By Eric Auchard Thu Nov 10, 8:47 PM
ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Online auctioneer eBay Inc. on Thursday
introduced a new service that allows buyers and sellers to search the
price history of any product on its electronic marketplace worldwide for
up to 90 days.
EBay Marketplace Research, as the new subscription service
is known, gives buyers and sellers a view into millions of eBay listing,
bidding, and pricing trends, in effect creating a constantly updated
barometer of consumer shopping habits.
The paid service gives subscribers access to data, charts and graphs,
that show the prices eBay's 168 million users have paid in any auction
over the past several months, which gives consumers a powerful way to find
baseline product prices.
"It does help you to get some idea of the true value of what you are
selling," said Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with brokerage Hoefer &
Arnett in Boulder, Colorado.
"With research, the informed buyer is going to be able to say, 'The
item is worth about this,"' agreed Hal Varian, an economist at the
University of California's Haas School of Business.
Marketplace Research comes in three subscription levels, starting with
a two-day pass for $2.99, a basic monthly service for $9.99 and a
professional package priced at $24.99 a month. The first two services show
pricing data going back 60 days while the professional subscription --
aimed at power sellers -- has a 90-day pricing history and international
market data.
Sellers can follow trends as they play out online, allowing them to
adapt their sales strategies immediately.
Pyykkonen said the service will help eBay's core base of existing
auctioneers. "Ebay needs to do everything they can to help the seller
community" by bringing more sellers online and converting them into
veteran "power sellers," Pyykkonen said.
Gartner Inc. analyst Allen Weiner said competition in the online
auction market is heating up, both from start-ups and other major Internet
players who are pushing their way into the classified advertising market,
including Google Inc..
EBay is looking for ways to make it easier for new users to take part,
Weiner said. "Part of the big mystery of online auctions is their
inefficiency," he said. "By offering pricing history, eBay is making
people's time online more efficient.
"A lot of people are very inexperienced and really have no idea about
how to set prices," Weiner said.
