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Ebay buys PayPal

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-think-ebaby.com-should-sell-children dept.

mdahlman was among several readers who submitted the story that eBay has bought Paypal in a deal worth $1.5B in stock. The article is mostly numbers and money related stuff, but it also briefly mentions some of the controversy surrounding eBay.

11 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe..... by Lord_Slepnir · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe they're just tring to set a record for the largest sale on their own auction site. You too could own paypal. Bids start at 1 billion, 2 billion dollar reserve.

  2. The real question is... by after5 · · Score: 1, Funny

    Did they pay using Paypal?

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    J Boylan
  3. Do I hear 1.5 billion? Going once, twice... by Ilan+Volow · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ebay took the "Buy now" option. I'd have always figured they would have opted for a fierce bidding war with billg@microsoft.com. Assuming Paypal is guaranteed against DOA, the sellers of Paypal should get positive feedback.

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    Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
  4. Better call the FBI by fritter · · Score: 5, Funny

    It turns out they just fell for some Finnish guy's scam (never send $1.5B of stock to a P.O. box!). He claimed he was selling PayPal "for a friend", but oddly became angry upon suggestion of sending it C.O.D. Unfortunately, due to their toothless fraud protection policies, it looks like they're just gonna have to suck it up and take the loss.

    Better luck next time, eBay! They probably should have bought PayPal through an escrow service...

  5. Re:Well.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "EBay Passport"? What about PayPalladium?

  6. from the article by tps12 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Asked about the deal, an Ebay spokesperson described PayPal's management as "A++++++++++", calling them "VERY RESPONSIVE" and noting that they "WOULD DEFINITLY BUY FROM AGAIN." PayPal's feedback rating is 1283.

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    Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
  7. Is it just me... by mraymer · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...or does corporate America somewhat resemble a game of Pac-Man?

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    "To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." -Stephen Hawking

  8. PayPal for sale by totallygeek · · Score: 3, Funny
    I didn't even get to catch that auction.

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    Click here or here.
  9. Hope they read the add... by (H)elix1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    1.5B in paypall stock -- Original box, reciept. (Sold by they same folks selling empty PS2 boxes last year)

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    +++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
  10. Re:Smart Move for Ebay, bad for paypal people. by mshiltonj · · Score: 4, Funny
    "I get my pay from germany with paypal, if they change it to you can only use your paypal money to pay for ebay stuff, ebay will gain, but we will all be stuffed."
    If they did pull something like this, it would obviously annoy a lot of people. In that case, I would expect another 'replacement service' from another company to spring up with a different name but similar functionality, and perhaps fewer problems*.

    This has already happened. Richard Stallman, shortly after the story broke, announced the creation of GnuPal, citing the need for an free (free to use, anyway) payment system. It will be deployed using the DotGNU web services platform.
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    Software Wars
  11. It was amost mine by presearch · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn! I bid $1.45 billion and ebay sniped me in the last 20 seconds.