Answering Anger, EBay Cuts More Fees

[ram00]

Answering Anger, EBay Cuts More Fees

EBay Inc. bowed to pressure Monday from some of its high-volume sellers, saying it will further cut listing fees for books, music, movies and video games sold through the online auction site.

Monday's move amends a fee structure announced last month and could mean savings for merchants who sell those goods in high volume. Those sellers had expected to lose money from the new plan, slated to take effect Feb. 20. Some had threatened to stop selling on eBay.

The company said last month it plans to cut the fees for listing an item but raise eBay's commissions on items that sell. Merchants quickly complained the cuts were not enough to balance the hike in commissions.

Monday's amendment further cuts _ by as much as half _ the listing fees for items in the "media" category selling for less than $25.

Shares of eBay rose 10 cents, about one-third of 1 percent, to close at $28.17 Monday.

The two rounds of changes come as eBay struggles with flattening growth in listings and the number of active users _ and with a gradual loss of market share to Amazon.com, which does not charge listing fees.

Online message boards have been abuzz with threats of a site-wide sellers strike since the new fee structure was announced.

People who sell media items complained the changes would hit them especially hard because they post many more listings than other sellers _ some offering more than 40,000 items on eBay each month.

Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay's Global Marketplace Operations, which includes the company's online shopping sites, announced the new changes Monday.

"We heard your comments about the need for media and category-specific pricing," Norrington said in a statement posted online.

Steve Grossberg _ a top seller of video games and president of the Internet Merchants Association, which lobbied the company to take another look at the new fee plan _ said Monday's announcement will benefit thousands of media sellers like him. Now most sellers in the category, if not all, will see their fees go down, he said.

He says the media category accounts for 10 percent of ................ listings.

Company spokesman Usher Lieberman said the "change in the media category will not have a material impact" on company finances.

Media sellers have long asked for a fee structure specific to their category because of their low profit margins and average selling price and high listing volume, said Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Derek Brown.

"Part of the concern these sellers had was that their fees were likely going to be going up as a result of all these changes, and that would have discouraged their listings and sales," Brown said.

"I don't believe it was their (eBay's) intent to discourage listings from happening in the first place, but that may have been an unintended consequence, particularly in the media category," Brown said.

[fashion]

Well i think EBay Lowers Listing Fees to Boost Sales

EBay Inc. said Tuesday it will cut by up to 50 percent the fees it charges sellers to list their goods online, in an effort to boost listings and keep pace with other burgeoning e-commerce sites.
To balance the fee cut, the company plans to increase its commission on items that do sell, a method the company says sellers prefer because it lowers their risk if items do not sell.
The greatest fee increase will come for goods selling for less than $25. EBay's fee for those transactions will rise 67 percent, to 8.75 percent of the final sale price.
"A majority of sellers will see their fees go down," said company spokesman Usher Lieberman. "We are basing our success on their success and we want to encourage sellers to list more items with us."
The new fee structure, announced to a gathering of 200 of eBay's top North American sellers in Washington, goes into effect Feb. 20 in the United States. More pricing changes are coming shortly in the United Kingdom and Germany.

EBay has struggled with flattening growth in recent years and a temporary drop in the number of items for sale on its site.

Listings on eBay's various sites in the fourth quarter rose 4 percent, reversing two straight quarters of declines, the company reported last week. The number of people actively using the site has also stagnated, rising just 2 percent from a year ago.

The online auctioneer has faced increasing competition from other e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com, which does not charge a listing fee.

EBay's various fees have long been a point of contention for its sellers, which range from mom-and-pop vendors to online stores with large inventories.
The changes come as longtime chief executive Meg Whitman announced she would retire at the end of March. Incoming CEO John Donahoe, president of eBay Marketplaces, which encompasses its shopping sites and classifieds, has said he will aggressively change eBay's product, customer approach and business model.
Along with changes to the fee structure, eBay said it will change how sellers show up on customer searches. Those with high rates of customer dissatisfaction will get lower exposure in a search, the company said.

[fashion]

EBay Lowers Listing Fees will cut by up to 50 percent the fees it charges sellers to list their goods online, in an effort to boost listings and keep pace with other burgeoning e-commerce sites.
To balance the fee cut, the company plans to increase its commission on items that do sell, a method the company says sellers prefer because it lowers their risk if items do not sell.
The greatest fee increase will come for goods selling for less than $25. EBay's fee for those transactions will rise 67 percent, to 8.75 percent of the final sale price.
"A majority of sellers will see their fees go down," said company spokesman Usher Lieberman. "We are basing our success on their success and we want to encourage sellers to list more items with us."

The new fee structure, announced to a gathering of 200 of eBay's top North American sellers in Washington, goes into effect Feb. 20 in the United States. More pricing changes are coming shortly in the United Kingdom and Germany.
EBay has struggled with flattening growth in recent years and a temporary drop in the number of items for sale on its site.
Listings on eBay's various sites in the fourth quarter rose 4 percent, reversing two straight quarters of declines, the company reported last week. The number of people actively using the site has also stagnated, rising just 2 percent from a year ago.
The online auctioneer has faced increasing competition from other e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com, which does not charge a listing fee.

EBay's various fees have long been a point of contention for its sellers, which range from mom-and-pop vendors to online stores with large inventories.
The changes come as longtime chief executive Meg Whitman announced she would retire at the end of March. Incoming CEO John Donahoe, president of eBay Marketplaces, which encompasses its shopping sites and classifieds, has said he will aggressively change eBay's product, customer approach and business model.
Along with changes to the fee structure, eBay said it will change how sellers show up on customer searches. Those with high rates of customer dissatisfaction will get lower exposure in a search.

[Hoss]

Vendors who sell their goods on eBay are scratching their heads after the company unveiled a new fee structure in effort to boost listings and maintain its share of the online auction market it helped start a decade ago.

While eBay says more than 60 percent of its sellers will save money with the new plan, several sellers have crunched their numbers and consider the rejigging a fee hike.
We call it eBay math, it's a different math than most other people's math," said Randy Smythe, who used to sell music and movies on eBay from Southern California.