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eBay Is Conducting a 'Mass Layoff' In the Bay Area (mercurynews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the slice-and-dice dept.

eBay is planning to slash nearly 300 jobs from Bay Area locations by July 20, calling the cuts a "mass layoff." Those being laid off were informed at the end of June, reports The Mercury News. The San Jose-based company estimated that it would eliminate 224 jobs in San Jose, 41 in San Francisco, and five in Brisbane. From the report: "This action is expected to be permanent," eBay stated in the Employment Development Department filing. "No affected employee has any bumping rights." Over the one-year period that ended in March, eBay lost $1.64 billion on revenues of $9.84 billion, according to information posted on the Yahoo Finance site. During the first quarter that ended March 31, eBay earned $407 million on revenues of $2.58 billion. Compared to the year-ago first quarter, profits were down 60.7 percent and revenue rose 12 percent.

3 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. How do you lose money if you're eBay? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's a scaled up beanie baby store - how do you actually lose money with that market share? If I was CEO I think I would just find 100 of the best and brightest to run it, fire all the deadwood and make bank - hope more layoffs are coming!

    1. Re:How do you lose money if you're eBay? by EvilSS · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They are losing revenue to Amazon and craigslist. Amazon from "professional" sellers moving where the sales are, and craigslist for the guy wanting to sell his one or two whatevers and not deal with ebay, their fees, shipping, and the increasing possibility of getting ripped off by unscrupulous buyers and ebay's overly customer friendly dispute policies.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
  2. Re:Forget market share by DrXym · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I should think that fraud is a major part of their income. Seller sells a bunch of counterfeit goods, only a % of buyers open a dispute, eBay seizes the sellers funds and after resolving disputes keeps the rest as well as all the transaction / listing fees. Rinse and repeat.

    I've never thought that any middle man service, be it AliExpress, eBay, Amazon, Kickstarter et al really takes fraud that seriously. They'll pay lip service to combatting it, but at the end of the day they still profit from both ends from it happening.