My Blog Utopia!

WalMart Marketplace - CNBC Video

2009-09-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Just my 15%

Not Another eBay Video!

2009-07-23T11:56:00.001-07:00

I don't have much time to write these days, but I came across this video clip from CNBC where an analyst says “[EBay] took the buyer base that they had for granted and basically let the sellers run the business to the benefit of their individual businesses, but not to the benefit of the buyers ...”

So I thought I would have some fun and see what you guys and gals thought. Listen to the interview and give me your 15% in the comments

Sam, I posted another video just for you.

Just my 15%

The Corporate Blogger - An Interview with eBay Blogger RBH

2009-07-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Just my 15%

Blast From the Past: Let's Talk Sales Tax on the Internet.

2009-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry to rehash an old blog post, but I thought it was relevant in light of the recent news coming from Amazon and Overstock. The wave of States going after online retailers for Sales Tax collection is becoming a Tsunami. This post was originally written in January of 2009.

Brick & Mortar stores have been complaining for years about the competitive advantage online stores and catalog companies have regarding sales tax. To be completely honest, I make most of my online purchases at Amazon because I don't like paying sales tax. I like the current system just the way it is, but it will change and sooner rather than later. [I now make all of my online purchases at Buy.com and pay sales tax because Buy.com is based in California.]

Unfortunately the tide has turned and will soon be gathering steam as State after State follows the model New York started:

"New York state won a round in court against Amazon.com over a new law requiring out-of-state online companies to collect sales tax from shoppers in New York.

The law applies to companies that don't have offices in New York, but have at least one person in the state who works as an online agent -- someone who links to a Web site and receives commissions for related sales."

Of course this is just round one of the court battle and my guess is that Amazon will continue this fight up the Judicial ladder until it is presented to the US Supreme Court, but it is just a matter of time before sales tax is charged on every purchase from Brick and Mortar to online stores.

I'm resigned to the fact that it will happen in the near future, but I'm very concerned with the implementation. Small business cannot manage collecting a different sales tax for every city they ship to, it would cause an undue burden on all but the largest of companies.

In my years selling online with Glacier Bay, we shipped to every single state in the US and managing the different sales tax requirements for each local jurisdiction would have made my low margin business implode. Just look at the different tax rates for each state.

I think there is a simple solution, but as yet I haven't heard any lawmakers presenting it, though I'm sure I'm not the only one to come up with it.

The Internet should be treated as its own locality with a flat sales tax rate of 4 - 5%. All sales on the Internet need to have the same sales tax rate irregardless of where the customer is located. Payments need to be made to a national clearinghouse for distribution to the states.

This of course will only be the first stage of the process because once governments start seeing the cash they will of course want more. In the first iteration though, local governments will not take part in the revenue unless they work out a deal specifically with their state's tax department.

Let me be clear, I do not want this to happen, but it is inevitable that sales tax collection will come to the Internet and online retailers need to band together now to enact something close to what I've presented (and I'm sure others have as well) while they still have some negotiating leverage.

The key is not to solve the tax problem all in one fell swoop, but to come up with a workable solution that gets state government tax revenue and does not put an undo burden on retailers to collect that tax.

Just my 15%

Worse Yet to Come for Retail?

2009-06-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

Just my 15%

Shopping Engine "TheFind" gets UpFront with Information

2009-06-15T03:55:00.000-07:00

If you are in Boston this week, for the Internet Retailer show (IRCE), make sure to stop by TheFind's booth #422 to hear about a new program for retailers.

The announcement won't be made until Tuesday, but I have some of the details, so since I'm already here in Beantown, I figured I would share them with you.

As the name implies, The Find will display merchant information UpFront within TheFind’s product search results, on a retailer’s own web site, and elsewhere on the Web, providing participating merchants with a way to get higher quality traffic, establish and reinforce their credibility, and improve their conversion rates.

Shoppers clicking on a retailer’s UpFront button will now easily be able to find store information such as:

Contact methods, including web form, email address, phone number and chat
Security, business and privacy certifications
Payment and shipping options, return and exchange policies, and other charges
Store locations and hours
Ways to connect with the store such as Facebook, Twitter, blog and email newsletter.

Here is a picture of what the UpFront results look like when you mouse over a listing on TheFind:

Click on the image to enlarge.

