Original AB post with some key details:

***Introducing: Guest Buying***
November 05, 2007 | 02:20PM PST/PT

Hello...I'm Evan Liang with eBay's Buyer Experience team. With the busy holiday season rapidly approaching, I'm excited to announce that we're launching Guest Buying, a new feature that we believe will help increase the number of new buyers who purchase sellers' Fixed Price and Store Inventory listings.

Why Guest Buying?
We've done a lot of research about buying habits as the internet has evolved, and have been told repeatedly that requiring new buyers to register before they have a chance to really interact with eBay is a barrier to them taking the plunge (this is the same reason we introduced My eBay for Guests awhile back).

Today many online buyers expect to be able to visit a site and simply purchase and pay for an item with minimum hassle. Introducing Guest Buying will help encourage more first purchases by new buyers.

Here's how it works:

Guest buyers will be able to use Buy It Now to purchase eligible Fixed Price and Store Inventory items.
Guest buyers need to complete their payment through PayPal before the item is theirs, similar to Immediate Payment.
Your current PayPal settings will apply – if you require buyers to pay with a confirmed address, your Guest Buyers will need to do so as well.
Which listings are eligible for Guest Buying?
Your listings will be eligible to be purchased by Guest Buyers if you meet the following criteria:

You must have a premier/business PayPal account in order to accept credit card payments.
Shipping costs must be specified on your listing.
You must qualify for the top tier of buyer protection of $2,000.
The item price must be less than $2,000.
You must use eBay's checkout system. Third-party checkout will not be supported at this time.
Can Guest Buyers leave feedback?
No – at least not until they register. eBay will encourage Guest Buyers to register once they make a purchase. Once they do, they'll be able to use all the same features and programs our current buyers do, such as Feedback, Buyer Protection, access to Customer Support, etc.

On the Review Your Purchase page of checkout you enter your shipping info, email address, telephone number, and you agree to the user agreement at the bottom here. We also auto-calculate shipping based on the zip code.

You confirm your order here one last time.

Hi everyone:

We've posted the Introducing the New Guest Buying Feature workshop material early.

We'll be back tomorrow, Wednesday, November 28 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time to take your questions and comments.

Talk to you then,

Deirdre
eBay Community Development

I notice that the total on the Review Your Purchase page and that on the Complete Checkout page are different. Looks like the shipping amount changed (which I see the guest can adjust from the Review Your Purchase page) but the tax amount was not listed initially. I understand there's no way to anticipate the guest's location, but could there be a reminder on the "Review Your Purchase" page of the seller's sales tax obligations? (e.g. "Taxes may apply," or "Seller charges sales tax for items shipped to: CA 7.25%, applies to subtotal & S&H for these states only..."). My guess is (regardless of how many times the seller's auction states the tax obligation) the buyer will think s/he's looking at the total cost on the Review Your Purchase page and be less than pleased to learn, after taking the time to enter personal then credit card info, that a sales tax charge is tacked on at the end.

Re: Post 9

That is a mock up issue - sorry about that. We actually auto-calculate shipping cost based on the zip code entered on the Review Your Purchase Page so that they will match up. I agree that it is important for the buyer not to be surprise. Tax should also be handled the same way. Thanks and good catch.

Thanks, re: tax issue. With regard to auto-calculating shipping ... does that imply that sellers cannot charge flat shipping rates? Thanks, again...