as at Saks.com and zulily.com. It will also appear on all checkout buttons, apps, and PayPal Here devices throughout the year.

    Image via PayPal

  • PayPal Will Let You Approve Payments Using Your Fingerprint On The Galaxy S5

    PayPal Will Let You Approve Payments Using Your Fingerprint On The Galaxy S5

    Sooner or late, we’re all going to be using biometric data when shopping for anything. While it’s not exactly a fool proof method, it’s certainly better than the current magnetic strips found on credit and debit cards. While such a future is still years away, early adopters who use PayPal can start authenticating purchases with their fingerprints in March.

    PayPal announced today that it has partnered up with Samsung to offer the first fingerprint authentication system at retail shops. The catch is that those wanting to use the new authentication system will have to own the new Samsung Galaxy S5 as it sports a fingerprint scanner on the bottom of the device. By using this scanner, shoppers will be able to approve payments with their finger.

    It’s noted that this is just the first step in PayPal’s Fast IDentity Online Alliance which is moving to replace passwords with stronger security standards. Biometric data is apparently safer than passwords even though it’s been proven that fingerprints can be spoofed just as easily as anything else.

    While fingerprint thieves are certainly worrisome, a more pressing concern is how secure PayPal is going to be with your fingerprints. The company notes that all your financial information is stored in the cloud and never on your device. The fingerprint scanner instantly communicates with the cloud to authorize purchases and doesn’t store biometric data on the device or on PayPal’s servers. In short, the worst that can happen is hackers breaking into PayPal’s servers and stealing your financial information. While that’s certainly bad, they at least won’t have your biometric data which will one day be the most important identifier you have.

    PayPal says its fingerprint authentication system will be available at the Galaxy S5’s launch in April. The service will be available in 26 markets, including Australia, Brazil, Russia, the UK and the U.S.

    Image via PayPal/YouTube

  • “Tips for Jesus” Tip Thrown Away by Waiter

    “Tips for Jesus” Tip Thrown Away by Waiter

    The year is 2014 and we all now know Harold Camping was wrong; the world did not end in 2011. Regardless of that fact, there are many people out there who still believe the rapture is imminent and that Jesus is coming any minute now. So, what better way to atone for one’s sins immediately by leaving outrageously large tips to waiters and waitresses all over the country?

    While the intent of “Tips for Jesus” is not to buy indulgences and have all of one’s sins washed away, it is making a positive impact across North America. Multiple reports have been filed of restaurant staff receiving irrationally large tips from an extremely good-mannered and well-dressed man.

    Unfortunately for one out-of-touch waiter, the most recent “Tip for Jesus” was thrown in the trash. Ron Kinney, a 67-year-old waiter at a restaurant in West Hollywood, tossed the receipt when he could not recognize the signature on the receipt, thinking the incident was a hoax or mistake: “I was pretty naive, I guess. I thought it was someone who had a drink too many and didn’t realize what they were doing. … We see this all the time. People make mistakes.”

    By the time Kinney and his co-workers realized that the tip was most likely the work of “Tips for Jesus,” it was too late; the receipt was not retrievable: “The money would sure have come in handy for me to help for retirement. We have no such plan at work,” stated Kinney. How much money did Kinney lose out on? Either $4,000 or $7,000 (Handwriting being what it is these days.)

    While “Tips for Jesus” started anonymously and has attempted to stay that way, a waiter at a New York City restaurant recognized the man who left such a tip one night and ousted him as Jack Selby, the former vice president of PayPal.

    Selby accrued his grand fortune when eBay bought PayPal for a cool $1.5 billion in 2002. Since that time, Selby has not pulled a Smaug and sat on his fortune. Rather, he invested his earnings into multiple hedge fund businesses, making millions more.

    With an increase to the federal minimum wage being brought to the table by many members of Congress, perhaps servers will no longer need these monetary boosts. Until any law regarding this matter passes, however, there is only one thing to do: become a waiter / waitress and hope to be stricken by divine intervention.

    Image via Instagram

  • Business Owner Details Getting ‘Screwed By Square’

    Business Owner Details Getting ‘Screwed By Square’

    Alex Shvartsman runs a small store called Kings Games in Brooklyn as well as its e-commerce counterpart. He’s been a longtime Square Reader user, and was an early adopter of Square Market, the company’s online storefront for small businesses.

    “I’ve used the Square Reader (the little square dongle) for close to two years, and their e-commerce site almost literally since they day they launched it last summer,” Shvartsman tells WebProNews.

    He was a happy customer until late last year when someone used stolen credit card numbers to place several large orders on his site, and ultimately got him “screwed by Square,” as he put it in a blog post.

    Before the issue was discovered, the store shipped about $1,800 worth of trading cards to different addresses provided by the criminals. Nothing about the transactions, according to Shvartsman, was suspicious, but in November, he received two chargeback notices from Square totaling about $1,200. He wrote:

    I deal with occasional chargebacks in-store, and through PayPal for our eBay transactions. In all PayPal cases, I have been able to get my money back once I provided proof that we shipped the item where we were supposed to, with tracking and delivery confirmation. Resolving such a case typically takes from a few days to a few weeks.

    Square has a slightly different procedure. For each chargeback, they provided a link asking me to fill out a survey and provide supporting data such as invoices, receipts, and communications with the buyer. None of which I had, since the entire transaction was handled online, directly through Square. That’s OK though — their FAQ suggests that even without additional documentation, they will represent the seller and try to resolve the dispute on their end — just like PayPal would.

    Unlike PayPal however, it seemed that they just withdrew the disputed funds from my store’s bank account, without any additional follow-up.

    At this point, he tried to get in touch with the company, but discovered they offered no phone support, so he was left to settle for hearing back from the company via email a week later only to be told that Square would respond to billing disputes on his behalf, and that it could take up to 90 business days to resolve the disputes. Meanwhile, a third chargeback emerged, bringing the total to about $1,800. He wrote:

    $1800 is a lot of money to me. What’s worse, these items are sold on incredibly low margins. After the wholesale cost, shipping, and processing fees, I make approximately $5 in net profit for each $90 box of trading cards sold. (And that’s not counting fixed costs!) So an $1800 loss wipes out profits from literally tens of thousands of dollars in sales.

    As recently as last week he got another chargeback for another order from November. He emailed Square again, and got a much more prompt response telling him they had deactivated his account, and that he would no longer be able to process credit card transactions using Square, and “for security reasons” could not divulge the reason for the termination.

