eBay has come to an agreement to sell off Rent.com to PRIMEDIA for an undisclosed amount. Saying that Rent.com has “limited synergies” with eBay’s core businesses it will allow eBay to continue to focus on “enabling commerce” for buyers and sellers though platforms, payments and technology.
Rent.com was always a strange one for eBay, although plenty of eBay’s Classifieds sites around the world also handle rentals and property. For a time eBay tested adverts on the main navigation bar for services such as property, jobs and even dating sites on eBay Ireland, but as these adverts have all disappeared it can be assumed it added nothing to the buying experience and wasn’t profitable for eBay to continue.
eBay have not changed their position that they’ll continue to grow their classified sites, but property rentals on their own don’t appear to fit with main stream commerce.
