Going, going, gone? Furious fans have accused eBay, the website that brought auctions to the internet, of betrayal. They are upset by a decision to lurch away from the website’s original format and instead allow major retailers to list thousands of products at fixed prices.

The trend, they warn, marks the beginning of the end for the online auction – leaving eBay looking less like a car-boot sale and more like a shopping mall.

‘Auctions in some categories are already pretty much dead,’ said Chris Dawson, an eBay seller from Thatcham, Berkshire, who runs a blog about the site. ‘Not many people bid for rechargeable batteries, Gillette razor blades, toothbrushes or even mobile phone handsets or DVDs – the kind of commodity items you pick up in a supermarket.

EBay started out for the collectors’ market but it’s been overtaken by the business market. Buyers have become used to instant sales on the internet, and they expect eBay to be no different.’

Randy Smythe, a former eBay seller who now runs an e-commerce blog, said: ‘I believe eBay’s drive for growth has killed the auction format. They are trying to compete with Amazon and the rest of e-commerce by giving you everything in the same search. “Buy it now” and “fixed price” added growth at first, but they’ve killed the golden goose.’

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