eBay suffers steep Q4 income drop

Internet auction giant eBay has revealed that revenues for Q4 2008 were down seven per cent on the same period in 2007, reaching $2.04bn – far lower than analysts had predicted.

Worse still, revenue for Q4 was down a hefty 31 per cent on the quarter before.

We’ve been operating in an almost unprecedented external environment,” chief executive John Donahoe stated. This was an extremely difficult holiday season. Even e-commerce saw negative growth for the first time.”

eBay is said to be losing an increasing amount of its business to rivals such as Craigslist and Amazon. The likes of Play.com are also powering on with their pre-owned sales efforts.

The site has come under harsh criticism this year for revisions introduced to its selling process, which included denying sellers the right to leave feedback on customers. PayPal has also come in for some stick following a perceived unwillingness to act against dodgy sellers.

Ebay’s shares have dropped nearly six per cent since the results were announced.