eBay Lays Out 3-Year Growth Plan; Refocusing on PayPal

March 11, 2009 at 3:58 pm PT

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At a time when most companies aren’t willing to offer guidance on the March quarter, eBay (EBAY) is laying out its vision for 2011.

And what it sees is a big opportunity for PayPal.

In connection with the company’s analyst meeting today, eBay said its growth will be driven by its two core businesses: PayPal and e-commerce. In something of a repositioning, the company says that PayPal “has become a second core business,” with an opportunity to become even bigger than eBay Marketplaces.

CEO John Donahoe said in a statement that the company expects PayPal to become “the next leading online global payments network” and that PayPal is “one of the most exciting and high-potential opportunities anywhere online today.” That’s important, because the company isn’t really expecting to see any growth from the Marketplaces business, which has been shrinking in recent quarters.

Meanwhile, he said the company is “aggressively remaking and transforming” the Marketplaces business.

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Tagged with: Barrons, digital, e-commerce, eBay, eBay Marketplaces, Eric Savitz, frontpage, global payments network, Internet, John Donahoe, PayPal, repositioning, Silicon Valley, Tech Trader Daily

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  • http://allthingsd.com/ Alan Sanders

    If PayPal wants to be the leading online payment network, they’d better beef up their security and fast. There’s too much internet fraud. Even PayPal payments can be bogus. This market is going to shrink rather than grow unless PayPal can demonstrate that their service really is 100% safe.

  • http://allthingsd.com/ Eric Welch

    I’m not so worried about Paypal’s security as much as their exorbitant fees for transferring money between private parties. I refuse to take the hit. If someone wants to send me money via Paypal, they have to cover the charge.

    And what about those reports a few months back about eBay not allowing people to use money orders any more, or other pay services like Google’s or BillMeLater?

    eBay users either had to use Paypal, or they had to physically pick up the item they’re buying.

    Is that kind of thing still in the works? Seems that leads right into such an emphasis on Paypal. Using it outside of eBay has been useful in the past. But I use it only when it’s more convenient than paying with my debit card – which has complete fraud protection. (Something PayPal charges for.)

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