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Good (or Bad) News for eBay Sellers

January 30, 2008 RSS Feed Print

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Attention eBay addicts: The company has announced that beginning February 20, it will cut the fees sellers pay to list items. At the same time, it will charge higher commissions when items do sell. The company says the new approach will reduce the risk for sellers, who don't want to pay fees for items that don't sell. Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, explained online, "You said you'd prefer fees for success, not listing."

This sounds like a helpful move for heavy eBay users who list many items at once, but I'm not sure it's good news for more casual sellers. For example, say you sell a $500 wedding dress at auction on the site. Before the changes, you would pay a $4.80 listing fee plus $16.75 in commission on the sale for a total fee of $21.55. After the changes, you'll pay a $4 listing fee plus almost $19 in commission, for a total of almost $23.

But you have still unloaded a wedding dress you no longer want, so maybe the difference is just pennies to you.

Tags:: eBay,; shopping

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On a more measured note, I found this article in my efforts to find a better place to post my items for sale to interested parties. I am heartened and happy to see that others are unhappy with EBay and critical of their practices. I do believe its true that they are not working with their customers but rather they are taking human beings who are the very same that are making them rich and then categorically reducing them to units of potential profit. As a result their relationship to their customer base is adversarial in that charging what the market will bear justifies a lack of moral and ethical constraint to charge what is fair and reasonable. Essentially by charging as much as they think they can get away with is indicative of a primarily hostile and advantaging position toward people by other people who can sense this unpleasant attitude right away and don't like it - just at an instinctual level much less the validity of point by point critiques found in the comments posted here. Just speaking from the analysis of the primitive and reactive perspective which I fully expressed in my first comment to my mild embarrassment.But I hope readers get my point that corporate and business behaviors often lack moral and ethical constraints as unacceptable and alienating behaviors are justified by terms such as " charging what the market will bear.". This is the biggest problem with capitalism in the United States which has ravaged the vox populi and overrun the govt with corruption and greed. The amorality of business and business practices and the philosophical foundations of capital and its "ism "

Elizabeth L of CA 8:16AM November 17, 2012

EBay used to be a company that I liked and respected because they offered a vital and huge venue for commerce between people and not just store to consumer. I felt like EBay was providing this "social service" and that their fees and such were fair. I did not use EBay for some ten years and recently revisited to sell some prized items due to economic hard times to find that EBay had transformed into this massive, fee-riddled, pile of corporate crap! I was shocked at how obviously usurious, greedy and bloated EBay had become. I was so turned off by the results of the degenerate corporate greed, power path EBay had taken, I could not even post a thing, due to the level of resentment I knew was unavoidable if I sold very precious and dear things from my family because I need to pay rent. To then have EBay just take a big greedy pie slice right out of the middle of my profits of tears to fatten its already torporous and gluttonous haunches just made me sick! Especially, sick obviously if you think in hyperbole and grotesque imagery like I do! Anyways, I have no interest in using EBay again as the overall attitude of greed and getting over on consumers is so blatant and off putting from ten or more yrs. Ago to the present.

Elizabeth L of CA 7:34AM November 17, 2012

Ebay is no longer in the top 10 of internet sites. It is trying to impress too much control over sellers, its fee structure is steep, and they have a large banned items list. Have you ever tried to list a vintage Balwin piano, that has ivory keys, or a dozen quail chicks for ranch re-population? If you had, you would have discovered that ebay cancelled your listing, charged you all the fees anyway, and warned you -if you listed a banned item again, they would suspened you. There is an ebay alternative that allows these legal, but banned items, lets you list them for free, and charges very low final value fees. It is ealtbay.com, and paypal is not necessary! Use this site to sell those difficult items that can't even be listed on Ebay.

Frank Simmons of TX 7:35PM January 21, 2011

Good (or Bad) News for eBay Sellers

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