eBay has made available gift certificates for its Half.com fixed price site (soon to be renamed eBay Express Buys). The gift certificates may only be used for items on the Half.com site. Any remaining balance after a purchase may not be paid out - accounts will retain the remaining balance of the gift certificate, and can be used towards a future purchase. Half.com will charaage a monthly maintenance fee of $1.50 for gift certificates that have not been used or redeemed for 12 months after their date of purchase. http://www.half.com/help/giftcertificates.cfm

In other news, eBay said that in addition to creating a holiday catalog on its Web site (click on "holiday gifts" on the home page), it will include an insert in newspapers in 44 markets nationwide expected to reach 23 million readers.