    An understandably irate Shvartsman blogged:

    So not only has Square done nothing so far to help me resolve these chargebacks, not only did they withdraw 100% of the funds in question from my bank account, but they also punished me for being a victim of fraud by shutting down my account without advance notice, even though I have processed hundreds of legitimate transactions with them before and since this incident.

    I’m out over $2300 to date, but this will end up costing me even more money in lost business. This Monday alone, my employees and I packed and shipped out approximately 250 orders we received through eBay and other seller portals over the weekend. Each of those shipped orders included a flyer inviting our customers to visit our Square-supported site. Those of them who might, will find that they can no longer place orders with us there, and we’ll most likely lose their repeat business. We’re now scrambling to get a PayPal shopping cart installed on the site, but that will take some time.

    Shvartsman tells us a number of people have expressed to him having similar issues with Square. Many, it would turn out, were quite sympathetic to his plight, and ultimately he managed to make some real noise with his blog post. Gawker’s Valleywag and some other publications republished it or otherwise reported on it, and Square itself got the message. So did its competitors.

    Someone from Square customer support called him, and told him that Square had indeed attempted to fight the chargebacks on his behalf, but lost the cases. The support guy told Shvartsman that Square was going to inform him via email “soon,” but since he “expressed a strong desire” to know about the transactions on Twitter, he was given “a more immediate update” by phone.

    Shvartsman wrote in a follow-up post:

    Losing the chargebacks does suck, but I could accept that, if all the other parts of this scenario had played out differently. My real issue was with the lack of communication, which I expressed to him, and he acknowledged that they could have done better in that regard, and are working on improving that aspect of their business.

    Then the conversation got around to the cancellation of the store’s account. He started off by explaining that collectibles are a high-risk sort of item with lots of fraud potential, and that they planned on disallowing the sale of this type of item via Square e-commerce portal in the future. Which is interesting, because how exactly do you define a collectible, and who is going to evaluate listings and enforce this policy? According to Wikipedia, the only type of items Square currently disallows to be sold using their service are firearms.

    The Square representative was at least kind enough to offer that he could still use the Square Reader device in the brick-and-mortar store. His blogged response to that:

    Really, Square? Really? Isn’t it a little like breaking up with someone over text message, and then magnanimously suggesting that you’d be willing to still be friends with them?

    Someone else at Square, he says, also tried to reach him at the store while he was away, which led to him to trying to call a toll-free number only once again finding it impossible to speak with a human. He woke up on Thursday to find that Square had emailed him $2,280.78 – what he says is the full amount of disputed transactions less Square’s 2.75% fee.

    “At this point, I don’t know if they managed to convince the credit card companies to cover these chargebacks after all, or if they decided to pay it out of their own pocket,” he wrote.

    But while dealing with all of this, Shopify and PayPal both became aware of the situation, and stepped in to offer Shvartsman solutions and discounts. Shopify, he says, offered to waive six months worth of fees totaling about $1,000, and PayPal actually showed up at the physical store, and offered to set up a shopping cart on the website and a PayPal Here-enabled POS terminal in the brick-and-mortar.

    “Although I really appreciate the offer of help from Shopify, my immediate plans are to move forward with PayPal,” he tells WebProNews. “They’re going to help install a shopping cart onto our web site which will allow us to process online orders via PayPal, as well as set up a PayPal Here POS terminal for in-store purchases. They’ve showed a tremendous amount of initiative, visiting the store, asking a lot of questions about our business to see how they can help us move forward. I’m also very comfortable with their system for handling chargebacks, which goes further to protect the seller than the other services I’ve looked into.”

    “At this time, I have no plans to continue using Square in any capacity,” he added. “Although they have taken considerable steps to resolve the issue, they still don’t have a robust system in place that would make me feel comfortable with using the service to process online transactions.”

    He does tell us after having a conference call with a couple of people from Square that they did seem “genuinely interested” in feedack as to how they can improve the merchant experience.

    “I hope that my situation will help nudge them toward setting policies in place that will prevent other merchants from suffering a similar fate in the future,” he tells us.

    As for the resolution, he adds, “I’m sure that PR had a lot to do with it, but there are any number of ways they could have chosen to proceed, including doing nothing at all. Even if their motive may have been primarily to respond to a wave of negative PR, they deserve credit for choosing to act quickly and in a way that was meaningful and helpful to my business.”

    Shvartsman wrote in his second blog post, “There are lots of fascinating ethics problems here. As a self-interested individual, I’m obviously thrilled to have my money back. But is this resolution fair? Should I have expected far less, given how often merchants lose chargeback cases, out there in the real world? Should I have expected more, given the additional loss of business and the fact that our account is still cancelled, not because we did something wrong but due to the cold equations of risk management? And if Square covered the loss, is this fair to them? Or have I leveraged the power of social media to extort a favorable resolution?”

    Interesting questions to which direct answers aren’t likely to come. Either way, the ultimate resolution was probably the right PR move for Square, which is just celebrating five years of operation. Also, they just launched a feature that lets you request money from people by email.

    Image via Google

  • PayPal Acquires Mobile App Platform Developers StackMob

    PayPal Acquires Mobile App Platform Developers StackMob

    PayPal has acquired mobile application development firm StackMob. The company’s engineers will join the PayPal team.

    The StackMob team has roots coming from JBoss/Red Hat, NexTag, Zynga, Cisco and Salesforce. The company has been backed by Trinity Ventures, Harrison Metal, Baseline Ventures, Founder Collective and Charles River Ventures.

    “StackMob is best known for its outstanding work in developing a platform that lets developers and companies easily create and manage mobile applications,” says PayPal CTO James Barrese. “We are thrilled to have the StackMob team put those same skills and expertise toward enhancing PayPal’s technology stack.”

    “While projects underway at PayPal have already accelerated our ability to deliver great products to our customers, we believe that with the addition of the talented team from StackMob, we’ll move even faster in creating, testing and deploying products that aim to transform payments for customers around the world,” he adds.

    StackMob co-founder and CEO Ty Amell had this to say on the company’s blog:

    Our goal at StackMob has always been to enable developers to build, deploy, and grow their mobile applications, and we’ve learned a lot from you – our customers. One challenge, however, remained constant over time: monetization and payments.

