eBay buys London ads website Gumtree | Media | The Guardian
Online auction site eBay today muscled in on the UK classified advertising market with the surprise purchase of London jobs and flats website Crookall and Michael Pennington, the two former City traders who founded Gumtree, will receive a windfall from the full sale of the site they established in 2000 and nurtured through years of site turned the corner two years ago after it started charging £20 to post certain job it is profitable only because it operates on a skeleton staff of about 12 people in a London office, despite having spread to 31 cities around the world including Edinburgh, Adelaide, Durban and purchase, for an undisclosed sum, will see the giant US website threaten newspaper classified advertising revenue streams, because most adverts posted on Gumtree are free, in stark contrast to the hundreds of pounds newspapers Pennington, who will continue to run the site with Mr Crookall, vowed as recently as last month not to sell the business because he wanted to retain its community admitted today he had been negotiating with eBay for months but was bound by confidentiality denied there were immediate plans to change the amateur feel of the site or increase its sale came after Mr Pennington went on a publicity drive with the help of a PR officer, who was made redundant mtree staff had been “surprised” by the announcement this morning, one staff member said. “Everyone wants a more local feel on the internet, ” said one. “Gumtree delivers that community, lots of other sites promise to do so but have never really delivered. “Whether users of the site, which is popular with travellers arriving in London from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, are now quite so happy to use a community site owned by a giant multinational will become apparent in the coming months. A statement from eBay today said the success of the purchase could be influenced by a number of factors, including the reaction of Gumtree Silverman, the eBay vice president of new ventures in Europe, said the company was buying sites because it realised it couldn’t offer its users job or accommodation adverts or personal classifieds. “The [Gumtree] business is a community powered business, the community comes together to sell things or buy things. “The businesses that are very successful in this space don’t need large teams to run them. It’s really a grassroots phenomenon without spending money on marketing or anything, ” he, the international classifieds website of eBay, also announced today it had bought, a Barcelona classifieds late last year Kijiji has been methodically purchasing stakes in rival classified websites, buying 25% of Craigslist, the original San Francisco free advertising website established in the 1990s and another Craigslist imitator,, in the, which means “village” in Swahili, has 90 sites around the globe and will co-exist with Gumtree in some cities such as Paris. · To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email or phone 020 7239 9857· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”.
Gumtree – Wikipedia
This article is about the website for classified ads. For other uses, see Gumtree (disambiguation).
GumtreeGumtree’s logo as of 2016Type of siteClassifieds, e-commerce siteOwnerAdevintaURL2000; 21 years ago, known as Gumtree, is a British-based online classified advertisement and community website based at Hotham House, Richmond, London. Classified ads are either free or paid for depending on the product category and the geographical market. As of November 2010, it was the UK’s largest website for local community classifieds and was one of the top 30 websites in the UK, receiving 14. 8 million monthly unique visitors according to a traffic audit in 2010. [1]
History[edit]
Logo used from 2006 to 2015
Gumtree was founded in March 2000 by Michael Pennington and Simon Crookall as a local London classified ads and community site, designed to connect Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans who were either planning to move, or had just arrived in the city, and needed help getting started with accommodation, employment and meeting new people. The term ‘gum tree’, the local Australian phrase for eucalyptus trees in general, was chosen as a word that linked the three communities (even though the gum trees found in South Africa are introduced species, whereas gum trees occur natively in Australia and New Zealand). The founders also felt it reflected the roots and branches of a real community. [2]
In May 2005, Gumtree was acquired by eBay’s classifieds group for an undisclosed sum; however, eBay disclosed that it paid a collective $81. 6 million for three classified sites: Gumtree, LoQUo and opusforum (with Gumtree being the largest). At the time of the acquisition, Gumtree was available in multiple cities in United Kingdom, Poland, France, Canada, Australia (Gumtree Australia), Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Hong Kong. [citation needed]
On 7 January 2016, Gumtree’s re-branding, including updated logo was published on their website and respective apps. [3]
Market expansion[edit]
Expansion beyond the UK include:
September 2004: Gumtree launched a site in Warsaw, Poland. [4]
May 2005: Gumtree launched a site in Berlin, Germany. [5]
June 2005: Gumtree expanded into Italy, with sites in Rome and Milan, increasing its coverage across 31 cities. [5]
August 2007: Gumtree expanded to the United States, targeting expat communities in New York, Boston and Chicago. Services targeted the two million British, Australian and Polish expatriates in the country. [6]
Features[edit]
While the largest category of advertisements on Gumtree is “goods for sale, ” the site is also home to around 200, 000 motors listings across the UK at any one time[citation needed].
Gumtree has an extensive social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. Gumtree uses social media to communicate news and information about the brand as well as launch competitions and promotions. [7]
Although predominantly a free listings website, Gumtree provides users with paid promotional options for increased advert visibility, such as going to the top of the listings. [8]
In more recent years[when? ], Gumtree has extended its service to business customers. The site began selling classified advertising packages to companies looking to post multiple job vacancies and properties.
In 2013, Gumtree extended bulk classifieds listings accounts to car dealers. In 2010, Gumtree launched its Gumtree Media website to publicize its services to potential business clients. The site showcases paid classified listings options as well as display advertising on the Gumtree site.
