This follows the last month’s underwhelming U.S. launch of Kijiji, eBay’s (Nasdaq: EBAY) free- classifieds site...tomorrow, it is now launching Gumtree.com, its U.K.-based free-ads site, in Boston, New York and Chicago.

According to Classified Intelligence Report (e-mail only, not online), Gumtree, which was originally built to target Australia and New Zealand expatriates living in the U.K., will use the new city sites to target people from Poland, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand now living in the U.S. The company estimated its target audience at 2 million expatriates. This again competes with Craigslist, in which eBay bought a 25 percent stake in 2004.

NYT Bits: The company is also exploring bringing other international classified brands to the U.S., including Loquo, which is popular in Spanish countries.

In a related eBay story, Ebay could be contemplating an IPO for a minority stake in its PayPal unit, according Stifel Nicolaus Internet analyst Scott Devitt, reported by TechTraderDaily. Devitt estimates that PayPal accounts for about $7 billion to $9 billion of eBay’s $48 billion market cap; he thinks the company could be worth $15 billion on a stand-alone basis.

• eBay Open Classifieds Site Kijiji in U.S.