eBay Releases All-in-One Buying, Selling & Scanning iPhone App

eBay has released version 2.0 of its primary Phone app, eBay Mobile, the company announced Monday.

Version 2.0 [iTunes link], which appeared in the App Store Friday, allows users to buy and sell on eBay’s flagship auction site, as well as scan product barcodes for comparison shopping. Previously, the latter two capabilities were available only in independent apps, eBay selling [iTunes link] and RedLaser [iTunes link], the latter of which was acquired in June.

Now users can do everything on their iPhones that they could previously do on eBay.com — and then some. The integration of RedLaser’s barcode scanning technology is particularly useful, allowing users to quickly compare eBay’s prices to retail, and to pre-populate information about the items they’re selling (which, admittedly, will only be useful for those few goods that still have their barcodes intact).

For a more comprehensive overview of the new features, check out the video below.

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eBay’s iPhone App Combines Buying And Selling, Adds Barcode Scanning From RedLaser

As the holiday shopping season ramps up, retailers are expected the use of mobile phones for shopping activity to be big this year. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, 59 percent of mobile consumers plan to make use of their mobile phone for shopping and planning purposes this holiday season and 64 percent of consumers plan to use their mobile phone to help scout out deals before leaving for the stores. With that it mind, eBay is launching a new version of its popular marketplace iPhone app, which allows users to browse, bid and buy from eBay auctions.

The app, which has seen 13.5 million downloads, will now consolidate its buying and selling iPhone apps. Previously, eBay had a separate iPhone app for sellers that allows users to quickly take photos of items and post them on eBay. Now sellers can do this directly from the primary eBay iPhone app, and access research sales trends and more.

A new ‘Quick View’ home screen allows both buyers and sellers to see instant updates on items. If a seller is listing a similar item sold or selling on eBay, users can simply use eBay’s “Sell One Like This” feature to create a listing that is automatically populated with information like category and item condition.

eBay is also adding technology from RedLaser, the barcode scanning iPhone app that eBay acquired from Occipital in June, to the iPhone app. eBay says that total RedLaser iPhone app downloads have tripled since eBay bought the technology, but I wonder if that growth will continue now that the app is included in eBay’s primary app.

One of the great benefits of RedLaser’s scanning technology in the app is the ability to comparison shop on the go. Users can scan a barcode on an item at a store and then automatically access any eBay listings of the product on the marketplace. Sellers can also use the scanning technology to scan and item and list the product in very little time.

Other features included in the new version of the iPhone app is a featured Daily Deals listing, a more integrated PayPal experience and the ability to save searches and set up reminders.

eBay is on pace to reach a whopping $1.5 billion worth of goods sold via its mobile apps in 2010 if all goes well this holiday season. eBay has made it pretty clear that mobile shopping is a key part of its future business. This year alone, the company launched apps for iPad, Android and Windows 7 devices for its auction business. And eBay added a new Half.com app, and a Fashion-focused app to its library.

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