Basically all of the merchant's information in UpFront for the shopper to see before they click on the listing; increasing conversion.

“UpFront is all about helping customers quickly find the critical information they need when shopping so they can get down to the business of choosing and buying products. “ said Siva Kumar, co-founder and CEO of TheFind. “Stores that make a commitment to putting their information upfront in as many ways as possible are paying close attention to the maturing expectations of online shoppers and are more likely to acquire loyal customers. Last month TheFind sent shoppers to over 100,000 different online stores, so we are very focused on providing ground-breaking tools like UpFront that support both shoppers and retailers, and improve today’s online shopping experience.”

Please visit TheFind.com to find out more about the UpFront program. For a limited time, the annual service fee for the program will be waived for qualifying merchants. Retailers can register for the UpFront program by visiting TheFind’s Merchant Center. or visit TheFind's booth #422 at IRCE. June 15th-18th

Just my 15%

A Few Moments With ColderICE in Atlanta

2009-06-09T20:08:00.001-07:00

While in Atlanta for the Ecommerce Summit I spent a few minutes with John Lawson of ColderICE.

Just my 15%

I Told you Buy Back Was the Future

2009-05-28T20:58:00.001-07:00

Many of you know I used to buy back DVDs and CDs directly from consumers and then re-sell them on Amazon, using FBA -- I still love the concept.

I guess it was just a matter of time before Amazon copied me :) It looks like they just recently launched their new trade-in store for DVD Box Sets and Blu-ray Discs. I'm hearing rumors that they are buying back around 1,000 units a day right now without any announcements. Imagine if they actually did it the right way.

Earlier in the year they launched the Buy Back/Trade-in concept with Video Games and apparently it was a success, so expect the program to expand to Text Books soon and then from there consumer electronics and much more.

Just my 15%

Citigroup Take on ChannelAdvisor Catalyst

2009-05-04T09:24:00.001-07:00

I normally don't just repost investmnet notes from analysts but since Mark Mahaney's take on CA Catalyst was pretty much the same as mine I figured I would do it this time. I also like that he mentioned Buy.com. :)

Takeaways From Upbeat ChannelAdvisor Conference - Last week, we attended the ChannelAdvisor (CA) Catalyst 2009 Conference in Raleigh, NC. Per the company, attendance was in-line with last year, with participation from companies like Amazon, eBay, Google, Buy.com and many large, medium and small retailers.
Takeaway #1: Tough Times? Yes, But CA Clients Surprisingly Upbeat - There was general consensus among the retailers we spoke with that while these are clearly difficult times for retail, the online retail channel remains strong. Many of the conference participants had successfully diversified their online channels beyond eBay Marketplace and were seeing success with Amazon's 3rd party channel, and direct to their own Websites through Comparison Shopping and Search.
Takeaway #2: AMZN Continuing To Gain Momentum Vs. EBAY As Platform - AMZN's 3rd party channel continues to be well received by sellers we spoke with. AMZN closed the conference with a big push to get sellers to try fulfillment by Amazon (fba), and Amazon Product Ads, a CPC based advertising model that redirects buyers to seller product landing pages off of Amazon.com's Website. All in, AMZN continues to gain momentum vs. EBAY, the largest online marketplace. We estimate that AMZN was only 60% the size of EBAY in '08 in terms of total U.S. GMV (excluding Vehicles), but could surpass EBAY by 2011 (AMZN-EBAY crossover point) -- see page 3 analysis.
Takeaway #3: A More Sober EBAY Committed To Competing For Buyers And Sellers - eBay pitched its simple message that it plans to compete aggressively for buyers by providing better selection, value and trust in its marketplace, and by providing sellers with high velocity, efficiency, and predictability. While eBay openly admitted that it has plenty of work to do, it pointed to evidence that it is making progress: 1) a tripling of fixed price multi-item format items since September, 2) 30% of live listings now include free shipping, and 3) under new DSR system, roughly 80% of sellers qualify for some form of discount.
Takeaway #4: Google Market Share Gains Continue Unchecked - We didn't hear anything incrementally new from the Google presentation, but consensus among sellers we spoke with was positive on both traffic and ROI trends. One presenter boasted getting $7 of margin back for every $1 spent on Google.

