Ebay has recently offered sellers an incentive to sell using the "Fixed Price" format. Fee's have been slashed and a seller can list multiples if the same item in that listing without additional costs. This is a great thing for sellers because they can get items that are in their Ebay Store and put them in the searches. More people viewing means more sales. Also, the listings are for 30 days vs 7 days and you can give the buyer the option to make a "Best Offer". So why is a best offer good for a seller? A seller may have a lot of the same item and is willing to take less than the "Fixed Price" and wants to move them out faster. It also allows a seller to determine the best price they can get for an item by comparing multiple offers and choosing the highest for that item.

How is this beneficial to Buyers? First of all, a buyer has a better chance of finding what they are looking for because the item will be in the regular search results. Also, a buyer can decide if they want it right away and does not have to wait for a 7 day auction to end. They also dont have to worry about being "outbid" at the last second. If a seller chooses to allow best offers, then a buyer has the chance to get an item at a lower price and the offer is decided upon quickly.

So you will probably be seeing less and less "Auction" style listings and more and more "Fixed Price" listings.