eBay is continuing to roll out product-attribute fields, called Item Specifics, to categories on its site. Listings had in the past generally consisted of two searchable fields: title and description. In the last few years, eBay has added structure to make it easier for visitors to find relevant items when searching or browsing the site.

One such Item Specifics field is Condition, used to describe the condition of the item for sale, for example, New, New with Tags or Used. eBay announced Monday it has found listings that contain specified conditions are more likely to sell, and said it will expand item condition in six new categories: Crafts; Health & Beauty; Jewelry & Watches; Musical Instruments; Sporting Goods; and Everything Else.

It appears eBay is committed to rolling out Item Specifics globally. The Paid Content newsletter revealed eBay is looking for an International Data Manager "responsible for growing our category and classification system and assist in building a new business and product initiative on eBay Attributes,…This role will support the extension of Attributes across the eBay platform and extend the platform to new areas of the business." (http://digbig.com/4etta). The candidate should have technology, marketing and taxonomy/classification skills, note that a fluency in Mandarin Chinese or German is a plus.

In May, eBay had launched an alpha test version of a project that introduced a "New Way to Shop on eBay" leveraging item specifics. The test was called Magellan and provided ways to narrow listings results according to size, color, type, brand, or a combination of attributes. The test, now over, ran in Shoes, Bedding, Glass, Art, TVs and Event Tickets categories.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200510031447182.html