By Keith Regan E-Commerce Times
07/22/02 11:12 AM PT
The news came on the eve of PayPal's second-quarter earnings announcement, which is being
closely watched because it could have a strong impact on the company's stock price.
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Expanding its service offerings as it awaits
eBay's (Nasdaq: EBAY) buyout,
PayPal said it will begin
offering users direct access to U.S. postage through an alliance with
Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP).
The two companies said the new service, which will let users buy and print U.S. Postal
Service stamps through their PayPal accounts, will be in place in time for the holiday
season.
That is about the same time that eBay expects to close its planned US$1.5 billion
acquisition of PayPal, which has sparked its share of controversy.
More Options
The Stamps.com program is aimed at beefing up PayPal's shipping services, which debuted
last month. Those services let PayPal users include shipping costs in the price they
pay for items, most notably products purchased through auctions on eBay.
According to PayPal, 15,000 users took advantage of its new shipping service during the
first month.
"Since many of PayPal's sellers have a strong preference to ship via the U.S. Postal
Service, our integration with Stamps.com should further increase the popularity of PayPal
shipping products," said Peter Ashley, PayPal's director of business development.
Earnings Awaited
The news came on the eve of PayPal's second-quarter earnings announcement, which is being
closely watched because it could have a strong impact on the company's stock price.
Because eBay's offer to buy PayPal comes with a fixed exchange ratio, the deal's value is
tied to eBay's share price. At the time the acquisition was announced, PayPal shares
were at $23.61, well below the company's recent high of $30, a mark reached shortly
after PayPal made bullish comments about its second-quarter earnings and revenue growth.
"PayPal is a growth story, and investors responded to that,"
Morningstar.com analyst
George Nichols told the E-Commerce Times.
Quiet Comeback
Stamps.com, meanwhile, has quietly written its own dot-com survival story. Left for dead
in the midst of the shakeout, Stamps.com has seen its share price rise to $4.10, largely
on the strength of its business partnerships with
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and HP (NYSE: HPQ), among others.
Just last week, Stamps.com announced that the U.S. Postal Service has approved its
NetStamps printable stamps product, making it the first vendor cleared for that use.
"This feature promises to dramatically increase the convenience and hence the value
proposition of the Stamps.com service," said Stamps.com CEO Ken McBride.
The new alliance with PayPal -- and by extension, eBay -- can only help solidify
the company.
Gateway Gets Aggressive with Pricing July 19, 2002
Gateway spokesperson Ashley Wood told the E-Commerce Times that the company was able to
grow its revenue because of its pricing position.
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"I've said that $1.5 billion is not a bad price, relatively speaking," Morningstar's David
Kathman said. "In absolute terms, it's certainly very expensive by just about any metric
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According to eBay spokesperson Kevin Pursglove, "Legal filings of this nature are very
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