eBay introduced its Buy It Now fixed-price purchase option in 2000.
The feature gave sellers an alternative to auction-style listings, allowing shoppers to purchase an item immediately at a stated price. Before Buy It Now, eBay’s marketplace was primarily associated with competitive bidding, in which the highest bidder won when an auction ended.
Buy It Now helped eBay serve customers who wanted the speed and certainty of conventional online shopping. Sellers could use fixed-price listings alone or combine a fixed price with auction functionality, depending on the product and sales strategy.
Buy It Now is sometimes confused with eBay’s broader fixed-price listing format, but the phrase specifically describes the immediate-purchase choice presented to shoppers. The feature became an important part of eBay’s transition from an auction-focused marketplace to a platform supporting multiple retail formats.