    By joining the PayPal team, we endeavor to maintain our focus on developers through PayPal and extend innovative mobile technologies that will let you access the rich capabilities of the PayPal global network. We believe our work at PayPal will make it easier for you to create seamless payment solutions that span online, mobile, and in-store experiences.

    StackMob’s existing partners include Adobe, Land O Lakes, AT&T, Atari, Verizon Wireless, Braintree, box, SAP, Rackspace, New Relic and Urban Outfitters, among others.

    The company says it will have more details about the future of the StackMob platform soon.

    Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Image: StackMob

  • PayPal Opens Online Store For Digital Gift Cards

    PayPal Opens Online Store For Digital Gift Cards

    PayPal announced the launch of its new Digital Gifts store, which is a destination where people can purchase digital gift cards from a variety of merchants.

    For now, there are only iTunes gift cards from Apple, but PayPal says it will be adding more soon.

    PayPal Digital Store

    “Gift cards are the most popular presents this holiday season and generally one of the most sought after gifts for anyone in your life,” says Patrick Gauthier, Head of Emerging Retail Services at PayPal. “Last year, more than half of the gift cards received by US consumers were purchased for the Holidays, according to Blackhawk Network.”

    “Buying a digital gift from PayPal is as easy as one-two-three: select a gift and denomination, enter your PayPal ID and Password, send the gift to a loved one or redeem it on the spot,” explains Gauthier. “Simple, convenient and secure. To help open the digital doors we have just started offering iTunes codes. This year our clients can get more music, more apps, more fun, with a few clicks on their smart phones.”

    PayPal announced last week that it now accepts prepaid gift cards, and that these can be used anywhere that accepts PayPal. The company also recently added support for gift cards to PayPal Wallet.

    Image: PayPal

  • PayPal Makes It Easier To Pay With Prepaid Gift Cards

    PayPal Makes It Easier To Pay With Prepaid Gift Cards

    PayPal announced that it now supports prepaid gift cards in that consumers can use them anywhere that accepts PayPal.

    This is just in time for the holidays, when many people will be getting these cards as gifts. As PayPal explains, these gifts often come with a burden attached to them.

    “A lot of e-commerce sites can’t or won’t accept it right off the shelf—even if other credit or debit cards of the same card brands are allowed,” says PayPal’s Ed Lee in a blog post. “Many consumers are forced to call the card issuer or go to a special website to register a billing address before trying to pay with the prepaid gift card. It might sound simple, but in PayPal’s recent usability study, it was found that only 1 person out of every 4 was able to register their billing address and complete an online purchase successfully. Thankfully, PayPal has offered a way to resolve the issue. Now, no more of this hassle is required if you use prepaid gift cards through PayPal Checkout.”

    “After our customers voiced this particular pain point again and again, we knew we had to fix it once and for all,” he adds. “After months of research and investigations, we discovered a patent-pending and innovative way to allow the usage of prepaid gift cards so that you can seamlessly apply them to the purchase of products and services anywhere PayPal is accepted – just in time for the holidays!”

    This goes for cards from Visa, American Express, MasterCard, and Discover.

    About a year ago, PayPal began offering its own prepaid cards, but only to those who have credit/debit cards or bank accounts connected to PayPal.

    Image: PayPal

  • Time To Start Letting Customers Pay You By Email?

    Time To Start Letting Customers Pay You By Email?

    There is a lot of innovation happening in the payments space, and the competition is heating up at a greater place than ever before. New products from PayPal and Amazon show great potential, and Google continues to expand its Wallet offering. Even Facebook has aspirations of making a mark in the space, but today, I want to talk about a company that has arguably made a bigger impact in a quicker amount of time on businesses (at least when it comes to consumers paying small businesses) than possibly any of these.

    That company is Square, and this week, it launched a new offering that just might be the simplest way to make an online payment to anyone, including businesses, that there is.

    Have you used Square in the past? Do you intend to? Let us know in the comments.

    Square is quite well known these days. Launched just a few years back, Square was already being used by 1/8 of merchants in the U.S. who were accepting credit cards by the end of 2011. President Obama’s campaign was using it for donations. Cabs started using it. By June, Square was in use by over 20,000 retailers. It later scored a major mainstream deal with Starbucks, while also continuing to cater to its small business roots. It now has gift cards, Passbook integration, and much more. Founder Jack Dorsey even appeared on 60 minutes earlier this year to talk about Square. The segment was titled “The Innovator,” if that tells you anything.

    Suffice it to say, Square now has the brand recognition it needs to get the masses on board with new offerings that make their lives easier.

    And that was before Square had a payment product that makes things as simple on consumers and businesses as paying for and accepting payments by email. That’s what Square launched this week in Square Cash.

    Square teased the offering back in May, offering it on an invitation-only basis, telling people to “forget the ATM”. The offering is now live for anyone with a U.S. debit card. It lets anyone transfer money via email for free without even having to sign up for an account.

    Just send the recipient an email, Cc [email protected], enter the amount you wish to send in the subject line, and attach a note in the body if you like. Send it, and Square will send you a reply asking you to link your debit card. After you do that, the recipient will be emailed a link to deposit the money you sent them into their own bank account.

    Square Cash

    “Square has always believed in creating solutions for individuals and businesses that work with the tools they already have in their pocket,” said Square Cash lead Brian Grassadonia. “Square Cash makes it convenient to send money to anyone—without making them jump through hoops to retrieve it. Now it’s easier than ever to split a bill, send a birthday gift, or settle up with a friend, no matter where you are.”

    It works from any email client, and any device (phones, tablets, desktop). This gives it a significant leg up over some other competitors, at least for the time being. If you’ll recall, Google recently launched a feature that also lets you send payments by email via Google Wallet. It’s only for Gmail though, it’s only for desktop so far, and it hasn’t even rolled out to all users yet. Plus, there’s a transaction fee.

    Google Send Money

    While they’re not really necessary, Square Cash also has Android and iOS apps, just in case you like a pretty interface to go along with your email sending.

    Square Cash

    Square Cash

    Square Cash for Android

    Square Cash

    Square Cash

    Square Cash isn’t without its drawbacks. It doesn’t support credit cards, for example. According to Daniel Bean at Yahoo News, who offers up a nice feature comparison among Square Cash, Venmo, PayPal and Google Wallet, “The weekly limit is $250 unless you link a mobile phone number and Facebook account, or verify your full name, part of your Social Security number and date of birth — then it’s raised to $2,500.”

