Online auctioneer eBay Inc. on Monday said it will soon raise the fee it charges to list the most expensive items on its site by 45 percent as part of its first such fee increases since 2001.
The fee hike, which was accompanied by a pledge to credit sellers for listing fees when initial winning bidders fail to pay, underscores eBay's powerful position in online auctions, one analyst said.
"Prices are something that we constantly evaluate. It came time to do it," eBay spokesman Hani Durzy told Reuters.
Past fee increases have not disrupted the upward trend of gross merchandise sales, or the total value of goods sold at eBay, he said.
San Jose, California-based eBay on Monday unveiled the new fee schedule for its main auction site and its specialty site, eBay Motors. The changes, which include a price cut on promotional placement, will go into effect in the coming weeks.
Listing fees, which eBay calls insertion fees, on Feb. 2 will go up 17 percent for items with starting prices of $1 to $9.99. Fees for items priced at $10 to $499.99 will rise 9.1 percent. Items priced at $500 and up will carry a fee of $4.80, a 45 percent increase from the current listing fee of $3.30.
Meanwhile, the fee for listing the cheapest items -- those priced between a penny and $9.99 -- will remain 30 cents.
Insertion fees for motorcycles on eBay Motors will be raised to $30 from $25. Transaction services fees for motorcycles also will increase to $30 from $25.
The 10-day listing fee on eBay.com and eBay Motors Parts & Accessories is doubling to 20 cents, while free 10-day listings for automobiles, motorcycles and other vehicles on eBay Motors will soon carry a new fee of $5.
Ebay's Durzy said he expected a mixed reaction from sellers. "Some are going to be more pleased about it than others. It's probably a little too early to tell," he said.
But the new pricing came as no surprise to U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy.
"It's a positive indication that they can do it. ... that they can absorb any shock from it," Rashtchy said.
On other fronts, users of eBay's Seller's Assistant Pro software which helps bulk sellers manage their listings, will see monthly subscription fees rise to $24.99 from $15.99.
Also starting on Feb. 2, eBay will issue fee credits when sellers relist and successfully sell items after an earlier sale failed to close because the winning bidder did not pay.
The company also is cutting the cost to have items added to a rotation of featured listings that appear at the bottom right side of the eBay.com home page.
On Jan. 31 eBay will cut that fee permanently to the current promotional fee of $39.95 for a single item, compared with the prior fee of $99.95. The fee for multiple items, which had been $199.95, will be cut to match the current promotional price of $79.95.
A full listing of changes to U.S. fees is available at www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing.shtml. Some international eBay sites also have changed their fee structures, eBay said.
