eBay pops up for the holidays

I went to check out eBay's first pop-up store on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan e this week. The company's new 5,500-sq.-ft. store in bustling Midtown gives shoppers the chance to browse a sampling of 400 holiday products available from almost 200 million product listings on eBay -- including everything from Zhu Zhu Pets (one of the hottest toys this season) to diamond rings.

Although I was expecting some products would be available for immediate purchase at the store, shoppers were directed to surf and shop eBay via touchscreen kiosks or through eBay’s iPhone application.

It's uncertain how many customers will use the pop-up location to place bids and buy items through the site, but the store could influence shoppers to remember eBay when doing holiday shopping online.

eBay’s pop-up holiday experience is open to the public from Nov. 20 to Nov. 29 (closed on Thanksgiving Day).