2. In January 2006, eBay announced the creation of a new
specialty service called eBay Express. Here are some of the
highlights of this upcoming venture, according to eBay e-
mails and its own website:
3. 1. The description of eBay Express emphasizes new
merchandise. eBay obviously wants to distance itself from
the "online flea market" image that many people
associate with it. However, eBay also states "eBay Express
will allow shoppers to buy products ranging from new,
used, refurbished and more".
4. 2. It is not auction-based. Everything on eBay Express will
have a fixed price and will be available for immediate
purchase - no more waiting for 7-day auctions to end (of
course the Buy-It-Now feature has also been available on
eBay.com for quite a while).
5. 3. There appear to be plans for some kind of shopping cart
function, making it easier for buyers to make multiple
purchases from the same seller than it is now.
6. 4. There are a number of seller requirements for eBay
Express: a feedback score of 100 or more, 98% positive
feedback value or better, public feedback (as opposed to
private), PayPal Premier or Business account, setting
PayPal account to ship to unconfirmed addresses or make
sale-by-sale decisions (a point that has caused some
debate among sellers), and being based in the US (it seems
that eBay Express will be offered only in the USA at first).
Sellers also must state shipping costs, either flat,
calculated or free, rather than forcing buyers to look for
them in the item description or having to e-mail the seller
beforehand.
7. eBay Express is supposed to be launched during the spring
of 2006. Like the "IT" campaign, it seems to be another
attempt by eBay to get away from the "cleaning out your
garage and selling junk on eBay" image and a challenge to
its conventional online rivals who have offered fixed prices
and shopping carts for a long time.