Online auction site eBay intends to drive its marketplace for IT buyers and sellers through a new deal with IT trade show and conference producer Key3Media Group.

Meg Whitman, eBay's president and chief executive, will give a keynote speech at the upcoming Comdex show and the company's presence will be made known through eBay kiosk stations and through links on the Comdex website.

eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove explained that, as part of the relationship between the two companies, eBay expects to see more IT merchandise on its auction site.

He said the IT market has been expanding over the last year or so, as more industries are realising how viable an IT market eBay is. "One thing we've noticed over the past few years is the marketable potential for increased sales in new and used PCs and IT merchandise across the board," Pursglove said.

The market for cables, connectors, routers and switches will be areas in which the company expects to accelerate.

Although eBay does not break down its business by category, Pursglove said that in the last year or so the company has noticed a steady and gradual increase in the IT area. "Many businesses have been forced to downsize and sell their hardware and software," he explained.

According to Pursglove, IT continues to be a small but growing percentage of turnover.

In 2000, the eBay community, which includes 29.7 million registered users, transacted more than $5bn in sales.