Ebay is engaged in talks with the Luxembourg based Skype with an eye towards buying the Internet phone company according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported that the auction site is offering between $2 and $3 billion from their seemingly bottomless supply of cash.Skype produces software that allows users to make free Internet calls all over the world using microphones or headsets. They also offer a premium level of service for a small fee that allows non-Skype calls to reach Skype users and provide a voice mail as well as other services.Skype co-founder and C.E.O. Niklas Zennstrom declined to comment to the Journal. “There are different rumors every day,” Zennstrom said. ”We don’t comment on rumors. When we make deals, we announce them.” It is known, however that Skype has been involved with other companies regarding a possible sale but they have come to nothing so far. Incidentally, Zennstrom and his partner Janus Friis where the brains behind Kazaa, a music file sharing company that ran afoul of music piracy laws.There was talk earlier in the year of media giant Newscorp, Rupert Murdoch’s company, offering $3 billion for the phone service company. Rumor also held that Google was looking to get their hands on the company as well. Given a track record of rejecting amounts similar to the one made by Ebay would imply that Skype is holding out for more money and Ebay may have to raise their bid if they want the phone service.The rejection of previous offers shouldn’t give the impression that Skype is unwilling to sell. The company hired the mighty Morgan Stanley with the intent to find buyers for the company.While the talks are tentative and could easily collapse Ebay is known to be on the hunt for any added service that would improve their ability to move goods online. Ebay has also shown interest in diversifying into other revenue streams and buying Skype would certainly open the doors for new revenue streams.One possibility is a pay per call service. So while payphones may be disappearing from the street corners they could be coming to the Internet. Ebay owned Paypal recently added a micro-payment service that would mesh neatly with online calling.The Wall Street Journal cited sources close to the matter as saying that if the deal goes through it would represent a serious shift in the auction sites business strategy. However Ebay has refused to comment on the matter officially.Ebay has recently made a number of acquisitions and improvements meant to diversify and expand their services including rental property listings, classified ads, and comparison-shopping services.Assuming the sale goes through it is unclear how the changes will affect the millions of Ebay buyers and sellers but a purely speculative possibility is auctions being accessible by voice that would allow easier bidding from cell phones. There is certainly a movement in technology to streamline the connection between home computers and the wireless telephone. Art Mickelwraith is the author of the Wholesale Buyer’s Guide at TopTenWholesale.com. He can be reached at artmicklewraith@gmail.com.