Jim Ambach, Vice President, Seller Experience, eBay said," In the case of Live Auctions, maintaining and improving this platform falls outside our immediate focus, and will, therefore, be retired at the end of the year."

eBay had partnered with a small number of service providers who worked directly with the live auction houses to incorporate with eBay Live Auctions. One company, iCollector, a subsidiary of Ableauctions said it generates approximately $700,000 in annual revenue (or 14% of the company’s total revenues) from the auctions broadcast on the eBay Live Auctions platform.

Live Auctioneers said it plans to launch an independent online- bidding platform. "We expect the changeover to take effect on or before Dec. 31, which is the date that our current platform provider, eBay, anticipates winding down its eBay Live Auctions division," said LiveAuctioneers’ CEO, Julian R. Ellison.
 

eBay won’t announce its financials until after the markets close today, but we do know of one change ahead of the closing bell. The Live Auctions section of eBay won’t survive the day.

eBay VP of seller experience, Jim Ambach, told the San Francisco Chronicle the move won’t materially hurt the company. He said “maintaining and improving the 7-year-old Live Auctions platform falls outside the company’s current focus on boosting listings, improving buyers’ experiences and making the site safer from fraud.”

Live Auctions will wrap up on eBay by the end of 2008. Ina Steiner at AuctionBytes thinks new CEO John Donahoe won’t stop cutting back at eBay, given his background in the management consulting world.