eBayannounced today that it will buy Braintree, an electronic payments company, for $800 million in cash.
Braintree is a rival to eBay's own PayPal, so the deal effectively eliminates a competitor.
Here's the press release:
Competitor? Sounds like they were more of a complimentary business:
We help online and mobile businesses around the world accept credit card payments by providing a merchant account
One thing a lot of growing sellers wanted was a dedicated merchant account to directly take CC payments. Common refrain was that we did not need that with Paypal as Paypal accepted CC. Perhaps this is the beginnings of sellers accepting CC directly? A lot of sellers want that.
I'm running this thru my head. As it stands now, new customer wants to buy one thing, once. They gotta open an eBay account and jump thru all the Paypal hoops to pay once.
Supposing eBay is setting up a separate system where "Braintree" is a payment option that pays the seller directly. Customer does not have to sign-up for the payment system, they just need to use it.
That would make eBay more customer friendly. I go somewhere to buy something, I do not want to have to join a club, with an application form, just to buy. "I just want to pay and leave".
Maybe?
Supposing eBay is setting up a separate system where "Braintree" is a payment option that pays the seller directly. Customer does not have to sign-up for the payment system, they just need to use it.
That would make eBay more customer friendly. I go somewhere to buy something, I do not want to have to join a club, with an application form, just to buy. "I just want to pay and leave".
Maybe?
"and jump thru all the Paypal hoops to pay once."
Actually, buyers can pay through PayPal as guest without registering.
