I wanted to provide an update to what has been happening with The Garden by eBay since I first talked about it last month. You can see my initial video interviews and posts about it HERE and HERE.

First of all, the response in the first few weeks has been pretty impressive. Over 8,000 individuals have logged into The Garden over the past month and the team has received over 1,200 pieces of individual feedback. For example:

“I LOVE the side by side view…and you were so SMART to set it so that I can watch Newly Listed on the Buy It Now at the same time I’m watching Ending soonest on the Auctions! PERFECT! I also like the Quick View Very much!”

“I love the remove/see similar features. They are great for narrowing search results to get exactly what you want. However, I do wish there were ways to narrow down search results even more…”

As a result, there are already some definite changes coming in a few weeks. The following enhancements will roll-out by mid-May based on feedback:

* Save this search functionality will be added.
*Those that don’t like the format information, pricing, and image clustered together will now have the option to ‘spread’ this information back out. There will also be the ability to quickly change image size and add customizations – all in one step.
* We’ve heard consistent feedback that it’s difficult to differentiate between Buy it Now price and Auction price. Formats need to “pop” more to show differentiation better. This will also be addressed in May.

The team is hoping to set up a dedicated blog so they can discuss feedback, enhancements and progress with the community. I’m hoping to help make that happen sooner rather than later.

Cheers,
RBH