The news is out and we now know what the changes for eBay.com will be for the next few months. For those of us in the UK there’s not too many clues as to what will happen in the UK as it appears eBay.com are playing catch up with many of the changes duplicating what’s happened in the UK over the last year.
The end of Store Inventory Format (SIF)
SIF listings will cease to exist on eBay.com as of March 30th this year simplifying the choice of listing format for US sellers. Now all listings will appear in the main search results and existing Store Inventory Format listings will automatically become regular Fixed Price listings.
New Stores subscription costs and listing fees
As of March 30, 2010 the eBay.com fee structure will mirror the UK with low upfront costs and the bulk of fees being success based payable only when an item sells.
For fixed price listings the fees are:
No Store Subscription: 50¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, no monthly fee
BASIC: 20¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, $15.95/month
PREMIUM: 5¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, $49.95/month
ANCHOR: 3¢ Fixed Price Insertion Fees, $299.95/month
Casual sellers will be able to list up to 100 auctions with 99¢ no reserve start price for free on eBay.com and only pay if their item sells. The final value fee will be 9% capped at $50.00. Insertion fees for higher start prices will be the same as those for Store subscribers, although subscribing to a store will lower your final value fees.
Store subscribers will get up to 12 pictures on their listings for free!
For most sellers the fee changes will mean significantly lower up front fees so less risk, with final value success based fees largely unchanged. Sellers can subscribe or upgrade their eBay Store now and pay no additional monthly subscription fees until April 2010
New Buyer and Seller protection
eBay buyer protection is rolling over from PayPal to the new eBay resolution process along with automatic final value fee refunds when you refund your buyer. For sellers unpaid items can be opened in the resolution process as few as four days from the date of sale giving faster resolution with eBay handling communications with the buyer.
Top Seller and PowerSeller status
Top Seller status is being expanded to more sellers, eBay Motors traders will be able to qualify and US based sellers will be able to qualify as Top Sellers based on sales on eBay.co.uk, eBay.ie, eBay.de, eBay.ch and eBay.at. To qualify as a Top Seller in EU countries sellers must be registered as business sellers.
From mid April new seller requirements will apply to all sellers, not just Top Sellers and new PowerSeller discounts will come into effect. In addition sellers need to remove all PowerSeller icons, logos and references from their listings.
Multi Variation Listings expanded
Multi Variation Listings will be available in more categories allowing sellers to consolidate products with colour or size differences into a single listing. This not only reduces insertion fees but also as the listings receive sales will boost the listings position in Best Match.
The effect of the changes
No doubt there’s going to be plenty of conversation around the changes for eBay.com sellers, but in truth although the changes are complex for UK sellers they’re almost mundane. UK sellers have already been working for a year with more expensive eBay shop subscriptions, lower insertion fees, higher (in some cases) final value fees and no shop inventory format listings. The net result for many sellers has been a cut in their total eBay invoice, although for UK sellers who sell mainly or exclusively on auction format did see a fee increase.
So if you’re in the US what do you think of the changes? If you’re in the UK are there any clues in the latest US announcement as to what changes could be coming to us when eBay announce changes for the UK?
