eBay UK have just announced that insertion fees for private sellers on auctions starting at 99p or less are to be abolished. At the same time, Final Value Fees are being increased to 10% across all price tranches (regardless of starting bid), up to a maximum FVF of £40. eBay say:
We’re continuing our commitment to moving the cost of selling on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie away from front end fees so that the majority of fees are paid only when you successfully sell an item.
The changes do remove some of the risk from selling on eBay: when you’re a private seller and can look at every 10p, there can be little more depressing than a seller invoice when you haven’t sold anything. But don’t get too excited: if you’re selling something that finishes for more than a tenner, or you’re listing in the media categories, your fees just increased. Here’s how they compare (for non-tech, non-media categories):
| Selling price | Old fees | New fees |
|---|---|---|
| 99p | 19p | 10p |
| £4.99 | 54p | 50p |
| £9.99 | 97p | £1.00 |
| £29.99 | £2.72 | £3.00 |
| £99.99 | £6.40 | £10.00 |
Media categories already had free insertion fees, with FVFs at 9%, so that’s a straight increase had 5p insertion fees with FVFs of 9%, so that will be a fee increase on any item sold at more than £5.00.
The new fees will apply from 12th March. Please note: fee changes apply to private sellers listing auctions on eBay UK only. There is no change to the fees for business sellers or BIN listings.
Though “risk free” selling will undoubtedly appeal to many private sellers, I can’t help thinking that by pushing them towards 99p auctions, eBay are forcing them to take another, more costly risk: that their items will sell for much less than they would have with a higher start price, or on Buy It Now.
I’d imagine that the kind of items private sellers are likely to list – and I have no actual data on this whatsoever – are going to be clothing, children’s toys, DVDs, CDs, books. In other words, the kind of thing that is replicated in thousands right across the eBay site. These kind of ‘commodity’ items do not do well at auction: if you start them at 99p, you’ll be lucky to finish at £1.04. Buyers don’t need to compete to win because there are a dozen or more all the same. Moreover, they don’t want to wait to see if they’ve ‘won’ a 99p DVD; it’s easier to use BIN and get on with their lives.
What a push towards 99p auctions might do, though, is to restore eBay as the place to grab a bargain. eBay’s home page used to carry links for items “ending soon, no bids” – and a short browse would uncover a gem or three which could be picked up for pence. I’d bet on that link or one like it being restored to eBay UK’s home page in late March; let’s hope it brings the buyers back with it