    Apparently people in Hawaii and Tennessee (and the rest of the world outside of the U.S.) can’t use it to send cash yet either.

    But that’s not a whole lot of friction, and some issues may go away in time. Availability will almost certainly be expanded in time. Square itself recently expanded into Japan.

    Square has already won over countless businesses with its simplicity. It’s hard to imagine that many of them won’t simply start taking payments by email via Square Cash. Forbes contributor Joshua Steimle wrote this week about his experience already using it to pay $500 to a contractor.

    “Based on the experience I would have to say the credit card industry as we know it is dead. Or at least soon will be,” he wrote.

    Pretty bold words.

    He says that after sending the email, his contractor received an email asking for her debit card info, and after putting that in was just waiting for the money to show up in her bank account, but pointed to a comment from a Twitter users saying they had received money in just three hours:

    “Why is Square Cash the end of the credit card companies?” writes Steimle. “It’s not just Square Cash, it’s what Square Cash represents–the ability to transfer dollars quickly and easily without fees. Square Cash may be the face today, but it will be 20 other companies tomorrow, unless the credit card companies start lobbying Washington to change the regulations on these types of transactions ‘for our protection.’”

    And that’s just it. Even if Square itself doesn’t become the go to service for the majority, it’s clearly on to something huge here with Square Cash – something that is going to have a major impact on consumers and businesses alike.

    Your move, other payment platforms.

    Do you see Square has having a major impact with this new offering? Let us know in the comments.

    Images: Square

  • eBay Earnings Released, Revenue Up 14%

    eBay Earnings Released, Revenue Up 14%

    eBay just released its Q3 earnings report with a 14% year-over-year increase in revenue to $3.9 billion and net income (GAAP) of $689 million.

    PalPal on its own generated $1.6 billion, up 19% year-over-year. It also gained 5 million active registered accounts, ending the quarter with 137 million, up 17%.

    President and CEO John Donahoe said, “We delivered strong third quarter results, with mobile driving a significant portion of our new user growth and continuing to transform how consumers shop and pay around the world. Our scale and experience, the strength of our global commerce platforms, our technology assets and our mobile commerce capabilities strongly position us to be a leader in the commerce revolution under way. In the past 12 months we have enabled $200 billion of commerce volume, a 20 percent increase in a fairly lackluster macro environment. That growth demonstrates the strength of our core businesses and our power as a partner, not a competitor, to merchants, brands and retailers.”

    The company pretty much met Wall Street expectations, but stock is falling, apparently based on a not so strong outlook.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Global commerce platform and payments leader eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) today reported that revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2013, increased 14% to $3.9 billion, compared to the same period of 2012. The company reported third quarter net income on a GAAP basis of $689 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $837 million, or $0.64 per diluted share. Third quarter non-GAAP earnings per diluted share increased 17% driven primarily by strong top-line growth. GAAP earnings per diluted share increased 16%, driven by revenue growth and the sale of our investments in RueLaLa and ShopRunner.

    Total company Enabled Commerce Volume (ECV) grew 21% for the quarter, to $52 billion. The growth demonstrates the power of the company’s global commerce platforms, technology assets and mobile commerce capabilities across Marketplaces, PayPal and eBay Enterprise. In the third quarter, cross-border trade, another competitive strength of the company, was $11 billion, representing 22% of the company’s total ECV. Mobile enabled commerce volume was up 75% in the quarter, with downloads since inception exceeding 200 million and the company’s suite of mobile apps attracting 3.2 million new customers.

    “We delivered strong third quarter results, with mobile driving a significant portion of our new user growth and continuing to transform how consumers shop and pay around the world,” saidJohn Donahoe, President and CEO, eBay Inc. “Our scale and experience, the strength of our global commerce platforms, our technology assets and our mobile commerce capabilities strongly position us to be a leader in the commerce revolution under way. In the past 12 months we have enabled $200 billion of commerce volume, a 20 percent increase in a fairly lackluster macro environment. That growth demonstrates the strength of our core businesses and our power as a partner, not a competitor, to merchants, brands and retailers.”

    PayPal delivered a strong third quarter performance with revenue increasing 19% to $1.6 billion. PayPal gained 5.0 million active registered accounts and ended the quarter with 137 million, a 17% increase. PayPal’s net total payment volume (TPV) grew 25% to $44 billion driven by consumer and merchant use of PayPal both on and off eBay. Merchant Services net TPV increased 30% with a sequential acceleration of payment volume. PayPal continues to invest in leading payments innovation, growing its addressable market, and driving global consumer and merchant acquisition through seamless and simple experiences. Key developments in the third quarter included the launch of a fully localized offering in Russia and PayPal’s enhanced consumer app for iOS and Android. PayPal also delivered innovation offline by helping consumers save time and money through closed loop offers where merchants can put coupons directly into consumers’ digital wallets. The enhanced PayPal consumer app gives customers in the U.S. and Australia convenient order-ahead and pay-at-table capabilities as well as the ability to check in and pay with the PayPal digital wallet at thousands of retail locations in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia.

    Marketplaces also delivered a strong third quarter performance with revenue increasing 12% to $2.0 billion. Marketplaces gained 3.9 million active users in the period and ended the quarter with 124 million, a 14% increase. Gross merchandise volume (GMV), excluding vehicles, increased 13% to $18 billion. Fixed price GMV grew 18% globally and represented 71% of total GMV. U.S. GMV, excluding vehicles, increased 15% to $7.4 billion and international GMV, excluding vehicles, increased 12% to $11 billion driven by mobile and investment in buyer experience. The selection of items available on Marketplaces grew to over 500 million listings reflecting the success of consumer selling initiatives, particularly on mobile. Free shipping was provided on more than half of U.S. transactions in the quarter and the global shipping program continued to expand. In addition, the introduction and expansion of several local initiatives enabled customers to access local merchant inventory through apps to improve choice and reduce fulfillment time.

    eBay Enterprise contributed $238 million in revenue for the third quarter, a 5% increase. Its Commerce Technologies generated $787 million in Merchandise Sales, a 13% increase, but revenue was pressured by a reduction in take rate. eBay Enterprise enabled its clients to grow same-store sales 13%, decelerating sequentially, but broadly in line with ecommerce growth rates. The company expects its broad omnichannel product portfolio, including complementary eBay Inc. assets, to be increasingly adopted by merchants seeking opportunities to grow their businesses while seamlessly meeting the needs of the connected consumer. eBay Enterprise launched four brands on its new suite of modular Commerce Technologies during the quarter.

