Ebay To Redesign Search Results
eBay's Nico Posner announced details of an updated search page expected to launch later this month. Filed under the heading "Making Buyers More Efficient", it is a redesigned search page that shows more information for each listing than the current search pages. The new results page allots more space to each listing and key information will be more prominent within the search results. Posner provided some examples of how the new page will look.

"For example, price information will be shown in a larger size and a new color, making it easier to scan through listings. We're also including an "Add to Watch list" link on each item, so buyers can add interesting listings to Watch lists right away."

The newly designed search results page will be displayed to selected eBay buyers and sellers over the next few weeks, during the testing phase. For those not lucky enough to be one of the "selected," you can view some screenshots with the expected changes here.

UK Shop Sellers Follow Through With Strike
As mentioned last week in eBay Watch, some UK sellers who were upset about fee hikes and the removal of shop items from search results scheduled a one-day strike in protest. Reports from the UK indicate that somewhere between 300 and 450 sellers did stop commerce on Tuesday. According to eBay.co.uk, the strike did not disrupt the buying and selling activity.

BidVertiser Launches Third-Party eBay Advertising  Service
BidVertiser, a pay-per-click advertising network, announced a new service that allows eBay sellers to advertise their listings on relevant Web sites, outside of eBay. Sellers using BidVertiser can choose an item, have the ad created automatically with a description, image, dynamically updated price, and then have the it automatically end when the listing closes. BidVertiser is offering this service on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, meaning sellers pay only when a customer clicks to their listings. Pricing starts at 5 cents per click. BidVertiser is currently running a promotion offering $20 in free advertising for new sign-ups.

Barnes & Noble Now Offering PayPal Transactions
Barnes & Noble Inc., has announced that its Barnes & Noble.com online store will accept payments from PayPal, an eBay company. PayPal, which has long sought to have a bigger piece of the $165 billion off-eBay transaction market, in June, announced enhancements to its Developer Program. New incentives include a Developer Hub designed to provide programmers and merchants with the tools and resources needed to integrate PayPal as an off-eBay merchant payment solution. With Barnes & Noble joining the ranks of e-commerce sites that accept PayPal, it looks like PayPal's off-eBay transaction push is already starting to pay off.

eBay Dominates Online Clothing and Accessories
According to a report released by The Center For Media Research, eBay ranks highest in "Online Apparel and Beauty Destinations." For the week ending July 23, 2006, the Top 10 Online Apparel and Beauty Destinations were:

1. eBay Clothing Shoes & Accessories
2. eBay Jewelry and Watches
3. eBay Health & Beauty
4. Old Navy
5. zappos.com
6. Lancome
7. AVON
8. victoriassecret.com
9. llbean.com
10. The Gap

Holy Mackerel: A fin-tastic charity event. (Click for larger image.)

Slap Me With a Fresh Fish and Call Me Silly!
Those wacky Brits, sometimes there's just no explaining their sense of humor. Case in point: eBay seller 'b_fillmore' is offering some lucky auction winner the chance to "Slap me with a fish and call me silly." This UK seller is sacrificing his face to a fresh fish to raise money for The Stroke Association. From sardine to shark, the choice of fish is up to the winning bidder although the auction specifically states it has to be fresh, not frozen. The fish-slap is to take place on Aug. 19th at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London. No show for the winning bidder means no slap! With 100 percent of the auction proceeds going to charity, this is definitely one of the more creative auctions we've seen as of late. This eBay seller has set a personal target of raising $10,000 for the Stroke Association UK. With 44 bids reaching GBP 215.00, it may take a bit more wet fish slaps to reach that goal, but we're sure he'll make it with a few more charitable auctions; especially if they are as fun as this one.

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