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EBay lowers auction fees

EBay said on Tuesday it is cutting fees it charges people to offer items for sale and raising standards on its auction Web site.

In a move aimed at staving off increasing competition from the likes of Google and Craigslist, eBay is trimming fees it charges aspiring sellers by as much as half.

"Consumers have more choices than ever and they expect more when they shop online today," said John Donahoe, who takes over for Meg Whitman as eBay chief executive at the end of March. "We're serious about making eBay easier and safer to shop."

This is the first time eBay has offered incentives and discounts to sellers since it was founded in 1995 by French-born Iranian computer programmer Pierre Omidyar.

EBay said fee changes will be rolled out globally and vary from country to country but are essentially intended to encourage more people to use the website for selling items.

EBay will reduce listing fees, which it calls "insertion fees," by 25 percent to 50 percent beginning Feb. 20 and offset the discount by bumping up "final value" fees it charges when items are sold.

People offering items for sale reportedly prefer such a structure because it reduces expenses when things don't sell.

"Put simply, we will make more of our money when sellers are successful," Donahoe said.

The company is getting rid of fees charged in the US for aspiring sellers to display pictures of items in a "gallery."

EBay said it is raising its standards for sellers to discourage excessive shipping fees, vague item descriptions, and other "behavior that causes buyer dissatisfaction."

Sellers with histories of customer complaints will be lowered in search results provided to eBay shoppers and be required to use "safe payment options" such as major credit cards or PayPal online financial transaction service.

Sellers with sterling reputations and high volumes of transactions will be eligible for fee discounts and PayPal payment protections.
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