    Third Quarter 2013 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)
    Third Quarter
    2013 2012 Change
    eBay Inc.
    Net revenue $3,892 $3,404 $488 14%
    Enabled commerce volume (ECV) $51,507 $42,593 $8,914 21%
    GAAP
    Net income $689 $597 $92 15%
    Earnings per diluted share $0.53 $0.45 $0.07 16%
    Non-GAAP
    Net income $837 $718 $119 17%
    Earnings per diluted share $0.64 $0.55 $0.09 17%
    Third Quarter
    2013 2012 Change
    Business Units
    Payments
    Net revenue $1,620 $1,367 $253 19%
    Net total payment volume $43,837 $35,159 $8,678 25%
    Marketplaces
    Net revenue $2,027 $1,806 $221 12%
    Gross merchandise volume (GMV), excl. vehicles $18,360 $16,281 $2,079 13%
    Enterprise
    Net revenue $238 $226 $12 5%
    Merchandise Sales $787 $698 $89 13%

    Other Selected Financial Results

    • Operating margin — GAAP operating margin increased to 20.5% for the third quarter of 2013, compared to 19.6% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin increased to 26.8% in the third quarter, compared to 26.3% for the same period last year.
    • Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2013 was 21%, compared to 11% for the third quarter of 2012. The increase in the company’s GAAP effective tax rate was due to an increase in earnings in higher tax jurisdictions and the repayment of the Kynetic note receivable and the sale of our investments in RueLaLa and ShopRunner. For the third quarter of 2013 and 2012, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 19% and 20%, respectively.
    • Cash flow — The company generated $1.3 billion of operating cash flow and $1.0 billion of free cash flow during the third quarter of 2013. The company’s investing activities benefited from proceeds of $485 million from the repayment of the Kynetic note receivable and the sale of our investments in RueLaLa and ShopRunner.
    • Stock repurchase program — The company repurchased approximately $146 million of its common stock in the third quarter of 2013.
    • Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $13.0 billion at September 30, 2013, up from $11.5 billion at December 31, 2012.

    Business Outlook

    • Fourth quarter 2013 — the company expects net revenues in the range of $4,500 – $4,600 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.67 – $0.69 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.79 – $0.81. The company’s fourth quarter outlook assumes that the pending acquisition of Braintree will close late in the fourth quarter of 2013.

    Quarterly Conference Call

    eBay Inc. will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2013 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.

    Use of Investor Relations Website for Regulation FD Purposes

    eBay Inc. also announced that it intends to use its Investor Relations website as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Such disclosures will be included on the eBay Inc. Investor Relations website at investor.ebayinc.com. Accordingly, investors should monitorhttp://investor.ebayinc.com, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts.

    About eBay Inc.

    eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce and payments leader, providing a robust platform where merchants of all sizes can compete and win. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. connects millions of buyers and sellers and enabled $175 billion of commerce volume in 2012. 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 digital payments; and through eBay Enterprise, which enables omnichannel commerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises in the U.S. and internationally. 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.

    Presentation

    All growth rates represent year over year comparisons, except as otherwise noted. All amounts in tables are presented in U.S. dollars, rounded to the nearest millions, except as otherwise noted. As a result, certain amounts may not sum or recalculate using the rounded dollar amounts provided.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission (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 of, or as a substitute for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). 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 and 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 Inc. 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 2013, and the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and Enterprise businesses, mobile payments and mobile commerce. 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 continuing U.S. government shutdown or default, any European or general economic downturn or crisis and any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s need to successfully react to the increasing importance of mobile payments and mobile commerce and the increasing social aspect of commerce; 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 introduce new products and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its technology systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities, including our Enterprise Commerce Technologies, at reasonable cost; 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; and the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired or may be acquired in the future. 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 press release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. The company assumes no obligation to update such statements.

