eBay has expanded into six new European markets by adding new sites in Russia, Czech Republic, Greece, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Shoppers in these countries now have eBay sites that actually cater to their local needs. That accounts for about 180 million shoppers, according to the company.

"The good news for sellers is that these buyers will be directed to listings on eBay.co.uk which may help increase sales for businesses that offer international shipping," eBay says.

eBay’s Justin Marcucci talks about eBay’s international market expansion in the following clip:

eBay says buyers will have access to fully translated eBay sites, but sellers’ item titles and descriptions will not be translated, so that may still pose a problem to buyers in these countries. Buyers may have a hard time purchasing an item when they can’t read what it is. However, buyers will be able to use eBay’s search feature to search for items across eBay’s entire global inventory, and only see results from sellers who will ship to their location, so that should be useful. In addition, prices are showing in the local currency for each country, and customer support will be in their own language.

eBay thinks sellers will be excited about the news. It does mean that those who ship internationally may be able to attract more buyers from these markets. It will probably help to keep in mind the translation issues though, so considering this when writing descriptions could be key in taking advantage.

On International Market sites, PayPal will be the only form of payment accepted. In addition, only fixed price items will be included, sellers need to ship worldwide and specify postage costs, and they must be PayPal verified.

Do you sell on eBay? What are your thoughts on this announcement? Discuss here.