Selling Fees Information

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is impacted by the fee changes?

The Featured Plus fee changes will affect eBay sellers who choose Featured Plus to list their items in the following four categories:

Consumer Electronics (CatID:293)
Camera and Accessories (CatID:625)
Cars, Motorcycles and Parts (CatID:9800)
Computers (CatID:160)

The Stores subscription fee changes will impact eBay Stores sellers who have subscribed to a Basic Store.
The Store Inventory Format fee changes will impact eBay Stores sellers who use Store Inventory Format listing, which is an additional listing format that is only available to eBay Stores subscribers.

eBay Stores sellers who only use the Auction, Auction with Buy It Now, and Fixed Price listing formats and sellers who do not have an eBay Store will not be impacted by these changes.

2. When will the new Fees become effective on eBay.com.au?

All fee changes will become effective as of 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21st August, 2006. Listings that begin on or after 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August 2006 will be charged the new fees, regardless of when the listing was created.

For example, if a listing is created prior to 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August, 2006 but scheduled to start after 23:23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August, 2006, then the new Insertion Fees for each 30-day duration will be charged. Store Inventory listings created and scheduled to start before 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August, 2006 will be charged the old (current) Insertion Fees.

3. Are there any changes to fees in other countries?

If you sell your items on other eBay sites (outside of eBay.com.au), we recommend that you visit the Announcement Board for each site you sell on to learn about any fee changes for that particular site.

To view the Announcement Board, please follow these steps:

Go to the home page of the site you are selling on.
Click the 'Community' tab found at the top of most eBay pages.
Click the 'See all Announcements' link under the 'News' heading.

4. Why is eBay increasing fees?

From time to time, it is necessary for eBay to adjust fees in order to help guide selling trends and to manage the overall experience of the eBay marketplace. One of the main reasons for the price changes is that buyers have expressed a number of concerns to us regarding the large quantity of Store Inventory Format listings onsite along with the over-use of Featured Plus listings. Buyers indicated that these two features lead to:

Searches producing too many results and creating a confusing buying experience
Searches being less relevant, making it difficult for buyers to find what they are looking for.

Increasing the fees on Store Inventory Format listings will help improve the buyer experience by increasing core listings on the site and minimising Store Inventory Format listings.

eBay has two listing formats:

Core Listings
These listing formats include online auction and Fixed Price (Buy It Now) and deliver the signature eBay buying experience. Core listings create an easy and exciting experience for buyers as well as fast turnover and strong cash flow for sellers. Listings in this format will not be affected by the fee changes, except for those that utilise Featured Plus in certain categories.
Store Inventory Format Listings
These listing formats allow sellers who subscribe to eBay Stores to list stock which may take longer to sell. These listings complement core listings. However, changes we have made to Store Inventory Format listing visibility since February of this year have dramatically increased the number of these listings and also the price of the items listed, thereby changing the buyer experience.

These changes are necessary to ensure buying on eBay remains easy and fun for everyday Australians by limiting exposure of Store Inventory Format listings and encouraging greater use of core listings format and as a result, rebalancing the marketplace. We expect that these changes will improve the buying experience on eBay which will ultimately improve business for sellers.

5. How do I learn more and contact eBay with my questions?

We welcome your feedback and suggestions on these changes and therefore, there will be several ways for you to voice your suggestions or to ask questions.

Contact Customer Support
You can contact Customer Support via our online 'Contact Us' form. To access the online form, please go to the following page:

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/contact_us/_base/index.html
You may post your questions and suggestions to the discussion thread on the Round Table discussion board.

To access the Round Table, please go to the following Page:

http://forums.ebay.com.au/forum.jspa?forumID=18

Additionally, to help sellers maximise the success of their Stores and Store Inventory Format listings, eBay will be providing the following resources:

Online workshops - to educate sellers on how to optimise their Stores and how to use Stores more effectively. eBay will also be educating buyers on the benefits of purchasing from sellers with a Store
Onsite Education - on Stores to help sellers get immediate access to Frequently Asked Questions and common concerns as well as show sellers how to best utilise their store
Increased Multiple listing limit - In response to requests from sellers, eBay will be raising the 10-item multiple listings limit to 20 items, effective 22 August, 2006.
Store Inventory Format listings in Search - we will continue to include an unlimited number of Store Inventory Format listings after all matching core listings when the buyer clicks the Buy It Now listings tab at the top of every search results page.