Link to our full note: https://www.citigroupgeo.com/pdf/SNA33423.pdf

Just my 15%

My Podcast Interview with Auctionbytes

2009-05-04T08:40:00.001-07:00

I sat down with Ina Steiner last week and spilled my guts about Buy.com :) If you have 20 - 30 minutes today to take a listen and then comment, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Just my 15%

One Size Does Not Fit All!

2009-04-27T04:59:00.001-07:00

When it comes to ecommerce and social networking and for that matter just regular life, most of us form opinions about things from a very narrow viewpoint; our own experiences. If we don't like it or understand it then it is not worth discussing or paying attention to. I've always known this but never spent much time thinking about it.

This morning, I was reading a blogpost by Ina Steiner about the impact of Twitter and this little factoid stood out: "Worldwide visitors to Twitter approached 10 million in February, up over 700% vs. a year ago" no matter how you shake it, 10 million visitors a month is huge. This information alone should, at the very least, encourage online merchants to check out Twitter to see if there are any benefits to be gained there, but then I read the comments to Ina's post:

"by: Jim S.
Sat Apr 25 15:38:57 2009
Maybe I'm in another world but I think Twitter tweets are annoying and the biggest waste of time yet. Who cares what someone is doing at 12:01pm? I put it right up there with people constantly yakking on their cell phones in public places."

by: clueless
Sat Apr 25 19:43:32 2009
Maybe I'm an idiot but I just do not get twitter. I have signed up for twitter. I still don't get it. What am I missing? I have a couple people I'm watching. But I still have no clue. Cannot see what all the fuss is about.

by: Ming the Merciless
Sat Apr 25 21:21:32 2009
IMO, Twitter exists primarily to promote the sales of 3G mobiles and expensive 3G net minutes.

It's another new tool for the growing hive mentality in this country.

Whether it or any of the other social networking sites like Facebook will actually produce significant member e-commerce sales remains to be seen."

This sample of comments points out the problem: "Because I don't understand it or think it is useful, it must be a waste of time"

Rather than investigating Twitter to see if there are any benefits in its use, we take a few cursory glances and read about what someone had for dinner and make a judgement that it is a waste of time. It may be, but making a judgement from reading a few Tweets hardly gives you enough information to make that assessment.

I try to learn from others, as much as possible, because if I rely solely on my own perspective, I often miss the big picture. Twitter didn't immediately make sense to me, but once I spent some time with it, I began to see the power. It allowed me to connect more effectively with my blog readers. I was able to meet a wide variety small business owners, that I would never have met any other way -- Twitter is a great networking tool, for those who utilize it. Sure, there are seemingly unimportant things being tweeted, but that doesn't make the tool worthless.

I use Twitter, I see the value of Twitter for me, so my opinion is based on a narrow viewpoint (mine). My dad hates Twitter and thinks its a waste of time. He has never even been to the site. Twitter may be a waste of time for you, but I would encourage you to at least investigate whether it can help your business

Just my 15%

I'm Back Baby! Regular Posts on MyBlogUtopia

2009-04-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

I figured since I was spending my entire week working to make the Buy.com Marketplace a successful sales channel for 3rd party merchants, I would start using MyBlogUtopia to talk about what we are currently doing and possibly even give you a scoop or two about what we have planned -- this will allow me to get back into a regular blogging schedule.

I won't write exclusively about the Buy.com Marketplace, but that topic may dominate my posts. This is not an official blog for Buy.com so the opinions expressed here certainly should not be construed as the official position of Buy.com -- MyBlogUtopia will remain strictly my 15% but with no listing fees :)

It is my view that online merchants should be selling their product in multiple channels, including there own website and I would hope that Buy.com would be one of the channels.

We are not yet open to every category of product, but hope to keep adding categories as we grow. Here is a list of current categories:

Apparel & Shoes
Bags & Luggage
Books
Buy for Business
Cameras
Cell Phones
Computer & Office
DVDs
Electronics
Fragrance
Games
Home & Outdoor
Jewelry & Watches
Music
Networking
Software
Sports
Toys & Baby

And we will be launching these stores shortly:

Pets - (Currently accepting merchants)
Health and Beauty - (Currently accepting merchants for Beauty products)
Automotive Parts
Musical Instruments - (Currently accepting merchants for Pro Audio products)
Office Supplies - (Currently accepting merchants for Business Equipment products)

You can sell your new, used or refurbished product on Buy.com, just as long as you accurately describe its condition.

