This week has been a busy one for eBay as the company unveiled two mobile apps and a revamped classified ads site, even as it rolled out major price and listing-format changes within the eBay Marketplace.
The new apps, eBay Selling and eBay Classifieds, give sellers a way to list items quickly, while on the go. The new classified ads site, eBay Classifieds, will replace eBay's U.S. Kijiji site, which lagged behind Craigslist in popularity. In February, Craigslist reported 4.5 million visitors compared to Kijiji's 2 million.
eBay hopes the rebranding and redesign of the free classified ads site will foster trust among users with its familiar name and a strong filtering system meant to reduce spam and fraud.
"eBay Classifieds sets a new standard in the U.S. classified market, offering a trusted, local-community selling format for items that don't make sense to sell on eBay marketplace, or when selling locally is preferable," notes Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces.
eBay will keep the Kijiji name on its non-U.S. classified ads sites, which are attracting more traffic.
eBay Selling lets merchants post listings in 60 seconds, and share them on Facebook and Twitter
The new eBay Classifieds mobile app could help the classifieds site draw more users. It allows sellers to post ads in 60 seconds, search and reply to classified ads, add up to eight images, and narrow searches by keywords, location and price, eBay reports.
"Whether selling or shopping, we've introduced a great new option for consumers who prefer to sell and buy in a trusted, family friendly local classified format," Norrington says.
With the eBay Selling app, merchants can photograph and post listings in 60 seconds, research similar items, view the products they have for sale, and share listings on Facebook and Twitter.
The addition of these mobile apps will help eBay generate an estimated $1.5 billion in 2010 through mobile apps, eBay says, adding that more than 8 million people shop on eBay using mobile devices.
Norrington says eBay offers buyers and sellers more choices for e-commerce than any other company.
"The eBay Selling app makes it easy for sellers to bring even greater value and selection to eBay and offer more great deals for buyers," she adds.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
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