eBay Updates
Yes, I know the book has only been out for a month, but January is traditionally when eBay makes the most changes. On this page you will find all of the relevant changes that have occurred so far.
eBay posts changes on the General Announcements Board which is worth checking periodically.
eBay Fees - effective February 22, 2006
Very few fees have actually been increased. In fact a couple have been reduced. This is a quick run down of the changes that become effective on February 22, 2006:
Insertion Fee: The only change was in the lowest bracket ($0.01-$0.99), which was reduced from 25¢ to 20¢.
Final Value Fee:
| Selling Price | Current Fee | New Fee |
| $0.01-$25.00 | 5.25% | No Change |
| $25.01-$1,000.00 | $1.31 plus 2.75% of balance between $25.01 and $1,000 | $1.31 plus 3% of balance between $25.01 and $1,000 |
| Over $1,000.01 | $28.12 plus 1.5% of balance over $1,000.01 | $30.56 plus 1.5% of balance over $1,000.01 |
Picture Show: (slide show) Was 25¢, now FREE.
Reserve Price: For reserve prices in the $200+ bracket, the fee was 1% with a cap of $100. The fee is still 1%, but the cap has been reduced to $50.
Feature Packs: eBay is now bundling optional listing features that are commonly used together:
The Value Pack consists of Listing Designer (10¢), Gallery (35¢) and Subtitle (50¢) which totals 95¢. The Value Pack will cost 65¢ when all three options are used together.
The Pro Pack consists of Bold ($1), Border ($3), Highlight ($5), Featured Plus! ($19.95) and Gallery Featured ($19.95) which a la carte totals $48.90. The Pro Pack will cost $29.95.
Monthly Subscriptions - Effective March 1, 2006
Picture Manager: The amount of storage space has increased and the price has dropped in both tiers 2 and 3 (tier 1 is unchanged).
| eBay Store Subscription Level | ||||
| Tier | Storage Space | Basic | Featured | Anchor |
| 1 | 50MB (no change) | $9.99 | $4.99 | FREE |
| 2 | Was: 125MB | Was: $19.99 | Was: $14.99 | Was: $4.99 |
| Now: 250MB | Now: $14.99 | Now: $9.99 | Now: FREE | |
| 3 | Was: 300MB | Was: $39.99 | Was: $34.99 | Was: $14.99 |
| Now: 1GB | Now: $24.99 | Now: $19.99 | Now: FREE | |
Sales Reports Plus: Sales Reports is already free but, as of March 1, 2006, Sales Reports Plus will also be free. The current cost is $4.99 a month.
BidPay
As you know, I have never been a big fan of BidPay. I think they charged too much for the slow service they provided. Effective December 31, 2005, BidPay no longer offers auction payment services. This really limits sellers to using PayPal for online transactions, but since that is what I recommend anyway, I don't think this is too much of an issue.
USPS Postage Increases - Effective January 8, 2006
All of the fee increases are listed here on the USPS web page. But the two I deal with most are Priority Mail envelopes and boxes. The under 1lb/flat-rate envelope cost has gone up from $3.85 to $4.05. The Flat-Rate boxes have gone up from $7.70 to $8.10. Delivery confirmation remains free if you purchase your postage online, but if you purchase at a Post Office location, it has gone up from 45¢ to 50¢.
eBay Stores Listings Duration
You cannot schedule a listing for more than 30 days in your eBay store. This doesn't really make any difference to sellers because the fees were (and remain) calculated per 30 day duration. It just requires that you start a new listing each month.
©2005 Lissa McGrath. All Rights Reserved. Sample chapter from 20 Questions to ask Before Selling on eBay is reproduced here with permission of CareerPress. You may download it for personal use. Do not redistribute, repackage or resell any material on this website.
