eBay courts entrepreneurs with fee cuts
Online auction website eBay is to reduce its charges in a bid to attract more entrepreneurs to use the service.
eBay said from 24 September up-front fees will be cut for all products listed at a fixed price, with extra charges only payable whem a item is sold.
The company also plans to remove fees for posting images and to give fixed-price listings greater prominence in search results.
An increasing number of individuals and businesses have turned to fixed prices over recent years with sales via the 'Buy it now' feature accounting for 43% of eBay.co.uk's total sales.
Critics claim that the real beneficiaries of eBay's move will be its large retail partners but the company says every size of seller will actually reap rewards from the new fee structure, be they big corporates turning over millions or a mother selling the occasional item.
"E-commerce is now mainstream," Clare Gilmartin, director of marketplaces for eBay in the UK, told the Guardian.
"We see our competitive set as a broad one - anywhere where a buyer can buy stuff online. That might be Amazon or the more traditional bricks and clicks. But the big advantage we have is choice - mums sitting alongside entrepreneurs, sitting alongside big retailers."
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BusinessZONE - 20-Aug-2008
Categories: News
Story read: 2550
