eBay Collections offers Pinterest-like themed shopping

The team at eBay are keen to shake the 'second-hand auction house' vibe of their website — they're calling attention to the fact that more than 80 per cent of listings on the site are for new products, and that they've teamed up with well-known Australian retailers such as Dick Smith and General Pants Co. to give consumers new ways of interacting with those retail brands.

As part of the drive for a refreshed and revitalised eBay, the company has now brought eBay Collections to Australia, after trials in the United States and Europe.

Rather than returning lists of items based on keyword searches, the Collections feature sees "curated" pages of content, grouped around themes such as "Winter Essentials" or Mother's Day gift ideas.

eBay has partnered with a few big retailers, designers and stylists to create the first Collections, and from today, eBay users will be able to create their own collections around any theme they choose. They'll also be able to flesh out a more complete eBay profile, allowing buyers and sellers to follow them and the products they like.

It's a real coup for eBay. For years, websites such as Pinterest have been appealing to lookbook-loving aesthetes and crafternooners keen to make their own crocheted onesies. But now, eBay has channelled Pinterest's unique brand of lifestyle window shopping and monetised it, meaning users will now not only be able to like someone's Mexican-inspired decor, they'll be able to buy it too.