EBay momentum strong, but sees no big holiday item

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc is enjoying solid business momentum early in the fourth quarter but considers it too early to say how holiday shoppers will behave by year-end, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Meg Whitman, president and chief executive of the world's largest online marketplace, cautioned that she sees no "hard-to-get" product this year that could drive consumers to the online auctions and other shopping sites it runs.

"I think we have good momentum going into Q4," Whitman said in a phone interview, but added: "It is still early. Holiday shoppers shop later every year."

"The question mark is not about our own product plans," Whitman said. "The question is: How strong will holiday shopping be and will online gain share from offline shopping as it has in the past? That is unknowable."

Asked about the risk to the San Jose, California-based company's business if consumer spending slows late in the year, she said: "If consumers reduce spending, of course that will have some impact on us."

In its 12-year-history, eBay has often benefited from pent-up demand for rare "hot products" ranging from last year's Nintendo Wii gaming console back to the Cabbage Patch doll craze of the mid-1990s.

"We don't see there is something of the magnitude of a hot product like the Wii this quarter," Whitman said.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco)