eBay Plans to Buy Up Classifieds on the Cheap

The downturn in the economy may be reeking havoc on the stock market, but online auction site eBay is using the lull as to buy up established online classified sites at reduced rates in its continuing pursuit of market share.

Jacob Aqraou, general manager of eBay's global classified business,told Forbes last week: "You have a lot of ad dollars moving offline to online. In a recession, that's accelerated."

Today eBay's GM tells the Wall Street Journal he expects the company to take over a "fair" number of companies in the coming months.

“In an interview, Mr. Aqraou said lackluster economic growth and the deepening credit crunch have depressed prices for private companies to such a degree that it now makes more sense to buy established classifieds properties than build new services from scratch.”

Ebay has been tied up in legal issues with Craigslist after purchasing a 25 percent stake in the company, but is growing its classifieds business elsewhere.

eBay recently snapped up international classifieds like Germany's Mobile.de,
Marktplaats of the Netherlands, Spain's Loquo and India's Bazee. It also launched Kijiji in 2005, a local classifieds site. Together, eBay’s Classifieds properties are available in more than 20
countries including U.S.

The classifieds business, eBay's fastest growing unit, is estimated to generate between 5 percent and 10 percent of the company's $7.7 billion in annual revenue.

UPDATE: Post now reflects the total reach of eBay's classifieds business.

See Also:

• Craigslist Files Countersuit Against eBay
• Craigslist's Buckmaster Gives EBay a Big Buck You
• EBay Says Craigslist Held Secret Meetings, Pushed it Off the Board
• The Enemy of My Enemy Is Craigslist