Window Shop on eBay

Here I am with another Sneak Peek update. The old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" is never truer than when you're shopping for shoes or jewelry (or items like them) on eBay. Hilary Holmquest, one of our product managers, can speak with feeling about this, from her own personal experience. As a 7-year eBay veteran, and someone who loves to buy all things Art Deco, she's been looking for a way to quickly look through the zillions of Art Deco collectibles on eBay and zero in on something that would look great in her dining room (an Art Deco martini bar is her latest quest).

She says that she and her husband disagree over the need to introduce yet another Art Deco collectible in their home, but they both agree on the need for buyers to have the ability to quickly look through eBay items by focusing on the pictures, rather than reading the descriptions. This way, you'll be able to make quick decisions about whether you think an item is worth a closer look, or whether you should keep on looking for the right treasure.

[UPDATE: Window Shopping is now available on our Finding Playground! Check out this example for "orange Nike shoes," and then do some searches of your own!]

Coming soon! Window Shop on eBay
Fortunately for us all (though maybe not for Hilary's husband), Hilary and a team of people at eBay are working on a project they're calling "Window shopping." Here are some of the cool things that you'll be able to do with Window Shopping:

• When you search for items, eBay will display pictures of the items that match your search results query. You can then hover your mouse over these pictures to see more detail about the items that interest you. Click through the list, and you'll see even more pictures matching your query.
• Tan shoes or beige? You won't have to click through different listings to compare colors. Instead you'll be able to filter your results by color, just by sliding a color slider along on the screen.   
• Figuring out how much you're willing to pay for that collectible gets easier with a new price slider that the team is developing. No more typing in ranges, just slide your mouse along the price slider.

Take a look at this picture (and also watch the video below) to get an idea of what Hilary and her team are doing. I love the big pictures and the clean look-and-feel. It gives me just the right amount of info I need to look through a lot of items quickly.

Hilary told her team is working hard to release a test version of Window Shopping in late August. When it launches, you'll be able to "window shop" from a link on your eBay search results pages. We're hoping to make it more widely available by October. Feel free to send your questions or comments to Hilary and her team at sneakpeek@ebay.com. And, get ready to Window Shop on eBay!