posted on August 7, 2003 07:29:06 AM new
From the article:
Mr Rosenberg maintained Yahoo! "actually made good money out of Sold".
So why did it close? Mr Rosenberg would only say: "The return wasn't as good as we see in other areas."
That's just stupid. Profit is profit. If the entire division is consistently profitable, then why cut it loose? Even a small profit is enough to keep them in business, which keeps the assets in Yahoo's hands, keeps the employees working, and helps the economy (I realize we're talking about Australia, but they have an economy too!).
Stupid greedy Yahoo.
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posted on August 7, 2003 07:45:24 AM new
Maybe Yahoo is trying to shed all of it's auction businesses and is starting at one of the few segments that actually has some value? I'm sure that Yahoo-Japan Auctions will be the last to go.
Supposedly these great mavens of Wall Street see trends coming way before us normal types and they act accordingly.
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posted on August 7, 2003 03:10:14 PM new
The way I see it eBay gave them enough money to choke a horse to close the site. Like AA said the US site will close long before the japan site. There must be a reason that yahoo is not promoting the US auctions, I still believe the stores are the death of free yahoo auction listings.
posted on August 7, 2003 04:24:26 PM new
Can you copy/paste the article because I was unable to download. The site may be down.
Speaking of Yahoo Auctions -- I went to froogle shopping for a modem, and Yahoo is connected to Froog big time. Almost every hit was with Yahoo the auction site. And Yahoo has a BUY IT Now feature. So they aint dead yet, they are mimicking Ebay.
posted on August 7, 2003 04:32:28 PM new
Yahoo has always had a Buy It Now price. EVERY auction has a BIN or Take It Now price. This shouldn't come as news to anyone.
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Yahoo! has closed its Australian auction website, sold.com.au, after signing a marketing deal with rival eBay.
Yahoo! bought Sold.com.au from John Fairfax, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, for $24 million in 2001. Fairfax said at the time that the sale had earned it a profit of $12 million.
Yahoo! yesterday emailed Sold.com.au customers telling them it would close the site on August 20. It refers customers to submit new auction listings to eBay, which it will advertise across the Yahoo! network.
Yahoo! managing director Cliff Rosenberg would not disclose terms of the eBay deal, but said it was more than a cross-marketing initiative.
"It's a financial relationship - they will be a big media partner of ours," Mr Rosenberg said.
The deal comes just days after Kerry Packer's PBL bought a 25 per cent stake in job classifieds site Seek.com.au for $33 million. Industry observers expect to see more consolidation of Australian classifieds websites.
Despite owning the Sold site for just over two years, Mr Rosenberg maintained Yahoo! "actually made good money out of Sold".
So why did it close? Mr Rosenberg would only say: "The return wasn't as good as we see in other areas."
He also maintained that $24 million was "the right price" to pay for Sold in 2001.
Yahoo! also owns stakes in Carsales.com.au and Seek.com.au and has an agreement with Fairfax to use its Domain property website on its portal.
Mr Rosenberg said that all Sold staff were being absorbed into "growth areas" such as searches, personals and instant messaging.
He said that Yahoo!, which has more than 70 staff in Australia, was increasing revenue from sponsored searches, online advertising and premium services.
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