EcommerceBytes-NewsFlash, Number 1369 - September 18, 2006     2 of 5

eBay CEO Loses to Fruit Helmet Cat on New eBay Matchups Site

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eBay has created a new site called eBay Matchups that allows users to pit two items against each other. Registered users of eBay can then vote for a winner. An eBay member by the name of ChopSueySisters has used the new service to create a matchup between eBay CEO Meg Whitman and ChopSueySisters' cat.

Out of 30 people weighing in, Whitman received two votes. "Fruit Helmet cat" is a picture of a cat wearing a helmet made from the skin of a fruit. It is well known by posters on eBay discussion boards, as ChopSueySisters is a frequent poster and includes the image at the bottom of her all of her posts.

But the "Whitman vs. Fruit Helmet cat" page may not stay up long. ChopSueySisters writes, "My Bill Cobb vs FB Austin Powers got pulled once it got up to the mainpage Top 10 !!!!" Bill Cobb is President of eBay North America.

ChopSueySisters has several matchups, including "eBay Express versus Killer bees attacking you." So far, users would rather consent to having their faces covered with bees (20 votes) than use eBay Express (5 votes).

An eBay employee announced the new site on the discussion boards on September 6. "A couple of us got together after hours, brainstormed and tried to create something fun using the eBay API." The site was created in June and is registered to eBay.com.

On certain matchup pages, eBay displays listings of items for sale with photos and links directly to the View Item pages. For example, in a matchup between "Wool Sweaters and Chest Hair," the page displayed listings for sweaters and hair removal kits.

http://www.ebaymatchups.com/matchup/view/Meg-Whitman-vs-Fruit-Helmet-Cat_1861

Note from Editor, 9/19/06: ChopSueySisters wrote yesterday to say the Fruit Helmet Cat is not her cat.

About the author:

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
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