    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
      September 30, 2013 December 31, 2012
    (In millions)
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 5,280 $ 6,817
    Short-term investments 4,991 2,591
    Accounts receivable, net 772 822
    Loans and interest receivable, net 2,434 2,160
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 9,073 8,094
    Other current assets 926 914
    Total current assets 23,476 21,398
    Long-term investments 4,138 3,044
    Property and equipment, net 2,763 2,491
    Goodwill 8,566 8,537
    Intangible assets, net 863 1,128
    Other assets 261 476
    Total assets $ 40,067 $ 37,074
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Short-term debt $ 408 $ 413
    Accounts payable 288 301
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers 9,073 8,094
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 2,008 1,916
    Deferred revenue 164 137
    Income taxes payable 87 63
    Total current liabilities 12,028 10,924
    Deferred and other tax liabilities, net 914 972
    Long-term debt 4,123 4,106
    Other liabilities 235 207
    Total liabilities 17,300 16,209
    Total stockholders’ equity 22,767 20,865
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 40,067 $ 37,074
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income
    Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
    2013 2012 2013 2012
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    Net revenues $ 3,892 $ 3,404 $ 11,517 $ 10,079
    Cost of net revenues (1) 1,224 1,022 3,587 2,992
    Gross profit 2,668 2,382 7,930 7,087
    Operating expenses:
    Sales and marketing (1) 755 726 2,223 2,120
    Product development (1) 433 389 1,318 1,157
    General and administrative (1) 415 369 1,242 1,131
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 185 148 553 413
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 81 83 245 251
    Total operating expenses 1,869 1,715 5,581 5,072
    Income from operations 799 667 2,349 2,015
    Interest and other, net 74 5 89 74
    Gain on divested business 118
    Income before income taxes 873 672 2,438 2,207
    Provision for income taxes (184 ) (75 ) (432 ) (348 )
    Net income $ 689 $ 597 $ 2,006 $ 1,859
    Net income per share:
    Basic $ 0.53 $ 0.46 $ 1.55 $ 1.44
    Diluted $ 0.53 $ 0.45 $ 1.53 $ 1.42
    Weighted average shares:
    Basic 1,295 1,292 1,296 1,291
    Diluted 1,310 1,314 1,314 1,311
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Cost of net revenues $ 9 $ 13 $ 45 $ 41
    Sales and marketing 38 35 112 99
    Product development 42 34 120 101
    General and administrative 51 40 135 119
    $ 140 $ 122 $ 412 $ 360
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
    Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
    2013 2012 2013 2012
    (In millions)
    Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net income $ 689 $ 597 $ 2,006 $ 1,859
    Adjustments:
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 185 148 553 413
    Depreciation and amortization 357 311 1,033 882
    Gain on sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner (75 ) (75 )
    Gain on divested business (118 )
    Stock-based compensation 140 122 412 360
    Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition effects 38 (24 ) (647 ) (943 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 1,334 1,154 3,282 2,453
    Cash flows from investing activities:
    Purchases of property and equipment (317 ) (362 ) (969 ) (961 )
    Changes in principal loans receivable, net (212 ) (180 ) (395 ) (335 )
    Purchases of investments (3,702 ) (126 ) (5,726 ) (1,470 )
    Maturities and sales of investments 912 309 2,710 938
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (70 ) (10 ) (85 ) (143 )
    Repayment of Kynetic note receivable and sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner 485 485
    Proceeds from divested business, net of cash disposed 144
    Other (61 ) (14 ) (77 )
    Net cash used in investing activities (2,904 ) (430 ) (3,994 ) (1,904 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock 57 134 301 359
    Repurchases of common stock (146 ) (47 ) (1,088 ) (642 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 19 27 180 95
    Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of restricted stock units and awards (21 ) (20 ) (247 ) (152 )
    Net (repayments) and borrowings under commercial paper program (550 ) (550 )
    Proceeds from the issuance of debt, net of issuance costs 2,976 2,976
    Funds receivable and customer accounts, net (61 ) (511 ) (979 ) (839 )
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers, net 61 511 979 839
    Other (4 ) (4 )
    Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities (91 ) 2,516 (854 ) 2,082
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 86 53 29 9
    Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents (1,575 ) 3,293 (1,537 ) 2,640
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 6,855 4,038 6,817 4,691
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 5,280 $ 7,331 $ 5,280 $ 7,331
    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,
    2013 2013 2013 2012 2012
    Net transaction revenues (In millions, except percentages)
    Marketplaces $ 1,668 $ 1,637 $ 1,608 $ 1,672 $ 1,490
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 2 % (4 )% 12 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12 % 10 % 13 % 16 % 10 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 54 % 55 % 55 % 56 % 55 %
    Payments 1,493 1,475 1,435 1,432 1,264
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 1 % 3 % % 13 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 18 % 20 % 18 % 24 % 22 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 56 % 56 % 55 % 56 % 55 %
    Enterprise 185 194 186 333 170
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (5 )% 4 % (44 )% 97 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 9 % 18 % 2 % 13 % 14 %
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international 4 % 5 % 5 % 3 % 3 %
    Total net transaction revenues 3,346 3,306 3,229 3,437 2,925
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 1 % 2 % (6 )% 17 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 14 % 14 % 19 % 15 %
    Marketing services and other revenues
    Marketplaces 359 364 349 378 316
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (1 )% 4 % (8 )% 20 % (2 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 13 % 15 % 15 % 5 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 75 % 75 % 75 % 72 % 75 %
    Payments 127 149 113 109 102
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (15 )% 32 % 4 % 7 % (17 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 25 % 21 % 22 % 32 % 37 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 3 % 3 % 4 % 5 % 6 %
    Enterprise 53 52 50 65 57
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 4 % (23 )% 14 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter (7 )% (9 )% (9 )% (6 )% 4 %
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international % % % % %
    Corporate and other 14 14 12 12 11
    Total marketing services and other revenues 553 579 524 564 485
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (4 )% 10 % (7 )% 16 % (5 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 13 % 15 % 16 % 13 %
    Elimination of inter-segment net revenue and other (1) (7 ) (8 ) (5 ) $ (9 ) $ (6 )
    Total net revenues $ 3,892 $ 3,877 $ 3,748 $ 3,992 $ 3,404
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 3 % (6 )% 17 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 14 % 14 % 18 % 15 %
    (1) Represents revenue generated between our reportable segments.
    Net Revenues by Geography (1) Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2012 2012
    (In millions, except percentages)
    U.S. net revenues $ 1,873 $ 1,870 $ 1,789 $ 1,949 $ 1,637
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 5 % (8 )% 19 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 16 % 13 % 17 % 15 %
    Percent of total 48 % 48 % 48 % 49 % 48 %
    International net revenues 2,019 2,007 1,959 2,043 1,767
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 1 % 2 % (4 )% 16 % (1 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 15 % 12 % 16 % 19 % 15 %
    Percent of total 52 % 52 % 52 % 51 % 52 %
    Total net revenues $ 3,892 $ 3,877 $ 3,748 $ 3,992 $ 3,404
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % 3 % (6 )% 17 % %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 14 % 14 % 18 % 15 %
    (1) 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 eBay Inc. Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2012 2012
    (In millions, except percentages)
    ECV (1) $ 51,507 $ 50,597 $ 48,795 $ 50,186 $ 42,593
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 4 % (3 %) 18 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 21 % 21 % 19 % N/A N/A
    (1) Represents the total commerce and payment volume across all three business units consisting of Marketplaces GMV, PayPal Merchant Services TPV and Merchandise Sales not earned on eBay or paid for via PayPal or Bill Me Later during the period. Excludes volume transacted through the Magento platform. PayPal Merchant Services TPV is the total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our Payments networks, Bill Me Later accounts and Zong during the period, excluding PayPal’s payment gateway business and payments for transactions on our Marketplaces and Enterprise platforms.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Payments Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2012 2012
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active registered accounts (1) 137.4 132.4 127.7 122.7 117.4
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 4 % 4 % 4 % 5 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 17 % 17 % 16 % 15 % 14 %
    Net number of payments (2) 729.4 700.6 681.6 691.7 589.2
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 4 % 3 % (1 )% 17 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 24 % 24 % 23 % 26 % 28 %
    Net total payment volume (3) $ 43,837 $ 42,813 $ 41,040 $ 41,471 $ 35,159
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 4 % (1 )% 18 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 25 % 24 % 21 % 24 % 20 %
    On eBay net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 30 % 30 % 32 % 32 % 33 %
    Merchant Services net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 70 % 70 % 68 % 68 % 67 %
    Transaction rates
    Take rate 3.70 % 3.79 % 3.77 % 3.72 % 3.89 %
    Transaction expense 1.05 % 1.04 % 1.05 % 1.03 % 1.07 %
    Loss rate 0.30 % 0.31 % 0.29 % 0.28 % 0.30 %
    Transaction margin (4) 63.4 % 64.4 % 64.4 % 64.7 % 64.8 %
    Loan portfolio rates
    Risk adjusted margin (5) 16.1 % 16.2 % 15.8 % 15.6 % 16.5 %
    Net charge-off rate (6) 5.5 % 5.6 % 5.3 % 5.3 % 4.9 %
    90-day delinquency rate (7) 3.2 % 2.7 % 2.7 % 2.7 % 2.9 %
    (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 our Payments networks, Bill Me Later accounts and Zong 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, Bill Me Later accounts and Zong during the quarter, excluding PayPal’s payment gateway business.
    (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 Marketplaces Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2012 2012
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active Users (1) 123.6 119.7 116.2 112.3 108.3
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 3 % 3 % 4 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 14 % 13 % 12 % 10 %
    Gross Merchandise Volume (excluding vehicles) (2) $ 18,360 $ 18,292 $ 18,326 $ 19,105 $ 16,281
    Current quarter vs prior quarter % % (4 )% 17 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 13 % 13 % 13 % 16 % 11 %
    U.S. GMV as % of total GMV 40 % 40 % 40 % 38 % 40 %
    International GMV as % of total GMV 60 % 60 % 60 % 62 % 60 %
    Vehicles Gross Merchandise Volume (3) $ 1,765 $ 1,805 $ 1,686 $ 1,727 $ 1,994
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (2 )% 7 % (2 )% (13 )% (1 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter (11 )% (11 )% (10 )% (7 )% (7 )%
    Fixed Price Trading (4) as % of total gross merchandise volume 71 % 69 % 68 % 68 % 66 %
    eBay’s classifieds websites, brands4friends and Shopping.com are not included in these metrics.
    (1) All users, excluding users of Half.com, StubHub, and our Korean subsidiary, 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 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 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 Marketplaces trading platforms relative to total gross merchandise volume during the quarter.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Enterprise Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2012 2012
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Merchandise Sales (1) $ 787 $ 815 $ 807 $ 1,595 $ 698
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (3 %) 1 % (49 %) 129 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 13 % 21 % 13 % 17 % 16 %
    (1) Represents the retail value of all sales transactions, inclusive of freight charges and net of allowance for returns and discounts, which flow through our Enterprise Commerce Technologies, 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 the company’s future performance is difficult to predict. Such guidance is based on information available on the date of this press release, and the company assumes no obligation to update it.

