Today eBay officially announced its much-anticipated new service, eBay Express (read the release). From what I can tell (I haven't tried it yet myself), it is essentially a separate site for customers who are looking for new stuff and not only want to skip the auction process, but want to buy from several different sellers all at once. Only "qualified eBay merchants" are allowed to sell from the site. That should provide users some assurance that what they buy will actually arrive and be in the condition they expect.

Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, explained the goal pretty clearly in the release, "eBay Express is for buyers who prefer a more conventional online shopping experience," he said. "We think eBay Express will attract new buyers to eBay and inspire existing buyers to use eBay even more."

I think eBay Express is a good idea and I plan to use it (I'll write about my experience here). But for investors, I want to point out that this is a major new step in eBay's evolution of becoming an e-commerce retailer -- not an auction site.

Here are some quick observations on the significance:

Bob Swan is the new chief financial officer of eBay. Only 30 days into the job he had the daunting task of presenting his first earnings release and running a gauntlet of analyst questions.

He did a great job, but his caution on the call came across as real worry. He (with some help from Meg), was happy to list all the risks to eBay's forecast one he was pressured about why he didn't raise guidance. Here's what he's worried about:

- EBay is getting more seasonal with age -- like regular retailers -- so its Q2 and Q3 could be worse than expected.

- The company allowed stores to list more stuff, which deluged customers with listings when they did searches. Customers bought less. That's why total merchandise sales grew 18% in the quarter but listings grew 33%. That move has been rolled back in Canada and the U.S., but its impact still needs monitoring.