eBay Shakes Up Listing Fees
by Mike Phillips
Posted on 01.29.2008
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eBay has announced a rate cut of up to 50 percent of what they charge sellers to list their products online, beginning Feb. 20. But it's not all rosy. They will increase fees on popular, selling items. eBay claims that sellers prefer this method because it lowers the risk if items fail to sell. Items selling for less than $25 will see a listing fee increase of 67 percent, up to 8.75 percent of the final sale price. And that's going to hurt some sellers. Take a look in any category what you can get for less than $25 and you'll see why. Also, recent postal rate increases for smaller items will add to the problem. (See an article about last year's postage increase.)
eBay has seen better days. Over the second and third quarters of 2007, the number of listings on eBay declined, with a rise of four percent in the fourth quarter - due in large part to the holidays. Also, active users of the site has grown just two percent from a year ago. Add in the fact that Amazon has joined the online auction game - and does not charge a listing fee - and other, smaller online auction sites taking away business from eBay and it's clear that new CEO John Donahoe sees the need for change. Donahoe has said that major, sweeping changes are coming, including how their overall product, customer approach and business model.
Filed under: ebay, ebay fees
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