Should eBay and Skype be open to other payment systems?
Platform neutrality isn't easy or even wise. PayPal achieved its success with eBay buyers and sellers in no small measure because eBay enforced it as the only alternative to cash or credit cards. The market power from that lock-in is one reason Yahoo! was forced to adopt PayPal for its own payment system.
Google Checkout
's launch today brings that question to the front again. Is infrastructure lock-in good for eBay The Corporation or for eBay's Community of sellers and buyers? Should eBay let sellers offer the payment systems of their choice?
A developer at the eBay DevCon asked about open architecture. Now that eBay is letting sellers put Skype Me links in their auctions and profiles, shouldn't they also encourage use of rival tools? If eBay's point is to open communication with and sell to Skype's 100 million users, shouldn't they also reach out to those other large communities using the tools those users prefer? The combined users bases of Yahoo! Messenger, AOL, Google Talk, QQ, MSN, and Live Messenger dwarf Skype and would assure nearly every member of the eBay Community would get and receive customer service using their chosen tools. If you promote dialog to support your market, why not go all the way? Wouldn't this be better for both buyers and sellers?
Or does Skype's success with The Community hinge on eBay locking its customers to the company phone system?
Technorati Tags: skype, skypejournal, ebay, lock-in, ebaydevcon, openarchitecture, ebaycommunity, aol, yahoo, google, gtalk, qq, msn, informationeconomics, monopoly
Comments
It's surprising to me that eBay don't provide more tools to build an AboutMe profile page for users of their system. I guess at one time they were concerned about people using eBay purely as a tool for finding products and then taking the transaction offline. And it would interfere some with their rating/reputation system. But now they are beginning to open up, it's time to open up properly.
Then there's the issue of a common sign in system. It ought to be possible to sign in with a common login to eBay, Paypal, Skype. It's the same problem Google is currently tackling and MS have tried to tackle in the past with passport and in the future with Infocards. eBay's vast number of accounts in the three systems now give them the opportunity to play in the Identity Server space as well.
And so to numbers. "The combined users bases of Yahoo! Messenger, AOL, Google Talk, QQ, MSN, and Live Messenger dwarf Skype" Is this true and to what extent? I *think* Skype has overtaken YM! and is closing in on AOL and MSN. It's a small sample with a skewed audience but this poll
http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=69371&seen=1
puts Skype at 45%, MSN at 30% and the others nowhere.
Posted by: julian.bond | June 30, 2006 12:56 AM
Well I have had quite a bit of trouble, with this exact issue Phil. My system, the Boomerang Callback System has been banned from eBay, though it achieves the same thing as SkypeMe links, but better.
Here are the details, but the whole deal has left a sour taste in my mouth for sure.
http://techblizzard.blogspot.com/2006/06/ebay-and-skype-recently-there-have.html
Posted by: Justin Hunt | June 30, 2006 02:15 AM
VoIpBuster is offering many payment systems. Skype should also do so.
Posted by: Jerrik Walløe | July 8, 2006 03:50 AM