14 DAY TRIAL // Starting April 19, new options will be available to eBay sellers and buyers. The most important of them will be increasing the amount of items individual sellers will be able to put up for auction up to 50.
Between April 19 and 23, eBay will perform a spring update of their platform, taking the time to introduce some consumer-friendly new features.
Regular sellers (those who do not have an eBay store), will be able to auction up to 50 items at the same time from their account.
They will be to add a “Buy it now” option on all of their items, as well as list them at any starting price they wish.
Regular sellers will also see another update later this year, starting July 6, when Fixed Price Final Value Fee rates will be reduced and applied to the total amount of the sale, including shipping.
With that update, store sellers will see their Final Value Fee rates reduced as well and applied to the total amount of the sale.
For buyers, the spring update will bring a shopping cart system that can handle fixed and auction priced products in the same checkout session.
Other buyer updates will include new filtering systems, new categories and a new communications hub to better handle eBay contacts.
As the official eBay announcement points out, these updates are mainly driven by a series of promotions regarding free-listings during the 2010 year, promotions that attracted significant amounts of interest and traffic from old and new sellers alike.
User preferences towards free shipping items also played a role in implementing these updates.
“As we look toward the future of commerce, eBay is positioning small sellers and larger merchants alike for growth, and connecting them with shoppers excited about their great deals and terrific service,” said Christopher Payne, senior vice president and head of eBay North America. “We are listening to our customers and continue to tailor pricing to ensure the success of our sellers, and make eBay more convenient, accessible and relevant to their customers.”
Here's a video of eBay VP of Seller Experience, Todd Lutwak talking about the eBay 2011 Spring updates.