For those who use Skype instead of Teamspeak:Read.

[The Mighty]

I found the following bit of information in my mailbox this evening...

For those of us that use Skype instead of teamspeak while playing PE (and other games for that matter), this may or may not have an impact on us.
As you will see below, eBay is buying Skype...and they are intending on making eBay buyers/sellers pay per call to sellers/buyers..... as for whether or not they're going to make the rest of us pay..... who knows... ???

This week's announcement that eBay has purchased internet VOIP telco Skype has gone largely unremarked down our way, apart from token concern that the threat to our telephone companies will increase. The disruptive side-effects of this deal are rather broader than that and deserve more informed discussion and debate.

First, some explanations may be in order. eBay, as you most likely know, is the 800lb gorilla of the online auction space, boasting some 150 million registered users worldwide and responsible for annual sales of US$40 billion. Skype, on the other hand, has 54 million members in 225 countries and territories worldwide (and, um, growing at the rate of 150,000 new customers EVERY DAY!) and provides voice communications via the internet - free for Skype-to-Skype services, at a fraction of the cost of traditional telco charges for services using the regular phone system.

eBay's official announcement of the purchase (for at least US$2.6 billion, rising to US$4.1 billion if certain performance targets are achieved) noted the following benefits through the acquisition:

"eBay buyers will gain an easy way to talk to sellers quickly and get the information they need to buy;
"eBay sellers can more easily build relationships with customers and close sales
"in addition to eBay’s current transaction-based fees, ecommerce communications could be monetized on a pay-per-call basis through Skype. Pay-per-call communications opens up new categories of ecommerce, especially for those sectors that depend on a lead-generation model such as personal and business services, travel, new cars, and real estate
"PayPal (eBay's payments subsidiary) and Skype also make a powerful combination. For example, a PayPal wallet associated with each Skype account could make it much easier for users to pay for Skype fee-based services, adding to the number of PayPal accounts and increasing payment volume."

[MudKicker]

Originally Posted by The Mighty

I found the following bit of information in my mailbox this evening...

For those of us that use Skype instead of teamspeak while playing PE (and other games for that matter), this may or may not have an impact on us.
As you will see below, eBay is buying Skype...and they are intending on making eBay buyers/sellers pay per call to sellers/buyers..... as for whether or not they're going to make the rest of us pay..... who knows... ???

uuuuummmmm Yeahhh??? soo..... I heard of this long ago........

[P-J]

What a nightmare... I use Skype evey day - lots of free calls overseas & conference calls. E-bay's purchase of Skype could put a stop to the free service

[Numa]

This sucks big time.

Ebay over charges as it is, and I find Paypal is very unsecure with all the fraud that goes on there. Both Ebay and Paypal don't really help that much when fraud is involved so it's all gone back to cheque in the post, which isn't that secure either.

Now they want to charge to use Skype. I can see that being another expensive payment service. Soon, using Ebay is going to be like going to a shop. Prices keep going up, sellers prices keep going up, buyers have to pay more to get those goods and the delivery fees keep being raised to cover all the costs.

Ebay need to get a grip and realise that people won't keep paying over the odds for services that just aren;t worth the money they charge for them. Ebay only supply a Server where people sell there goods. What else do they really do. With all the fraud going on there, they don't seem to concerned about it IMO.

[The Mighty]

If they do start charging, I guess that leaves room for someone else to come in and start a copycat Skype....

[Nozzy]

yea, would definatly be a good Idea

[P-J]

There are similar programmes on the market ... Google Talk etc...but nothing as flexible as Skype! Anyone got any experiences of other software?

[Numa]

One thing i was thinking about though, if Ebay do start charging, there 2,000,000 user base will drop very quickly. If we can get something for free, why would they expect people to start paying for it.

Google or some other chat program will just take those users with open arms.

I have yet to try any other program yet, but will keep my eyes on this to see how it unfolds and try out some others and see if they are any better or just as good.

[-Archangel-]

Originally Posted by The Mighty

If they do start charging, I guess that leaves room for someone else to come in and start a copycat Skype....

They are already copycats of the Skype service.
I know this because I read somewhere a thread that the american skype copycats were having some troubles with the entity that regulates communications there because it demanded that the 911 service was available to their users (for them it seems that this isn't actually easy especially in the states were baby-bells still try to have ATT monopoly there).

[Svetlana]

Hmm- so every time I wish to talk via Skype to a fellow ebay buyer/seller (regardless of whether or not we are discussing a deal, but just chatting) you get charged?... hmmm, bum deal

In any event, google talk rox0rs I've never used another program that is so clear and easy in my life