EBay Gets a Voice

On the surface, EBay's purchase of Skype seems like a return to dot-com buying frenzy. When you consider that Skype's 2005 revenue is estimated to be $60 million, $2.6 billion seems like a steep price. And why is an auction company dipping into telecommunications anyway? Is it simply diversification?

I suppose the hope is that Voice-over-IP will finally explode into the mainstream soon. It does seem like EBay is making quite a gamble. But, then again, maybe Skype's technology does have relevance to the auction business. Maybe when a seller's auction is finished they will have the option of calling the winning bidder to discuss shipping and payment. Or maybe there will be other phone options, such as calling in auction bids or live auctions between twenty buyers in a conference call with the seller.

How do you think EBay will use Skype's VoIP service?