So if you are looking for a new sales channel, why not take a look at the Buy.com Marketplace. We would like you to "Make your next sale with Buy.com"

Just for fun check out our latest TV commercial with Howie Mandel. This one is special because Howie is promoting Jewelry and Apparel which are 100% marketplace categories on Buy.com

Just my 15%

ECMTA Ecommerce Summit - Atlanta, GA June 3-4

2009-04-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give you a heads up that I will be speaking at the upcoming Ecommerce Summit in Atlanta, GA on June 3rd and 4th. The subject, of course, will be about the Buy.com Marketplace, but I will also be sharing my 15% on ecommerce -- probably won't be bashing eBay because they will be speaking also.

If you can make it to Atlanta on June 3rd and 4th, I would love to meet you and hear about your business. You can find all of the details at the ECMTA website.

Just my 15%

Scot Wingo's White Paper on eBay Changes

2009-04-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Scot, has taken an in-depth look at eBay's Spring changes and put his thoughts together in a White Paper that you can get here for free.

If you still sell on eBay, this is important information for your business.

Just my 15%

Market Watch Video - eBay and Yahoo Earnings

2009-04-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

Just my 15%

Buy.com a Sponsor at ChannelAdvisor Catalyst Conference

2009-04-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would announce that Buy.com will be a sponsor at this year's ChannelAdvisor Catalyst. Several members of our "Marketplace" team will be there (including yours truly), so make sure to stop by our table and say hello.

I'm looking forward to this years event, to catch up with some old friends as well as make some new ones. Hope to see you there.

Just my 15%

Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated.

2009-04-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

In case you are wondering ... I am still alive and doing very well.

Contrary to a little rumor going around. I have not stopped blogging because my new employer Buy.com, told me too. I'm not blogging much lately because I'm very busy at my new job and my time and energy is being spent helping make Buy.com's Marketplace the best place on the web for online merchants.

I still follow eBay, Amazon and even Bonanzle. In fact I just talked to eBay managers yesterday about Tuesday's announcements, but when I sat down to write the post, I just lost interest -- Ina, Scot and Tamebay covered the announcements very well; there was no need for my 15%.

The only reason I'm blogging tonight is because a commenter on Ina's ProStores blog post mentioned a rumor that I stopped blogging because my boss at Buy told me to stop bashing eBay. Anyone who knows my boss would laugh at that.

I still love blogging and will get back to it regularly when I can figure out a better writing schedule. I am a creature of habit and I had a routine that has changed since I started working at Buy. I haven't figure out a new schedule yet.

For those of you still reading:

I really love what I'm doing. I'm going on my 3rd month at Buy.com and really enjoying myself. Not many people even know that Buy has a marketplace, but that will all change this year. I call us "the little marketplace that could", because nobody even includes us in the marketplace discussion. Buy.com is known as a retailer, but we are so much more than that.

Just my 15%

While Some Run Away From eBay, Mercent Moves Closer.

2009-03-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of years many 3rd Party Software vendors have diversified off of eBay to other marketplaces. As eBay has slowed down, many of them have begun searching for growth elsewhere.

Now, kind of like Salmon swimming up-stream, 3rd Party software vendor Mercent has actually expanded onto eBay.

Mercent began in 2004 by integrating large retailers onto the Amazon platform and now they are doing the same with eBay; through eBay's Large Merchant Services. In November of 2008, Mercent launched SmartBargains on eBay and last week they announced the launch of online retailer Altrec.com.

"Mercent™, a leading provider of online marketing technology and services for retail merchants, today announced that the company is an approved member of the eBay Certified Provider Program. The program qualifies companies with expertise and experience in growing eBay seller businesses, and provides sellers with the tools to locate them. Mercent also announced the launch of a new eBay storefront for online retailer Altrec.com, integrated with eBay’s Large Merchant Services using Mercent Retail™, the company’s hosted online marketing software."

"By partnering with Mercent, the extension of Altrec.com’s e-commerce presence onto eBay was predictable and efficient, and we’ve seen immediate results,” said Kevin Bauer, VP of Business and Product Development for Altrec.com. “Our product pricing, inventory, and merchandising offers are all automatically updated on eBay, resulting in a high-performance eBay presence.”