6. What does it mean that eBay is raising the 10-item multiple listings limit to 20 effective 22 August?

The current 10-item multiple listings limit states that sellers may not concurrently have more than 10 listings for identical items, even if those identical items are listed in diffrerent categories.

Stores Fee Changes

How is the Stores Subscription Fee changing?
The subscription fees for the Featured and Anchor Stores will remain the same.

The price of the Basic Store subscription will be increasing from $9.95 per month to $14.95 per month.
How are Store Insertion Fees Changing?
There will be no changes to Insertion Fees for Core listing formats including online Auction and Fixed Price (Buy It Now). Listings in this format will not be affected by these fee changes, except those that use Featured Plus in certain categories.

For Store Inventory Format listings, we are introducing three Insertion Fee tiers. These tiers will be based on the listings total value where the total value equals item price multiplied by the quantity.

Insertion Fee

AU$0.10

Item Price:	Fees:
AU$0.00 - $19.99	$0.10
AU$20.00 - $49.99	$0.20
AU$50.00 and over	$0.50

How does a multiple item Store Inventory Format listing impact my Insertion Fees?
The insertion fee tier for a multiple item listing is determined by multiplying the item price by the quantity of your items.

For example,

If you list 10 items at $1.50, the total equals $15.00. This falls within the first tier of AU$0.00 - $19.99 and the insertion fee will be $0.10.

If you list 10 items at $2.50, the total equals $25.00. This falls within the second tier of AU$20.00 - $49.99 and the insertion fee will be $0.20.

If you list 10 items at $5.00, the total equals $50.00. This falls within the third tier of AU$50.00+ and the insertion fee will be $0.50.

The maximum insertion fee for a multiple item listing is AU$0.50.
How do the new Store Inventory Format Insertion Fees affect Good 'Til Cancelled listings?
Good 'Til Cancelled listings that are listed before 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August 2006 will be charged the old (or current) Insertion Fee. The new Insertion Fees will apply once the Good 'Til Cancelled listing renews after 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August 2006.
How are Stores Final Value Fees changing?
There will be no changes to Final Value fees for Core listing formats, including online Auction, Auction with Buy It Now and Fixed Price on eBay.com.au. Listings in these formats will not be affected by the fee changes, except those that use Featured Plus in certain categories.

For Store Inventory listings, there will be an increase in the Final Value Fee of the item price:

Final Value Fee

Item Price:	Fees:
AU$0.00 - $75.00	5.25%
AU$75.01 - $1000	2.75%
- 5.25% of the initial AU$75.00 - plus 2.75% of the remaining item price
Over AU$1000	1.5%
- 5.25% of the initial AU$75.00 - plus 2.75% of (AU$75.01 to AU$1,000.00) - plus 1.50% of the remaining closing price (AU$1,000.01 - closing)

Item Price:	Fees:
AU$0.00-$75.00	10%
AU$75.01 - $1000	5%
- 10% of the initial AU$75.00 - plus 5% of the remaining item price
Over AU$1000	2.5%
- 10% of the initial AU$75.00 - plus 5% of (AU$75.01 to AU$1,000.00) - plus 2.5% of the remaining closing price (AU$1,000.01 - closing)

How do the new SIF Final Value Fees affect Good 'Til Cancelled listings?
If the Good 'Til Cancelled listing renews before 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August 2006, the old (current) Final Value Fees will apply for any purchases made until the next renewal date.

Once a Good 'Til Cancelled listing renews after 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August 2006 and has been charged the new Insertion Fee and the new Final Value Fee for all purchases made after the renewal.
What is the value of a Store Subscription after the Store Inventory Format listing fees increase?
Gaining access to Store Inventory Format is just one benefit of being an eBay Stores subscriber. There are many other valuable features and tools that are only available to Stores sellers.<br>
Some of the features that are only available to Stores sellers include:
- A completely customisable, branded storefront for merchandising all of your listings that you have on eBay (for example, the ability to create your own Custom Categories and Custom Pages within your store)
- Up to 300 Store categories and sub categories
- Having a Store allows sellers to showcase all of their items including Core listings (Auction, Auction with Buy it Now and Fixed Price) and Store Inventory Format listings
- Marketing and merchandising tools (for example, Cross-Promotions, Custom Listing Frame, Email Marketing functionality)
- Advanced analysis tools (for example, Traffic Reports).
If I submit listings via a selling tool, such as Turbo Lister or the Scheduling Tool before 22 August 2006 but don't confirm the listings until after 22 August 2006 which price will I be charged? All items that begin on or after 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August 2006 will be charged according to the new pricing structure. In this example, listings confirmed after 23:59:59 AEST on Monday 21 August 2006 will be charged the new fees, regardless of when they were created.

