EBay Adds Research Service for Shoppers

San Jose-based EBay Inc. started a subscription research service to help shoppers get pricing and bidding information.

The service costs $2.99 to $24.99 and offers real-time data on starting prices and average bids, top searches by customers and shipping charges, EBay said. The information goes back 60 to 90 days and includes international market data.

EBay Marketplace Research will compete with similar search engines from America Online and retailers that allow consumers to compare prices.