eBay announced it has made a strategic equity investment in FairMarket, a provider of ecommerce and auction-management solutions. In April, the two companies had announced that FairMarket would run eBay's loyalty marketing programs for third-party companies in an exclusive deal. FairMarket provides the platform for the promotional loyalty program that eBay is testing with Burger King Corporation.

"Our investment in FairMarket is evidence of the ongoing value FairMarket brings to eBay as a result of FairMarket's platform and service capabilities," said Jeff Jordan, senior vice president & general manager of eBay. The two companies began working together when FairMarket was among the first companies to integrate eBay's API and later joined eBay's Preferred Solution Provider program.

Under the terms of the investment, eBay invested $2 million and received 952,380 shares of Series B Preferred Stock of FairMarket for a per share price of $2.10 and certain registration rights.

Investing in companies in the auction services field is not new to eBay. In January, eBay participated in a round of funding by ChannelAdvisor Corporation. It also owns equity in ReturnBuy, an online liquidator. http://www.fairmarket.com