On January 12, eBay announced its plan to change fees. With this declaration, eBay bid customer satisfaction adieu. The changes eBay is making will not be effective until midnight Pacific Time on February 18, 2005. Any item beginning after that time will be charged with the new fees. Though the change is weeks away, eBay users expressed anger on the discussion boards and are looking elsewhere to post auctions.Small increases in gallery fees, “Buy It Now” listings, and eBay motors fees are not what is causing all the fuss. By far, the most significant change coming to eBay will affect eBay store owners. The monthly fee subscription will be raised 60 percent, from $9.95 to $15.95. The new fee will not apply to featured and anchor stores, just the basic eBay store. Final value fees, also referred to as selling fees, will also be increased. Originally 5.25 percent, store owners will now pay 8 percent of an item’s closing price when it sells from $0.01 to $25. The higher the closing price, the more the selling fee is. An item over $25 has an additional price, which is almost doubled, as well as items over $1,000.
Cheap, fast, and relatively simple, eBay has been a service many came to rely upon. On eBay’s frequently asked questions page, they rationalize the changes by saying, “eBay carefully evaluates the pricing structure and, from time to time, determines that some prices should be increased and others should be reduced. We believe that these changes are the right thing to do to ensure the continued success of eBay and the vibrancy of the eBay marketplace. These changes will allow us to provide our members with an even more valuable marketplace and help them become more successful in the future.”
While the minor changes affecting eBay regulars without a store are not much to panic about, store owners have been releasing frustration all over the Internet. For someone who makes a portion of his/her household income from eBay store sales and is struggling to break even, the fee changes will cause an uncertain amount of damage. Many eBay store owners have vowed to close their store on February 17, with some now looking to alternatives like Yahoo Auctions, Overstock.com Auctions, and ubid.com. The true impact of eBay’s fee changes will not be known until they are activated on February 18.