eBay raises fees yet again... is another seller revolt coming?

Brian White — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:14:00 EST

Filed under: Rumors, Products and Services, Management, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, eBay (EBAY)

Oh no, here we go again. Melly covered the recent news from this morning about eBay Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EBAY) new fee increases, but I had to chime in with a perspective since the last time this happened, some eBay sellers seemed to go off the deep end.

Bill Cobb, President of eBay, has just sent out a mass email to eBay sellers with the information that more fee increases are coming. The last time this happened at the end of the summer in 2006, Sheldon Liber and I had quite a time with posts about eBay and some of the most salient reader comments I've yet seen came in about the various posts.

Well, here are now, with yet another set of fees about to hit eBay sellers at the end of January (details here). Will this cause another complete and utter outpouring of madness, disgust, and 'seller revolt' like what appeared to happen the last time around?

While that is not clear, expect the blogosphere, message boards, and just about every other interactive medium on the 'net to light up this week regarding the new fee increases. When is enough enough? I am not sure how to answer that, but the brand power eBay has apparently has given the company the confidence to know it can jack up fees regularly and still say in business quite well. That is, unless, sellers revolt -- and strongly.

eBay raises fees yet again... is another seller revolt coming? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay announces eBay Express -- a new service for non-auction shoppers

Amey Stone — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:29:00 EST

Filed under: Press Releases, Products and Services, Launches, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, eBay (EBAY)

Today eBay officially announced its much-anticipated new service, eBay Express (read the release). From what I can tell (I haven't tried it yet myself), it is essentially a separate site for customers who are looking for new stuff and not only want to skip the auction process, but want to buy from several different sellers all at once. Only "qualified eBay merchants" are allowed to sell from the site. That should provide users some assurance that what they buy will actually arrive and be in the condition they expect.

Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, explained the goal pretty clearly in the release, "eBay Express is for buyers who prefer a more conventional online shopping experience," he said. "We think eBay Express will attract new buyers to eBay and inspire existing buyers to use eBay even more."

I think eBay Express is a good idea and I plan to use it (I'll write about my experience here). But for investors, I want to point out that this is a major new step in eBay's evolution of becoming an e-commerce retailer -- not an auction site.

Here are some quick observations on the significance:

Continue reading eBay announces eBay Express -- a new service for non-auction shoppers

eBay announces eBay Express -- a new service for non-auction shoppers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Apr 2006 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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