Several seniors who sell on ebay have sent in warnings of an approaching fee increase. The fee increase starts April 19, 2011.
The increased cost to sellers comes in the form of an added charge to each auction transaction. Sellers will be charged the final value fee on the shipping cost paid by the buyer. This allows Ebay to earn a commission on the shipping expense for each auction style transaction.
One senior who sells old, framed, prints has already been looking in to other auction sites. One is onlineauctions.com . The senior explains he sells about 15 large framed prints per month. The senior sends his purchased prints through the United States Postal Service. Due to the large size, and the weight of the frame, glass, the senior pays about 24.00 per shipped picture. This does not include the box and packing material.
Sellers perceive this as a strategy by Ebay to compete with larger online selling sites like Amazon.com Essentially Ebay has dropped the 100 free listings per month to 50 at any start price and threw in buy it now. The increased reveunue from charging commission (Final Value Fees) to the seller for shipping cost paid by the buyer, will easily offset this.
The senior sellers express the sense that Ebay is looking for larger corporate sellers due to the slow growth of their online marketplace. Charging commission on shipping cost is thought to push smaller sellers toward other online auctions sites.
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