eBay launched a microsite for fashionistas at Fashion.eBay.com, and deemed it tab-worthy. The company will also launch a fashion outlet store, and said changes in the Clothing, Shoes & Accessories category will make style-savvy shoppers think of eBay as the place to find "great fashion at great values."

The new fashion microsite landed a spot on the top navigation bar that displays across the eBay.com website, which now reads, Categories, Fashion, Motors, Stores, and Daily Deal ("Fashion Vault" also appears when there is an active sale), demonstrating eBay's commitment to the category, which serves up an average of 19 million listings daily.

eBay is also planning to launch an Outlet on eBay for fashion brand and retail sellers that will include Lord & Taylor and Brooks Brothers. eBay has already launched Outlet stores in other international sites, including in the UK and Germany.

As part of the changes, eBay said it would begin highlighting items that are offered directly from brand owners by displaying their logos in search results. But eBay told the Associated Press that its new strategy would not make it more difficult for its mom-and-pop sellers to compete.

"As more buyers come to shop brand-name items at discount prices, we expect to see more traffic to all fashion listings," eBay explained.

eBay has been investing heavily in the fashion space, and has built relationships with retailers and fashion designers, including fashion designer Norma Kamali who opened a Store on eBay last year and designer Narciso Rodriguez, who designed a special collection exclusively for eBay. eBay also launched the Fashion Vault marketing program last year that features designer fashion during 2- to 3-day sales events - but not available to all sellers.

eBay Fashion offers a more visual shopping experience than the traditional eBay search - the Gallery View is the default display, and shoppers can select an item and then use a new "More Like This" feature to find other apparel and accessories that are similar in color, shape, pattern and more. Items include new, vintage, branded and designer merchandise available on eBay. Popular categories such as Women's Clothing, Men's Clothing, Women's Shoes, Men's Shoes and Handbags, have their own landing pages ("tailored shopping boutiques") when buyers click one of the "Categories" links on fashion.ebay.com.

What Sellers Need to Know
Gallery View will be the default for search results in apparel and handbags categories, so sellers need to reassess whether to use the optional subtitle feature, which can only be seen when buyers view search results in List View. Specifying Item Specifics, Item Condition and Brand are more important than ever.

Sarah Davis, founder of FashionPhile, said she's monitoring the category and listing changes. "For example, we are looking into the questionable value of the sub-title now- with the new default to gallery view display of image results. Other changes- like some of the size issues in the categorization in Clothing and Accessories don't effect us as handbag sellers - but they do seem to slow up the process for browsing shoppers. There is also a lot to see on the new "landing" pages - but I'm assuming that will get cleaned up."

Ms. Davis has been selling on eBay since 1999 and said it is a totally different place now than it was "back in the day." Some of these changes have been very good for her business, and some have not - however, the cash flow and exposure from eBay sales has been "hard to beat." Only time will tell if the latest round of changes will result in more sales, she said.

eBay published Best Practices for sellers in the Clothing Shoes and Accessories category on a special information page, with tips such as, "Show shoes from different angles - buyers want to see the front, top, sides, and bottom of soles," and, "Upload large, high-resolution images at least 1000 pixels on the longest side, and at least 90dpi."

Sellers are commenting on the changes in the eBay Clothing Shoes & Accessories Discussion Board.