Some eBay Inc sellers on Monday balked at concessions made over the weekend by the giant Web marketplace, which is still planning to go forward with previously announced fee increases that will hit people who peddle wares through small stores on the site. Bill Cobb, eBay's president of North America, on Sunday offered an olive branch to users, saying in a letter the company was cutting fees to list the least expensive items for sale on eBay and promising to provide better customer service.
Posters on eBay's online message board called Seller Central on Monday said the effort amounted to "peanuts" and reiterated frequently aired complaints that it is getting too expensive to do business on eBay.
In his letter, Cobb said the company was standing by its previously announced plan to increase final selling fees related to its Store Inventory Format, a proposal that prompted small eBay Store operators to complain that they were being unfairly singled out.
Store Inventory Format fees apply to listings on items offered for sale over a long period at fixed prices through eBay Stores. In 2004, 7 percent of all items listed on eBay were listed using Stores Inventory Format, eBay spokesman Hani Durzy told Reuters.
As a concession, Cobb said the Web marketplace will give sellers who operate eBay Stores in April 2005 a $15.95 credit - the new price for a one-month basic store subscription. EBay on February 18 is raising the monthly subscription price for a basic eBay Store to $15.95 from $9.95.
Jennifer Argentino, a part-time seller of toys and video games based near Niagara Falls, New York, said it never made sense for her to set up an eBay Store.
"I find the stores to be a waste of money," said Argentino, who added that her selling fees have been steadily rising and that she pays about 10 percent of an item's selling price to cover fees to eBay and its online payment system PayPal.
As the undisputed leader in its market, eBay attracts significantly more buyers than competing auction systems operated by Overstock.com. and Yahoo Inc.
Argentino said eBay's broad popularity has even begun to feed some offline competition as people turn to eBay as a guide for setting prices at yard sales, thrift stores and other venues where many eBay sellers have traditionally picked up items for far less than they could later sell them for on eBay.
EBay on Monday cut its minimum listing fee to 25 cents from 30 cents on items with starting bids of 1 cent to 99 cents.
The lowered fees apply to auction-style and fixed-priced listings on its core site, with the exception of vehicles listed on eBay motors and most capital equipment items on eBay.com and eBay.ca, the company's site in Canada. The company declined to say what percentage of items listed on its site would be affected by the change.
"I've also heard concerns about customer support, the amount of change we make to the site on a regular basis, and trust and safety," Cobb said in his letter. To that end, eBay will shut down most of its automated e-mail responses to customer support questions within 90 days.
The company is also offering telephone support to all eBay Store owners starting on April 1. Phone support is currently only available only to eBay PowerSellers, who sell goods valued at least $3,000, when averaged over 3 months.
In a note to clients on Monday, Pacific Growth Equities analyst Derek Brown said the move by eBay signaled that eBay's "near- and medium-term margins may come down, with more significant support costs and incrementally less revenue per transaction."
"Management is finally beginning to admit and acknowledge the pain and frustration of its most important customers," Brown said.
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