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August 20, 2008

No eBay Fees For Listing?

Are eBay fees about to make a dramatic change? Many analysts think that the new CEO of eBay, John Donahoe, is going to do just that. What he is planning to do is eliminate listing fees - meaning it will be free to list an item for sale on eBay. The seller would only pay if the auction/BIN results in a sale. A nd he will possibly make these changes in time for the 2008 holiday season.

Certainly a powerful reason for this change is the dramatic success of Amazon. The famous online store has apparently lured away many eBay sellers because of its policies:

1. No listing fees
2. A sale fee (in eBay terms, a Final Value Fee) of 15%

Personally, I think a 15% fee is beyond outrageous, but Amazon is much like WalMart ... they dictate the terms and if we don't like it, tough! It might be interesting to test demand on Amazon and then offer successful items on eBay. However, if Donahoe changes the eBay fees there won't be any need for that. Stay tuned for further developments.

 

Posted by SydneyJohnston at August 20, 2008 12:35 PM