The New York Times had reported that eBay is going to announce a deal to sell the Internet telephone service Skype to a private investment group recently formed that might include the original founders of Skype that have been in an ongoing feud with eBay, and have recently threatened to not allow use of critical technologies that power Skype, while letting their interest be known in buying the company back. The group includes the Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, co-founded by Netscape’s founder Marc Andreessen and current member of the eBay Board of Directors for.

The eBay sale of Skype has now been been confirmed and valued at $2.75 billion.

eBay negotiated with Google as recent as July about a purchse of Skype, but Google fearing possible continued litigation backed away from the acquisition.

TechCrunch – Skype Sale Confirmed

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Team Altman Interesting eCommerce News:

Okay, so it has reached the point for both the state of California and General Motors that they both share the position of willing to try anything to generate badly needed car sales and associated state taxes, and starting Today, car shoppers will be able to search online showrooms of approximately 90% of California’s General Motors dealerships including Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Pontiac, and they will be able to negotiate pricing, and make online financing arrangements.

Shoppers can find the vehicles listed for sale on a special site, and online guests will be able to use “buy it now” at the listed price, or “make an offer” and negotiate the price online.

As most experienced eBay Nation users already know, eBay Motors has been selling mostly used cars online for approximately 10 of the almost 15 years it has offered online auctions, and this will be the very first time eBay has tried selling cars directly in partnership with an automobile manufacturer, and with nearly 12 million users visiting eBay Motors during a month, it offers huge exposure for General Motors to the online eCommerce market.

More on GM’s California Problem

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Sellers of all sizes can deliver great buyer experiences, and that’s why eBay is taking new steps to reward great service on eBay, bring you more sales, increase your profitability, and most importantly help you succeed. The following updates that impact your listings are now being consolidated with lead time to adaptation purposes, and most of these updates are scheduled to launch between September 22 and October 1, 2009.

Click on the links for more details:

1. Rewards for sellers delivering great buyer experiences
   • New way to look at DSRs: Avoid 1s and 2s; only domestic DSRs count
   • PowerSeller requirements and benefits—rewarding quality over quantity
   • New eBay Top-rated seller status earns the highest PowerSeller rewards
   • New minimum standard and new Selling Practices policy for all sellers
   • Optional buyer charges for shipping insurance no longer allowed
   • New Seller Dashboard with more insight to help you improve

1. Enhanced search presents more relevant listings
   • Best Match now considers impressions and sales for Fixed Price; Search Visibility tool helps you optimize your listings
   • Auction-style listings still get a boost in exposure as they end
   • New guidelines for Auction-style listings with Buy It Now preserve the draw of auctions
   • Listing features discontinued to save you money and keep the focus on relevance
   • Product pages rolling to more buyers; get exposure for your product pictures

1. Easier, more profitable selling on eBay
   • Unpaid items: Streamlined process, faster recourse, auto-option with no negative Feedback
   • eBay dispute resolution for buyer claims: Seller update
   • My Messages and post-transaction emails streamline buyer communication
   • More control over ship-to locations; upload tracking for more carriers
   • Faster ways to edit listings, even multi-quantity listings with a sale and listing descriptions
   • Selling Manager Applications boost efficiency for sellers of all sizes—try them free!
   • Category and Item Specifics changes now consolidated with the rest of updates
   • Stores subscribers—now you can put all your listings on vacation.

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The cost to sell on eBay varies depending on which eBay site you’re selling on, and how you list your item. When you sell an item, you’ll be able to review your fees on the Sell Your Item form before you submit your listing. Your total cost will be a total of the insertion fee, final value fee, and listing upgrade fees. Here’s how it works:

• Insertion fee: When you list an item, you’re charged an insertion fee for the listing. The insertion fee is based on the starting price and the category of your item. If you specified a reserve price, the insertion fee is based on the reserve price amount.
• Final value fee: If the item sells, you’re charged a final value fee. The final value fee is based on the final sale price and category of the item. It does not include shipping costs.
• Listing upgrades: If you add upgrades to your listing, such as a subtitle, extra picture, or highlighting, there will be an additional charge for each listing upgrade.

To determine the cost of selling your item, refer to the following pages.

eBay.com fees

eBay Motors fees

eBay Stores fees

Classified Ad fees

Real Estate fees

PayPal fees

It is important to remember that the cost of using eBay is much lower than developing your own auction platform application and the cost effectiveness is greatly increased with the huge size of the market that eBay Nation represents, and being able to connect with a market that size is priceless.

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