Filed at 8:25 p.m. ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Internet trading leader eBay Inc. increased its shift toward fixed-price sales Monday by launching a new format that lets buyers and sellers skip traditional auctions entirely.

EBay, which began as an auction-only site, already facilitates instant sales of items, both through Half.com, a site it acquired in 2000, and through the ``Buy It Now'' option, which accounts for one-third of all items listed on eBay.

With ``Buy it Now,'' sellers can list an item at a set price, and the sale ends if someone offers to pay that price. If someone enters a bid below that price, the ``Buy It Now'' option is canceled, and the sale turns into a regular auction.

Buy It Now will remain, but now sellers have another option: selling their items at a fixed price, with no auction entering the picture under any circumstances. Either the product sells for the listed price or not at all.

The move had been requested by users who wanted a true fixed-price format, eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.

The refinement also figures to appeal to traditional retailers and other companies that are increasingly unloading products on eBay.

Shares of San Jose-based eBay lost $3.50, nearly 6 percent, to $56.06 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

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On the Net:

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