eBay Releases Annual Report
eBay filed its annual report for 2003 with the U.S. Securities & Exchange commission, http://www.sec.gov . The Mercury News includes some highlights from Bloomberg at http://digbig.com/3wqs , including reports about eBay's lease on its headquarters location. eBay's 2003 financial results were released in January (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y04/m01/i22/s01).

eBay "Listing Designer" Promotion
eBay will hold a 3-day Penny Listing Designer sale on the U.S. site March 9 - 11, 2004. For auction-style, Fixed Price, Real Estate, Motors Non-Vehicles, and Store Inventory listings, the fee for Listing Designer will be $0.01. All other fees apply. http://www.ebay.com/promo/1centdesigner0304

eBay Launches "Pay Now" Pilot Program for Third-Party Software
eBay launched a pilot program for "Pay Now" buttons for third-party listing tools. Sellers who use listing tools from third- party providers who are participating in this pilot (such as Auctionworks) will have the option to use the Pay Now button along with their customized, third-party checkout systems. If they do so, buyers who click on the Pay Now button after a listing closes will be taken from eBay's site to the seller's third-party checkout system. http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/contextual/checkout-redirect.html

Item Specifics to Debut in Golf Category
eBay will introduce the "Item Specifics" feature in the Golf category at the end of March. Item Specifics is an eBay feature that allows sellers to provide additional item details during the listing process. Buyers can then search on these details (in addition to Title Search and Description Search) to find items more quickly and easily. In particular, sellers of golf clubs will be able to distinguish their items by details such as club type, brand, model, shaft material, dexterity, and condition. Sellers can choose whether or not to include Item Specifics in their listings, and buyers can choose whether or not to search for these details. http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/item_specifics_faqs.html

eBay Changing Cell Phones Category Structure
eBay said it is "simplifying" the structure of the cell phone category. In mid-March, the lower level phone brands and compatible service providers of the Phones Only category structure will be removed. Sellers will list these items in the Phones Only category, and indicate additional product details through Item Specifics. The new category ID for Cell Phones will be 64355, and sellers will be able to list them as follows: Consumer Electronics > Cell Phones & Plans > Phones Only. http://pages.ebay.com/Pre-filledItemInformation/Preview/index.html