EcommerceBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on ecommerce.
by Ina Steiner, Editor of EcommerceBytes.com

Wed Apr 29 2015 19:53:44

eBay Rolls Out May Day Fees - Are You Prepared?

By: Ina Steiner

eBay fee hikes and adjustments take effect on Friday, and many sellers will find the cost of listing on eBay going up if they make no changes to their listing strategies. Especially hard hit are sellers in the media categories.

As we noted in our Guide to the eBay Spring Seller Release, there are two changes that could help some sellers: eBay will provide credits for insertion fees for auction listings that sell; and it will eliminate the 10-day auction duration surcharge (however, it's instituting a new $1 surcharge on short-duration listings).

One thing we failed to highlight in our initial coverage was the impact on sellers with Premium and Anchor Stores who run auction listings. Currently, the Premium Store comes with 500 free listings and the Anchor Store comes with 2,500 free listings - in any format.

Beginning on May 1st, eBay will limit the 500 free listings that come with Premium Stores to fixed-price only - likewise with the 2,500 free listings that come with Anchor Stores. eBay will provide all Store owners with an additional 100 free listings that can be used for auction listings, but they can only be used for collectibles.

An anchor storeowner who has been using the 2,500 free listings to list 2,000 fixed price listings and 500 auction listings will now pay an extra $50 for those auction listings (500 x 10 cents). If they had listed 1,500 fixed price and 1,000 auction listings, they'll now be paying an extra $100. That's on top of the $59.95/month (for Premium Stores) or $199.95/month (for Anchor Stores) they pay in subscription fees. Note the additional fees would be slightly less if the seller is listing certain collectibles.

So with eBay limiting the number of auction listings you can run for free, but giving an insertion-fee credit should the auction sell, does eBay like auctions or not? Some things to think about:

This month, eBay note its problems with Google SEO continued to impact growth negatively in the first quarter - and that could explain why it likes fixed-price listings and longer duration listings.

It also revealed auction GMV was down 12% worldwide (excluding the impact of foreign exchange). "FX neutral global fixed price GMV grew 10% and auctions GMV declined 12%," eBay noted on an earnings slide for analysts.

In general, sellers don't like upfront listing costs, but that's exactly what eBay is doing with the May 1st fee changes (for auctions).

One seller wrote on the eBay boards they believed eBay was trying to increase visibility while limiting junk, but said (s)he believed the changes would actually result in small sellers limiting obscure items that they aren't sure if there's an interest in - the type of items that makes eBay interesting to shoppers.

We'd like to know what changes you're making as a result of the May 1st fee changes, or if you're waiting to see it play out.

Comments (43) | Leave Comment | Permalink

Readers Comments

eBay Rolls Out May Day Fees - Are You Prepared?

by: RichieC

Mon May 25 09:13:09 2015

What's wrong with you all! Don't you understand these are the JOB creators, the 1%'ers! You should be happy to give them more, you should be happy they allow you to eat and feed your children!
All praise the Corporation (people,) those that now buy Free Speech! Remember... Unions are bad, Government is bad, it's all the poor peoples fault! Once we do away with all those nasty, terrible Government Agencies things will be so much better, believe, trust them! You know you all hate the black guy in the White House! So give the power to those 1%'ers, those job creators, once the 2 Class System is complete, it will so much better! No more of this nonsense chatter!!!
Remember, Remember, Remember... Unions Bad, Government Bad, People that are Poor, Look or Talk Different are BAD!!!

VOTE REPUBLICAN, lets take back our country!!!!!!!!!!!!

eBay Rolls Out May Day Fees - Are You Prepared?

by: Jester

Mon May 25 13:40:38 2015

Reducing the starting price of your auction item, more than the credit you would receive, to insure you get a credit back for the cost of an auction seems stupid and a way to loose money.

eBay Rolls Out May Day Fees - Are You Prepared?

by: Jester

Mon May 25 13:56:35 2015

eBay's problem is they are loosing traffic and buyers. Buyers want to be able to find items they want easily. But both Amazon and eBay have this problem. When I shop I use google search to find my item and that is bad news for online selling sites. I am a seller on both sites and if I have problems finding items on their sites you know that the unsophisticated buyers are having problems. I know Amazon is kicking eBays butt right now but AZ's listings keywords, titles and searches leave much to be desired.

Private label entrepreneurs are having a field day on Amazon by creating great listings with keyword optimization, clear description listings and great pictures.

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