Skype's new money making venture

Stuart Corner
Monday, 12 March 2007 13:18

Opinion and Analysis

Skype has come up with a new way to make money from its 171 million users: allow them to offer and charge for services either provided or initiated via Skype phone and video calls; handle the payments; take a hefty commission; hang on the cash for four months.

You will not find those details in Skype's press release announcing the service, Skype Prime. And so far I have not been able to find a figure for the commission anywhere on the  Skype Prime web page, but one of the postings in the comment section suggested the commission was 30 percent. The terms and conditions did confirm that the deadline for payment was four months after payment had been received.

The terms and conditions for service providers state that: "Skype shall collect fees from users. Service provider shall be entitled for a service fee for the provision of the service as a percentage of gross adjusted revenue. Skype reserves the right to change the service fee with a 30 days notice by email." But the actual relationship between the gross adjusted revenue and the service fee was not given.

Skype Prime is a feature of Skype 3.1 Beta for Windows. It enables the provider and recipient of the service to exchange voice and video calls with a range of immediate payment terms, either one-time or per-minute fees) agreed upon by the two parties prior to the service being provided.

The service recipient is charged by having their Skype call credit account debited and the provider receives credit, eventually into their PayPal account. Per-minute fees can range from €0.40 ($US0.50) to €2 ($US2.50) per minute. One-off fees can range from €0.40 ($US0.50) to €10 ($US12).

Skype claims that "The global community of more than 171 million users has told Skype they want to do more. With Skype Prime, Skype is more about sharing and having rewarding conversations than ever before. Its success depends on smart Skype users offering advice, support and information via Skype Prime on topics ranging from astrology, business and finance to coaching, teaching and sport. The opportunities are (almost) endless.

Although Skype, imposes strict conditions on the types of services that can be offered, the poster of one comment was not convinced, writing: "You guys should just call this service what it will become anyways.... Skype video sex!"