Store Inventory Format Listing Visibility

What items show in Core search results?
- Auction, Auction with Buy it Now and Fixed Price items will all appear in Core listings
- From 2 August 2006 the core listing results will now only include up to 10 relevant Store Inventory Format listings, when less than 10 items appear in the core listing search results.
Is there anything else that will impact me? Other than fees?
In February of this year we expanded item search results to include all Store Inventory Format listings. Since doing so, buyers have told us searches are producing too many results and creating a confusing buyer experience. Therefore starting on 2 August 2006, we will be reducing the number of Store Inventory Format listings which are shown in search results.

When less than 10 Core listings (Auctions, Auctions with Buy it Now and Fixed Price) appear in the search results we will now only include up to 10 relevant Store Inventory Format listings.

To help sellers maximise the success of their Stores and Store Inventory Format listings we will be doing the following:
- Allowing sellers to sell 20 identical items instead of the current limit of 10
- In August and September we will host online workshops to educate sellers on how to optimise their Stores and use them more effectively and to educate buyers on the benefits of purchasing from sellers with a Store
- In August we are launching new onsite education about Stores
- We will continue to include all relevant Store Inventory Format listings after all matching core listings when the buyer clicks the Buy It Now listings tab at the top of any search results page.
How are the 10 Store Inventory Format listings in core search results selected?<br> Several factors determine which Store Inventory Format listings appear after matching online Auction and Fixed Price items in the main search
- Listing selected are based on buyers search criteria
- Preference is given to listings from Store sellers who have Anchor or Featured Stores
- There is logic in place to keep one seller from dominating the listings returned.
What is eBay doing with Store Inventory Format listings in search results?
Store Inventory Format listings will continue to appear when buyers click the Buy It Now tab. The Buy It Now tab is located at the top of the search results. You can find the Buy It Now tab next to the All Items tab and the Auctions tab.

When buyers click the Buy It Now tab, the complete list of Store Inventory Format items will continue to appear after matching Auction with Buy It Now and Fixed Price listings.
Why is eBay reducing visibility of Store Format Inventory listings?
Buyers have expressed a number of concerns to us regarding the large quantity of Store Inventory Format listings and the over-use of Featured Plus listings which have lead to:
- searches producing too many results and creating a confusing buyer experience
- searches being less relevant, making it difficult for buyers to find what they are looking for
These changes are necessary to ensure buying on eBay remains easy and fun for everyday Australians by limiting exposure of Store Inventory Format listings and encouraging greater use of core listings format, thereby rebalancing the marketplace.

How will buyers find my eBay Store?

Currently, buyers can find your eBay Store listings and your store in the following ways:

Home page:

Clicking on the eBay Stores link on the eBay.com.au home page (specialty sites)

My eBay:

Saving their favourite sellers' Stores in My eBay
Subscribing to Stores emails
Shop eBay Stores Related Link in My eBay

Item Listings and Seller's Feedback Profile Page:

Visit Store from member's Profile page
View Seller's Store Items and/or Store from Meet The Seller box within listings

Search:

Click Buy on any eBay page, then eBay Stores Search
Conducting an Advanced Search
When browsing / searching, customise Search Options (left navigation) to include all Store listings
Shop eBay Stores in left navigation bar when browsing / searching
When there are less than 10 core items in search, up to 10 Store items will be randomly generated

Other Areas:

Stores in the eBay Site Map
Search eBay Stores via search engines
From next to the seller's Buying Guide

Seller Resources

Resource Guide

The fee changes will only impact eBay Store sellers who use the Store Inventory Format listings and will take effect as of 23:59:59 AEST on 21 August 2006.

To estimate the new fees you will pay for Store Inventory Format listings (without changing your current strategy), please review the new fee structure here

After reviewing the new fee structure, consider the following questions:

Insertion Fees

How many Store Inventory Format listings are currently live?
What percentage of your current listings are in the Store Inventory Format?
How do your listings break out into the new Store Inventory Format insertion fee tiers?
How many Store Inventory Format items will automatically renew via Good 'Til Cancelled?

Final Value Fees

How many of your Store Inventory Format listings sold?
How do these sold items break out into the new Final Value Fee tiers?
What is your average selling price of your Store Inventory Format listings?
How do these sold items break out into the new Final Value Fee tiers?

