| Posted By: Enthusiast |
| QXL have confirmed they are aware of a possible takeover bid but have not said by whom. But newspapers & financial sites are pointing the finger at ebay. It would make sense because in several eastern European countries and in Switzerland, where QXL are market leaders, ebay either have little or no presence, or are behind QXL.
If such a bid were to succeed, it would undoubtedly mean the end of QXL's struggling UK site, which now has only a few thousand listings. There is very little activity there, apart from a handful of diehards who mainly sell stamps and computer bits to each other. The site only seems to have been kept going because the owners QXL Ricardo are a UK registered company.
Such a takeover would however strengthen ebay's hand as the leading online auction site in most parts of the world; China, Japan & a few other places being the exceptions. Personally I think that would be a pity as it makes it even more difficult for others to compete. |
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| Posted By: Steve - Admin |
| Hi,
Some good points and QXL certainly does well like you say in some
Eastern European countries. They have seemed to give up on the UK
site which was a shame considering how it used to be. It would be a
good move for eBay and would consolidate their position even more
as a global player.
The other contender for a buy out bid I would think could be eBid -
not by eBay but someone who wants to offer some form of competition??
What do you think?
Cheers
Steve |
| Posted By: Enthusiast |
| Hi Steve
I would love to think the bidder was ebid rather than ebay but realistically that possibility is near zero. Ebid like most of the UK online auction sites is a 2 man and a dog outfit (some are one woman, one man & a dog I hasten to say) and much as I respect their site they would have neither the money, the infrastructure or the expertise to run a multi-national multi-language site. But money is the biggest obstacle as the financial experts are predicting QXL Ricardo shares could fetch £22 each so the bidder is going to have to pay very serious money indeed if they are to succeed.
Ebid like similar small UK sites seems to be struggling for money and I guess what they had was thrown into the recent revamp. That's helped the site a bit but it's still hardly a threat or a real rival to ebay. Even the other ebid "sites" are all English language and seem to be bolt-on's to the UK site & probably operated from here too.
What is different about QXL Ricardo is that like ebay it is a public company and it is the only real rival to ebay in Europe. Although its UK site is insignificant and any successful bidder would probably do the kindest thing and put it to sleep swiftly.
So ebay is probably the likely suitor as it would get a leading presence in those parts of Europe where it is absent or has a low presence. Thus giving it a virtual monopoly in Europe. What the EU might say about that situation is another matter and they could hopefully scupper such a deal. Other possible bidders are Google & the leading Chinese online auction group whose name escapes me.
But my money (if I had any) would be on ebay as QXL is all about making money (there's absolutely no sentimentality with them) I think they would happily sell out to whoever could make their directors & shareholders even better off than they are now. So in my view this is all about fat cats getting fatter and the last thing we can expect is that the average seller will be any better off. Indeed QXL Ricardo boast that as one of their east european sites has become so profitable they are about to introduce listing fees (so they can make even more money). Truly ebay & QXL Ricardo deserve each other, but the public deserve better, ie viable alternatives not a near monopoly situation. |
| Posted By: Steve - Admin |
| Hi,
I think you misunderstood me :) I didn't mean eBid would buy out
QXL rather another company may IMHO make a bid for eBid.
Certainly a big cash injection into eBid would certainly help as would
a partnership with a large web based company.
Cheers
Steve |
| Posted By: Enthusiast |
| Sorry Steve I did misread what you originally wrote but I now understand the point you're making. eBid limited are a private company and I think as such they can only be taken over if the shareholders agree. Probably the shareholders are mainly the people who do the day to day running but anyway there could be no takeover unless the shareholders wanted to sell out. This contrasts with the QXL Ricardo situation where a predator can buy up their shares onthe stock market to strengthen their position.Although the eBid site has improved, to my mind it is still rather cluttered confusing and uninviting. The different membership levels & what goes or doesn't go with each is quite off-putting, then there is a buddy sytem which I have never really understood (probably haven't looked hard enough). But sites such as Tazbar, CQout & even QXL UK are much clearer & attractive to someone coming new to them. ebid are treated by Companies House as a small company which means they don't have to file as detailed accounts as a large company, but it also indicates that turnover is relatively low. I doubt whether there is much attraction there for a third party - I guess most people wouldwant to start from scratch. Certainly I couldn't imagine someone like Google bothering with eBid.It will be interesting to see what the future holds for both sites. I would guess QXL Ricardo is a sitting duck for some wealthy company to grab it, if not now, then a bit later on. Whereas my guess would be that eBid will just carry on rolling along for as long as its owners can make a reasonable living out of it. |