eBay Strives to Regain Balance as the Dragon Stalks

Customer Unrest May Be a Smokescreen to a Bigger Threat

Strange rumblings of discontent are evident within the eBay community and for the past few weeks I have been investigating what all the fuss is about.

Since announcements went out around the world that eBay would be increasing fees to their 'store' owners, a torrent of complaint and blogging mayhem has appeared on the Web. At first glance a few cents extra to list items on eBay and a modest uplift in the final sales commission didn't seem to warrant the uproar that followed. But, by reading eBay's own forums, exploring various other sites and speaking to eBay vendors, I now have a much clearer picture.

First we need to understand that eBay has been aggressively marketing the stores concept to users who sell relatively high volumes through their site. A store owner pays a monthly subscription of between $15.95 and $499.95, depending on the size and features required by the store. This store is effectively a mini semi-branded website within the eBay trading community. The store owner still pays to offer an item for sale, charged every thirty days it remains unsold, and he also pays a final commission to eBay on sales. However, it seems the predictable controversy and complaint over the fee hikes has been, not just fueled, but ignited by a drastic reduction of the visibility given to store listings when buyers use the main eBay search engine.

One high volume seller reported an immediate drop off in his sales numbers approaching 80%. Now I was beginning to see the reasons for the outcry. Losing such a level of sales and being hit with additional costs does seem to be a very aggressive move against store owners who, just weeks before, were being actively recruited by eBay. One post on an eBay forum described it this way; "The fee hike we've been handed to stock the shelves is a pain. The added fee hike we've been landed with each item we sell makes it a much worse pain. But to then have our store windows boarded up so we have no buyers coming in is killing us."