Quote:While it's not certain who first introduced a "bid groups" feature for eBay bidders, third-party vendors have offered them in sniping software for years. Now it looks like eBay will begin offering bid groups directly to bidders through a feature called Bid Assistant.
Bid groups allows bidders looking for a particular item to choose several auctions and place a single maximum bid for the entire group of items. The program places bids on bidders' behalf on the auction ending soonest and continues until an auction is won, then it stops. This gives bidders a better chance of winning an item they want in a specified period of time, without the risk of winning more than one item...
full article:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m05/i14/s02
the help pages for the unannounced tool:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/bid-assistant.html
Thinking. Good or evil. Undecided.
Modestly good - it may increase sales but slightly decrease the amount bid because of less gotta-get-it-nowism.
That is, of coruse, if the boinking thing works properly and doesnt just start buying everything in sight.
The official announcement:
Quote:***Introducing Two Fun New Features: Bid Assistant and eBay To Go***Â
Hi everyone...I'm Philipp Justus, Senior Vice President for Auctions. As I've said before, auction-style listings provide the classic eBay experience. For buyers, it's the thrill they get when they find - and win! - an item that they really want. For sellers, it's that exhilarating rush they get when the bidding for an item they've listed goes up even higher than they expected. This excitement really sets the eBay experience apart from other ways to shop.
As the year goes on, we'll be unveiling more projects that will celebrate and enhance the thrill of winning on eBay. We'll be talking about some of these ideas at eBay Live! in Boston, and I hope you can join us. But until then, here are a couple new features that we hope you enjoy.
A buyer's new best friend - Bid Assistant
Tired of losing auctions and having to search another item to bid on? Very soon we'll be launching a new bidding tool that manages your bids and makes winning items at the right price easier. Bid Assistant will place bids for you on a series of items from your Watch list - all in one simple step.
For instance, let's say you're shopping for a new Canon digital camera, and you have five that you like on your Watch list. Using Bid Assistant, you simply create a bid group from your Watch list and enter the maximum amount you want to pay. This amount could be the same for all five  or you could specify different amounts for each listing based on, say, the varying item condition. It's up to you.
Once set up, Bid Assistant will place your maximum bid on the item that's ending soonest. While the listing is active, our bidding system will automatically update your bid amount UP TO your maximum amount you gave to Bid Assistant, as necessary.
At the end of the listing, if you win, you get to celebrate your victory! The rest of your listings will not be bid on by Bid Assistant. But if you lose, Bid Assistant will automatically bid on the item ending next. This pattern continues until either you win one of the cameras (woo hoo!), or all five listings end.
Bid Assistant makes it easier for you to win items and saves you time. To learn more, check out our information page.
Take eBay with you - eBay To Go
Those of you who maintain your own website, blog or social networking profile will have a lot of fun with our new eBay To Go product. With just a few simple steps, you can create an eBay To Go widget to showcase eBay listings, or even just your favorite eBay search. In moments, you'll have a fun and functional eBay widget ready to be embedded into your own site. It's perfect for sharing the eBay listings that youÂre passionate about with your own web audience.
To learn more and to get started, visit togo.ebay.com. It's free, fun and fast, so check it out!
Stay tuned for more cool stuff as the year goes on.
Quote:Take eBay with you - eBay To Go
Those of you who maintain your own website, blog or social networking profile will have a lot of fun with our new eBay To Go product. With just a few simple steps, you can create an eBay To Go widget to showcase eBay listings, or even just your favorite eBay search. In moments, you'll have a fun and functional eBay widget ready to be embedded into your own site. It's perfect for sharing the eBay listings that youre passionate about with your own web audience.
Great idea----direct your website customers to ebay and off your site!
NOT.