Auctionbytes-NewsFlash, Number 1817 - June 21, 2008 - ISSN 1539-5065      | Next Story

By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
June 21, 2008
Reading AuctionBytes: eBay Rolling Out New View Item Page

eBay said it would roll out a new Item page because the page has suffered from "improvement overload" as more and more options and information have been added over the years. "The result is that today's page is cluttered and less efficient than it should be from both a buyer and seller perspective," according to eBay's announcement about the change.

eBay said when it tested the new Item page in February, it contained messaging on the page to alert buyers when a seller had low DSRs compared to other sellers on the site. AuctionBytes readers might remember this caused quite a controversy. As eBay put it, "Members told us that this display was confusing and caused more issues and concern than it solved. We've gone back to the drawing board on this aspect, and it will not be part of our initial launch." The AuctionBytes blog post about the issue netted 162 comments from users http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/2/1203389859.html).

Shoppers viewing the new Item page must click in order to access certain details, such as high bidder and seller location. Here's a rundown of the most important changes (as defined by eBay): It's more visual, and it's simpler ("some of the less critical features" are behind tabs).

In addition, "Buyers get more selection - sellers get more exposure." Buyers will see links to similar items from the same seller in various places on the page. (These placements are still being tested.)

A preview is available at http://pages.ebay.com/newitempage/.

eBay said it would phase in the new page with very small groups of members (less than 1%) in the next week or so, and as time goes on, we'll be expanding the number of members who see the new page by default.

http://www2.ebay.com:80/aw/core/200806201557412.html