Mercent provides enterprise retailers like Altrec.com the ability to optimize listings across eBay, and efficiently process high order and payment volumes through eBay and PayPal. Mercent is the first eBay integrator to leverage eBay's new Large Merchant Services, designed to increase profitable, high-volume product sales for large sellers on eBay."

Mercent seems to be bucking a trend here, but it looks like they see an opportunity to introduce their clients to a completely new market and customer base, after-all everyone is looking to grow incremental sales. Look for Mercent to launch more large retailers on eBay in the future.

Just my 15%

Shopping.com Listings on Completed eBay Items

2009-03-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

This has actually been happening for awhile now and I didn't blog about it because it doesn't seem to do anything except get everybody riled up. eBay will continue to maximize their use of sponsored ads and shopping.com listings on pages they feel are not competitive; in this case a completed listing.

I wasn't going to blog about this but my buddy John Lawson of ColderICE did a video blog on it so I thought I would post his take here at MyBlogUtopia

Just my 15%

Another eBay Top Seller Summit

2009-03-25T18:49:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't been around much lately but I still hear stuff that is going on at eBay. Most of the time I shrug but today I figured I would just blog quickly about the new Top Seller Summit being held at a secret location in Florida.

It will run for one day and then we won't hear anything knew until April sometime when I hear the big announcements are going to be made.

I'm not real sure why it took so long for them to hold another of these Top Seller meetings but unlike the last one when no real information leaked out, I'm hoping somebody gives in and shares a little.

Just my 15%

Half.com Moves to eBay - My 15% Update!

2009-03-18T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've been talking about this move for years now, I'm glad I can finally say, "I told you so!" BTW, this change was tested back in the days of eBay Express.

The details are a little bit murky and the deal isn't actually happening until May, but lets take a look at how this change might actually work:

Half.com listings in Books, DVD, CD and Video Games will be available on eBay.com only if the Half.com merchant opts into the program.
Items with a price under $1 on Half.com will not show on eBay.
There will be no listing charge to be included on eBay, but the items will not be available in search, they will only be available via the product pages. The product pages do not get as much exposure as items in search, so the additional exposure for Half.com listings may be minimal.
The product pages look a lot like Half.com; where the top 4 offers per product condition (New, Like New, Very Good, etc) are shown on the first page. Half.com results will be mixed in with the eBay listed items but still only 4 will show (per condition) on the first page. We all know that if you aren't on the first page, the chances of a sales are greatly reduced.
Orders will be processed just like they are currently on Half.com, except payments will be made to your PayPal account and available immediately. It will be interesting to see how eBay manages the sales process when a merchant has a Half.com listing and an eBay listing in the same order.

That's the basics on how it actually works, but much more important is how sellers react to the change.

Since there is no cost to list, I can't imagine that current eBay sellers will not begin listing also on Half.com, but since there will be limited visibility of Half.com items on eBay, most will continue to list on eBay, hoping to get additional exposure/sales from their Half.com listings.

On Half.com items are sorted by lowest price and sellers are only rated on 3 DSR's (No shipping cost DSR) but DSR's have no impact on sort order. Half does not have Best Match.

We don't quite know how items will be sorted on eBay after this change, but lowest price seems to make the most sense -- who knows what eBay will decide on.

I'm not sure how much of an impact this will have on eBay sellers, it really depends on how many buyers actually click onto the product pages. If that number is large, the impact may be substantial, if very few look at those pages then it will be minimal.

I know a lot of sellers are worried about the increased listings drowning out their paid eBay listings, but I don't think it will effect DVD's, CD's and Video Games as much as it will Books; especially text books, unless the product pages become the standard way buyers find product.

For the most part Half.com is [mostly] just a text book marketplace and two times a year (Jan and Aug/Sept.) it gets lots of traffic. In between all of that it isn't all that vibrant of a site.

The real interesting aspect of this for me will be how Textbooks begin to sell on eBay. With Textbooks students usually search by ISBN number. If this search method is used on eBay it will show the product pages and that kind of traffic could be substantial.

If this test is deemed a success by eBay, look for this approach to be duplicated in other categories with Shopping.com listings.

