eBay will acquire the technology assets of Kurant, it announced Thursday.

Kurant distributes its StoreSense ecommerce service through a network of resellers. A "Master Reseller" called NeoVerve lists fees for StoreSense starting at $19.95/month for a starter edition all the way up to $319.95 for an Elite version of StoreSense Pro Plus (http://www.neoverve.com/ecommerce/storesense_pricing.html). In April, Kurant's StoreSense offering won PC Magazine's Editor's Choice Award (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1555276,00.asp).

News of the technology acquisition came a day after eBay announced a fee hike of its own Stores offering (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y05/m01/i12/s00). eBay, the 800-pound gorilla in the online-auction space, offers sellers auction and fixed-price formats and also offers eBay Stores, where sellers can load inventory at fixed prices indefinitely. eBay announced Wednesday it was increasing the monthly fee and commission on Store items effective February 18.

eBay sellers reacted negatively to news of the fee increases, and some began circulating an online petition to protest the fees (http://www.petitiononline.com/ebayfee/petition.html).

When asked how the acquisition of Kurant's storefront technology would affect eBay Stores, eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy said it was too early to get specific since the deal had not yet closed. But, he said, "Our focus remains on growing and improving eBay Stores."

Rodrigo Sales, CEO of Vendio, said the move was not entirely surprising. He believes many of eBay's largest sellers are looking to expand their online presence to include a completely branded store, with much more functionality and flexibility than what eBay currently offers.

Vendio offers auction-management services and storefronts for eBay sellers. Sales believes eBay faces the challenge of whether to give up some of its own branding in order to continue to manage the store functionality of its largest sellers. "Professional sellers recognize the importance of building a trusted brand online and a loyal customer base of repeat buyers," he said. Another challenge for eBay may be winning over sellers who want reduce their reliance on eBay by opening their own separately hosted branded online stores.

In an ironic footnote, eBay said members may have experienced intermittent delays when attempting to access eBay Stores or when attempting to search within Stores for several hours on Thursday (http://www2.ebay.com/aw/announce.shtml#2005-01-13154913).

eBay said in addition to the asset acquisition, it also expects to hire nearly all of the Kurant team and continue to support Kurant's current customer base.

eBay does not expect the acquisition, which is a cash transaction, to have a material impact on 2005 net revenue and earnings. The transaction is expected to close in the current quarter. Further terms of the agreement were not disclosed.