    The company’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 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 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 Ending (a)
    December 31, 2013
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (b)
    Net Revenue $4,500 – $4,600 $4,500 – $4,600
    Diluted EPS $0.67 – $0.69 $0.79 – $0.81
    (a) For the three months ending December 31, 2013, the company’s outlook assumes that the pending acquisition of Braintree will close late in the fourth quarter of 2013.
    (b) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the three months ending December 31, 2013, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $95-$105 million and estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $145-$155 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, the company 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 the company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate the company’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 its 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 the company 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, the company’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, certain gains and losses on investments, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, the company’s management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of the company.

    The company 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 and related employer payroll taxes. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. The company excludes stock-based compensation expense from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. The related employer payroll taxes is dependent on the company’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 the company’s operation of the business.

    Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and certain gains or losses on investments. The company 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. The company also excludes certain gains and losses on investments. In addition, the company’s results are also impacted by hedge transactions related to unique movements of cash from significant business acquisitions or dispositions. The company excludes the impact of the accretion of a note receivable associated with the disposal of certain businesses. The company excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of the company’s business.

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

    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments. 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, the company also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less purchases of property and equipment. The company 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 the company’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,
    2013 2012
    (In millions, except percentages)
    GAAP operating income $ 799 $ 667
    Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes 141 125
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 19 20
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 81 83
    Total non-GAAP operating income adjustments 241 228
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 1,040 $ 895
    Non-GAAP operating margin 26.8 % 26.3 %
    Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and
    GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2013 2012
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    GAAP income before income taxes $ 873 $ 672
    GAAP provision for income taxes (184 ) (75 )
    GAAP net income $ 689 $ 597
    Non-GAAP adjustments to net income:
    Non-GAAP operating income adjustments (see table above) 241 228
    Accretion of note receivable (5 ) (4 )
    Acquisition related items (2 )
    Amortization of intangibles of investments 2
    Gain on sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner (75 )
    Gain on divested business
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments (15 ) (101 )
    Non-GAAP net income $ 837 $ 718
    Diluted net income per share:
    GAAP $ 0.53 $ 0.45
    Non-GAAP $ 0.64 $ 0.55
    Shares used in GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net income per-share calculation 1,310 1,314
    GAAP effective tax rate 21 % 11 %
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments to net income (2 )% 9 %
    Non-GAAP effective tax rate 19 % 20 %
    Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2013 2012
    (In millions)
    Net cash provided by operating activities $1,334 $1,154
    Less: Purchases of property and equipment (317 ) (362 )
    Free cash flow $1,017 $792

     

    eBay Inc.

  • PayPal Announces Payment Code, Another Way To Reduce In-Store Payment Hassle

    PayPal Announces Payment Code, Another Way To Reduce In-Store Payment Hassle

    PayPal has now revealed yet another new product aimed at making retail store payments easier for both consumers and merchants. This one is called Payment Code, and lets users pay by checking into a store with their PayPal app or a merchant’s own app. Merchants simply scan a QR code or enter a four-digit code to complete transactions.

    When the consumer is shopping in the store, and is ready to pay, they can open the app, and check in. From there, they’ll be prompted with the QR code or four-digit code, and the merchant can scan it with their barcode or QR code scanner, or the merchant (or consumer) can enter the four-digit code on the PIN pad, and the items are paid for.

    “As we have said many times before, the problem that needs to be solved is not paying at a POS terminal,” says Don Kingsborough, Vice President of Retail Services at PayPal. “While payment code does make the checkout process smooth, with easy access to all funding sources in one simple place (your phone), the real benefit is that it will allow consumers to automatically redeem any special offers, gift cards, merchant rewards programs or other forms of payment that might be saved in their PayPal wallet in one quick transaction.”

    “Utilizing the millions of 2D barcode scanners already sitting on store counters and 40+ million payment terminals available around the world, this offers an easy way to give customers the benefits without investing in new technology,” he says.