Update:

I spoke with eBay about this coming change and most of what I have written above is accurate but the section on DSR's needs a little more explanation: Half.com only rates sellers on three DSR's. -- the one they do not rate sellers on is Shipping Cost. Having one less DSR will not advantage or disadvantage a Half.com seller when their items are listed on eBay.

I was told that this change is a test of a new buying experience on eBay and it made sense to use media as the guinea pig (my choice of words).

Certainly there will be sellers who try and game the system but how much of an impact this will have on current eBay sellers depends greatly on how many buyers click over to the product page. Knowing eBay buyers, they hate change just as much as sellers.

Just my 15%

eBay Analyst Day - Morning After

2009-03-12T06:08:00.000-07:00

After a big party there is often a huge hangover. So, what are the analysts saying the morning after eBay's big PayPal coming out party?

Jeetil Patel - Deutsche Bank

"eBay hosted its analyst day yesterday, at which management provided details behind its financial goals for 2011. While filled with long-term optimism, we thought the analyst event lacked near-term reality with respect to the current deteriorating fundamentals. In light of no near-term (2009) guidance, anticipate acceleration in growth, competitive pressures and economic backdrop, we think it's difficult
to put much credibility into the 3-year plan. We think investors should gauge eBay against near-term performance. We reiterate our SELL."

Justin Post - Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Research

Analyst Day overview - PayPal will do heavy lifting
EBay held an analyst day, introducing its new management team (70% of top executives are new or in new positions) and outlining its plans to turnaround its core while continuing to grow its PayPal and Skype businesses. Biggest positive: 2011 growth targets for PayPal ($4-5bn) and Skype ($1bn+), which even with flat Marketplace rev. would put total rev. at $11bn, well above Street at ~$9.0bn. Biggest negatives: No obvious fixes to marketplace share losses, and US net debt position limits ability to attract value investors with buybacks.

2011 outlook well above the Street
EBay expects to drive $10-12bn in '11 revenue vs street at $9.0bn (BAC-ML at $8.8bn) with $4-5bn from PayPal, $5-7bn from core, and $1bn+ from Skype. Implied operating income target is $2.3-3.9bn, above our $2.1bn estimate even at low end, and EPS at midpoint would be around $2.10, vs our $1.54.

Why we are lower than management's outlook
Guidance is based on a return to a more normal economic environment in 2010, with marketplace maintaining share in '10 and growing share in '11. With Amazon, Craigslist and Google growing users, we expect marketplace to remain under pressure, which could have a spillover effect on PayPal and advertising.

Maintain Underperform - share headwinds in '09
Upbeat presentation, but one message from the day was that eBay was still early in their turnaround and that things would get worse before they would get better. We believe that the Market is putting companies, and especially turnarounds like eBay, in a "show me" box and we think other stocks are more likely to react positively to signs of an economic turnaround.

I will post additional Analyst notes as soon as I receive them.

Update: Here are three more from the Silicon Alley Insider Blog. "Analysts Barf All Over eBay (EBAY)"

More from Scot Wingo: Wall St. Analysts' thoughts on eBay Analyst Day

Just my 15%

eBay's Big Plan - CNBC Video

2009-03-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

PayPal, PayPal, PayPal

To see the entire interview go to CNBC

Just my 15%

eBay/Amazon Smackdown CNBC (Video)

2009-03-11T10:58:00.001-07:00

Just my 15%

Move Along - Nothing to See Here!

2009-03-11T07:05:00.000-07:00

That's how I feel about today's eBay Analyst day -- the first one since 2006. It is going to be much ado about nothing as far as I can tell.

Looking through my crystal ball, here is what I see.

Paypal, Paypal, Paypal - They will lead off the presentations today by discussing Paypal and Paypal and Bill Me Later will take up a lot of the discussion today.
Marketing Services - The new shining light for eBay Inc. Marketing Services is now a billion dollar business, made up mostly of advertising and StubHub.
Marketplace - We still face challenges in the business but we are on the right path, yawn.
Skype - Continues to be a great stand alone business that is not currently a distraction (until you analysts ask about it)

There you have it, the entire day, condensed into 4 bullet points.

eBay's share price has gone up in the last day with the rest of the market, by the end of the day, you will know what Analyst think of their plans. Now move along there is nothing to see here.

Just my 15%