Comments on: eBay buys Bill Me Later and Danish classified sites

By: John

John — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:20:15 +0000

Whirly is off to mortgage the house!

By: dave

dave — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:28:06 +0000

Down 20% today, to $14, concerns over next three months trading

By: dave

dave — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:08:18 +0000

Whirly

$15.20 and falling, time to buy ?

Paypal alone must be worth more than this,

By: Judy

Judy — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:38:05 +0000

Great article on Ebay's purchase of Bill Me Later here: http://seekingalpha.com/article/99508-ebay-s-bill-me-later-a-bad-idea

By: FenLex

FenLex — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:20:38 +0000

Fell asleep with the radio on last night and woke up with a start during the coverage of the US Presidential Debate when I heard John McCain mention Meg Whitman as a possible candidate for Treasury Secretary. Did I eat too much cheese yesterday evening or has anyone else seen any mention of this?

By: AL

AL — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:04:38 +0000

#15

Deutsche Bank agrees with your view.

October 7, 2008 10:12 AM EDT

Deutsche Bank reiterates a Sell rating on eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and lowers Price Target to $16 ($19 previously)

Deutsche analyst says, “While acquisition, HC reductions and in-line 3Q may be the good news, we think the bad news remains that fundamentals are weakening in the core business (which needs to be fixed through increased demand, lower seller fees and R&D re-investment). These issues, along with flat-to-down Gross Sales exiting 3Q and strengthening USD, should place significant pressure on earnings at least through 2009…We like the BillMeNow story/concept and strategic fit, but not when there’s a credit crisis, consumer spending decline and plenty of issues to address/fix in the core business. These concerns, along with a hefty price tag for a business with hefty capital requirements and earnings dilution, clearly suggest bad timing on eBay’s part.”

By: Judy

Judy — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:06:35 +0000

Am I missing something here? The world is heading into recession, Ebay cuts staff AND buys 2 businesses which don’t seem at all recession-proof to me. Cutting staff may be a good move, although I can imagine eBay’s customer service will get even worse, if that’s possible.

Online advertising will surely suffer during an economic downturn, and owning a business which encourages people to go into more debt seems like a huge risk in these economically challenging times. But what would I know, I’m just a bookseller.

By: Board_Surfer

Board_Surfer — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:05:31 +0000

Why didn’t Ebay just buy Newcastle United?

By: FenLex

FenLex — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:36:54 +0000

I agree that something can be cheap and still overpriced.

There were people still buying Bradford and Bingley shares on the Friday before it was nationalised who were presumably taking a flutter on them not being able to go any lower …

By: AL

AL — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:12:37 +0000

#11

It doesn’t matter how cheap it is, if something is worthless, it still isn’t a bargain.
Paypal is the golden egg, but only because ebay insist on it, if ebay folds* then the value of paypal plummets.

Ebay is a damaged brand, which is why it is so cheap.

* I use that in the generic sense, not in the bankrupt meaning.