In 2018, Gumtree introduced a ratings system, for buyers and sellers, [9][10] and also launched a Keep Gumtree Real campaign “which aims to improve the user experience by encouraging trust and responsibility”. [11]
In popular culture[edit]
In June 2013 an advert was posted on Gumtree offering a rent-free accommodation to a lodger who would be prepared to dress and act like a walrus. The advert was shared around various sites such as BuzzFeed and Mashable and caught the eye of Hollywood director Kevin Smith, who used the ad as his inspiration for his 2014 film, Tusk, a story of an evil scientist who plans to permanently sew a human into a walrus suit. [12]
In crime[edit]
The convicted British online sex offender Matthew Falder approached most of his victims via Gumtree. [13]
References[edit]
^ “‘s 2010 Traffic audit by “,, 10 February 2005.
^ “The Interview: The mysterious founders of “.
^ Montgomery, Angus (7 January 2016). “Gumtree in first major rebrand since launch”. Design Week.
^ “Gumtree plans pan-European roll-out of classified ad forum”,, 10 February 2005.
^ a b Julian Mattocks ” to expand into three new cities”,
^ Jemima Kiss “Gumtree comes to America”,, 14 August 2007.
^ “Classifieds South Africa”. 2 October 2015.
^ “Payments & Promotions: Are Ads on Gumtree Free? “. Gumtree. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
^ “User ratings added in Gumtree platform overhaul”. Retail Systems. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
^ “Gumtree introduces ratings system amid “major upgrade””. Retail Gazette. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
^ “Gumtree targets time-wasters and dishonest sellers in social campaign”. Mumbrella. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
^ Child, Ben (2 October 2013). “Kevin Smith’s next horror film is based on… a Gumtree ad”. The Guardian.
^ “Cambridge scientist used Gumtree to target and blackmail children, court hears as he is labelled one of UK’s worst sex offenders”. The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
External links[edit]
Gumtree official website
eBay sells Gumtree – GoAutoNews Premium
CARSGUIDE, Autotrader, Gumtree and nine other classified businesses have finalised their sale by eBay Classified Group to Norwegian-based multi-national second-hand marketplace ad company Adevinta.
The Adevinta deal was proposed in July 2020 and has now been completed, making the Oslo business the third owner of Autotrader Group in 13 months.
Adevinta has digital platforms in 16 countries and after the purchases from eBay Classified Group, will cover 20 countries and become the largest online classified business in the world.
At the same time, the deal will make eBay Classified Group the biggest shareholder of Adevinta, with 44 per cent of the shares and about 33 per cent of the voting rights.
In return, eBay Classified Group will receive the 540 million Adevinta shares plus $US2. 5 billion in cash. The deal values the combined classified business at $9. 2 billion.
Adevinta gets 12 classified brands operating in 13 countries (plus businesses in a further three countries), including Australian automotive classified businesses Autotrader and CarsGuide and general classified site Gumtree.
It also has online vehicle marketplace businesses in Denmark, Germany, Italy and the UK, with general classifieds in countries including Belgium, Singapore, South Africa, Ireland, Poland, Canada, the Netherlands and Mexico.
In a statement, eBay Classified Group and Adevinta said the deal will realise between $US150 million and $US185 million in annual synergies within three years.
eBay Classified Group CEO Jamie Iannone said: “We are pleased we reached an agreement with Adevinta that brings together two great companies. ”
eBay Classifieds Group senior vice president and general manager Alessandro Coppo said the deal was testament to the growth and potential of the company’s classifieds business.
“We are excited for our local classifieds brands to join Adevinta and shape a global leader in an industry full of potential, ” he said.
Autotrader Group was bought from Cox Automotive Australia in June last year by eBay Classifieds Group. Cox Automotive sold out of automotive media in line with its strategy to concentrate on dealer solutions in the US, UK and Australia. eBay Classified Group already owned Gumtree Australia.
Australia’s management of the new Adevinta-led group remains unchanged with managing director Mark Kehoe, previously managing director of Gumtree, who replaced former CEO Shaun Cornelius in May this year.
The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, including approval by stockholders of Adevinta, and consultation with competent works councils, other employee representation bodies or employees, where required.
Adevinta is majority owned by Schibsted ASA, which has agreed to vote in favor of the transaction.
Related to the transaction, Schibsted has entered into an agreement with Adevinta to acquire eBay’s classifieds entity in Denmark, including leading Danish marketplaces and, once the transaction between eBay Classified Group and Adevinta closes.
By Neil Dowling
Frequently Asked Questions about who started gumtree
Why is Gumtree called Gumtree?
The term ‘gum tree’, the local Australian phrase for eucalyptus trees in general, was chosen as a word that linked the three communities (even though the gum trees found in South Africa are introduced species, whereas gum trees occur natively in Australia and New Zealand).
Who owns Gumtree?
CARSGUIDE, Autotrader, Gumtree and nine other classified businesses have finalised their sale by eBay Classified Group to Norwegian-based multi-national second-hand marketplace ad company Adevinta.Aug 13, 2021
Is Gumtree Australia only?
Gumtree is for Australian users only and is not designed for selling internationally. However, if you’d like to target international buyers, you may want to list your products on eBay. Gumtree is owned by eBay and offers the option in certain categories to share your ad on eBay after you’ve posted it.Oct 14, 2021