    Payment code was announced at the Money2020 conference. TechCrunch’s Ingrid Lunden interviewed Kingsborough. Here’s an interesting excerpt from that:

    Kingsborough says that initially Payment Code with work with merchants who are part of the Discover Network “in a few million locations”, along with several banks like First Data, with more credit card partners getting added over time. As for retailers, PayPal declines to name who its partners will be when it rolls the service out at the end of the year, but Kingsborough notes that likely early partners will be those who already have rolled out other payment services with PayPal, such as Home Depot.

    Last month, PayPal announced an innovative way into retail stores via the plug-in Beacon device, which enables shoppers to use the PayPal app to pay for their orders without having to wait in line, or in some cases even touch their phones. The device uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to avoid poor cellular connections and battery drain, and PayPal enabled phones will recognize when they’re in a store that has the device, so the two can can communicate with each other.

    If Beacon and Payment Code can both gain widespread adoption, the general in-store payments scene may start looking a lot different (and more convenient) in the near future.

    PayPal says Payment Code will roll out globally in the first quarter of next year.

  • eBay Buys Payments Platform Braintree For $800 Million

    eBay Buys Payments Platform Braintree For $800 Million

    eBay announced that it is acquiring payments platform Braintree for about $800 million in cash.

    Braintree powers payments on OpenTable, Airbnb, TaskRabbit and Uber, and will continue to operate as a separate service under PayPal.

    “Braintree is a perfect fit with PayPal,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “Bill Ready and his team add complementary talent and technology that we believe will help accelerate PayPal’s global leadership in mobile payments. Together, we expect that PayPal and Braintree also will accelerate our leadership in supporting developers who are creating innovative solutions for next generation commerce startups.”

    “PayPal was built on helping entrepreneurs grow great businesses online. I’m thrilled to welcome the Braintree team,” said PayPal President David Marcus. “With this deal I believe that we will accelerate our capabilities for developers, entrepreneurs, merchants and companies that are building the future.”

    “The alignment with PayPal means Braintree can continue to push the boundaries of innovation while expanding into new markets with increased speed and confidence,” said Braintree CEO Bill Ready. “Our current customers and developer community can expect the same level of support and partnership they’ve always enjoyed, coupled with more resources.”

    The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

    Braintree was already in the news earlier this week, as Facebook partnered with the company (as well as PayPal and Stripe) on autofill billing info in mobile apps.

    Image: Marcus and Ready (BusinessWire)

  • PayPal Could Be On To Something Huge With Beacon

    PayPal Could Be On To Something Huge With Beacon

    It’s hard to tell what’s going to work in the payments space. There have been a lot of interesting ideas over the years, but they haven’t always translated into the revolutionary game-changers that they could.

    PayPal’s new product – Beacon – is one of those interesting ideas, and it could work.

    The company, obviously already accustomed to revolutionizing how people pay for things, makes a pretty compelling case for a hands-free shopping experience.

    Beacon itself is a small device that stores can plug into their power outlets, and it enables shoppers with the PayPal app to pay for their orders without having to wait in line, or in some cases even touching their phones.

    PayPal Beacon

    The device makes use of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology to avoid poor connections and battery drain. The PayPal-enabled phone and device will simply recognize one another when the customer is in the store.

    “Now, instead of finishing a meal at a restaurant by waiting for the server to run your credit card, and then finally return it for your signature, you can simply pay using your PayPal app and leave when you’re ready,” says PayPal President David Marcus. “And, instead of waiting in a line to pick up and pay for your takeout order, you can order ahead through our new app to skip the line altogether.”

    “Consumers will have full control of stores they will want to check in to, those they will want to get prompted to confirm payment for, and stores they will want to enable a complete hands-free experience for,” he explains. “In the latter case, simply walking in a store will trigger a vibration or sound to confirm a successful check in (this happens in milliseconds), your photo will then appear on the screen of the Point-of-Sale system so you can be greeted by name. Paying only requires a verbal confirmation, and you’re done. No wallet. No card. Nothing to do. Not even touching your phone.”

    Any store using a PoS system that is compatible with PayPal can plug in the device and enable this kind of shopping experience. Right now, those compatible include: Booker, Erply, Leaf, Leapset, Micros, NCR, PayPal Here, Revel, ShopKeep, TouchBistro and Vend. According to PayPal, there will be “many more” soon.

    The name Beacon in the tech world has a history of privacy-invading connotation. You may recall Facebook’s Beacon ad technology, which was killed after a privacy-related uproar. PayPal insists its Beacon won’t track users’ locations like other technologies. Users can decline to check in or ignore the prompt that asks them to do so when they enter a store, and no info is transmitted to PayPal or the merchant.

    PayPal is giving developers access to the PayPal mobile in-store API, so they can create self-checkout experiences and other concepts. PayPal is taking idea submissions from developers here. The company will chose 100 developers to get early access to the API and a developer version of the Beacon device before it’s rolled out.

    The company expects to pilot Beacon-enabled shopping experiences in Q4 and roll it out broadly early next year.

  • Facebook Is Readying A PayPal-Like Payment Product For Mobile Shopping

    Facebook Is Readying A PayPal-Like Payment Product For Mobile Shopping

    Facebook has been wading through the shallow end of the payments pool for years, but if a test the company is readying is any indication, it could be getting ready to go head to head with the big boys (like PayPal).

    All Things D says it has confirmed that Facebook is indeed testing a new payments product that would allow shoppers to make purchases on mobile apps by simply using their Facebook login info if they’ve provided Facebook with their credit card info. The test, the report says, will launch in the next month or so, with JackThreads as a pilot partner.

    Facebook has been toying with payments for quite some time, and would seemingly be a natural fit in the space due to the user identity factor that is associated with one’s Facebook account, all the data it has about user habits, and of course the sheer breadth of its coverage (over a billion users).

    Last year, Facebook launched an updated mobile payments flow, which would allow for carrier billing. In other words, you would buy something from an app, and it would be billed to your carrier.

    Facebook carrier billing

    This new product would take things a sizable step further.

    PayPal, confident in its own legacy in the space, has said that it welcomes competition, but Facebook is playing down the notion that it is even trying to compete. The report shares a statement from the company:

    We continue to have a great relationship with PayPal, and this product is simply to test how we can help our app partners provide a simpler commerce experience. This test does not involve moving the payment processing away from an app’s current provider.”

    It can’t hurt users to have more options, and there is probably a significant number of people that have a Facebook account and no PayPal account.