When gathering this information, you may want to start with your most recent month of data and access your Sales Report, which is available to all eBay users through My eBay. To access your Sales Report, please follow these steps:

Click the My eBay tab at the top of any eBay page. You may be asked to sign in.
In the left-hand navigation, under My Account, click the Subscriptions link.
Click the View My Reports link for your Sales Report.

If you aren't already subscribed to Sales Report you can click the Subscribe link beside the Sales Report row.

Considerations when reviewing listing strategy

Sellers should consider many factors when developing their listing format strategy. While we generally suggest that sellers list in all listing formats to appeal to all of eBay's buyer population, there is not one tried-and-true listing format formula for all sellers.

One of the biggest distinctions we see among listing strategies corresponds with the type of product being sold. When thinking about your own listing strategy, it is important to keep the following things in mind:

Core Format Listings
This listing format is best when selling popular or in-demand items. These listing types are also helpful when listings sale items, in-season items, unique or hard-to-find items.

Fixed Price Format Listings
This listing format is best when selling items that sell dependably but infrequently, or for commodity items.

Store Inventory Format Listings
This listing format can be a very cost-effective way to offer a wider range of inventory and you can leverage your Core Format and Fixed Price Format listings to drive traffic to your eBay Store.

Driving buyer traffic to your Store and listings

In order to maximise your total sales, it is important to understand the type of buyers that are visiting your listings and where they are coming from. Generally, sellers who are able to drive consistent traffic to their eBay Store and are able to foster a repeat buyer base tend to have more success with Store Inventory Format listings.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when deciding upon your listing strategy:

What percentage of your buyers are repeat buyers?
Do your buyers tend to buy multiple related items on the same visit?
How many potential buyers visit your Store on a daily or monthly basis?
What marketing efforts are you using to drive traffic to your Store?

To help with deciding upon a listing strategy, you can use both your Sales Report and your Stores Traffic Report. Both of these reports can be found in your My eBay and both offer free subscription levels. To access these reports, please follow these steps:

Click the My eBay tab at the top of any eBay page. You may be asked to sign in.
In the left-hand navigation, under My Account, click the Subscriptions link.
Click the View My Reports link for your Sales and Store Traffic Reports.

When developing your listing format strategy, you should also consider which marketing tactics you use, or plan on using, to drive traffic to your listings or Store. Many methods of driving traffic are format-specific, which is one of the many reasons we encourage sellers to list in all formats.

Performance Measures

There are three important metrics to think about when developing and fine-tuning your listing strategy. These three are provided below with some details on each.

Total Sales, accessed through My eBay, is a fundamental indicator of the health of your business as it is the combined measure of performance over a given period of time. Sellers should monitor their total sales to understand how any changes they make to their strategy impacts their overall business.
Average Selling Price of all the items you sell is also a critical metric. To calculate your Average Selling Price, divide your total sales by total successful listings. Typically many sellers have found it is most cost effective to sell high priced items in the Auction or Fixed Price format, leaving lower priced items in the Stores Inventory Format.
Conversion Rate. You can determine your overall conversion rate by dividing the total number of items you've sold by the total number of items you've listed. A full understanding of Conversion Rates by format and product allows you to sell the right product at the highest price to get the best possible margins.

When gathering this information, you may want to start with your most recent month of data and access your Sales Report, which is available to all eBay users. To access your Sales Report, please follow these steps:

Click the My eBay tab at the top of any eBay page. You may be asked to sign in.
In the left-hand navigation, under My Account, click the 'Subscriptions' link.
Click the View My Reports link for your Sales Report.

If you aren't already subscribed to Sales Report, you can click the Subscribe link next to the on Sales Report row.

How to Transfer Listings from Store Inventory Format

My eBay

Click the My eBay tab found at the top of most eBay pages. You may be asked to sign in
Click the All Selling link found on the left side of the page under My eBay Views
In the Items I'm Selling section, click the check box next to an individual listing
Click the Send to Online Auction or Send to Fixed Price button at the bottom of the list.

You can also choose these options in the Action dropdown menus next to each listing in My eBay.

Selling Manger/SM Pro

Click the My eBay tab found at the top of most eBay pages. You may be asked to sign in
Click the Active link found on the left side of the page, under Selling Manager or Selling Manger Pro
Click the check box next to an individual listing
Click the Send to Online Auction or Send to Fixed Price button at the bottom of the list.

You can also choose these options in the Action dropdown menus next to each listing in My eBay.

Turbo Lister 1

Open Turbo Lister
Import your active listings by clicking on File > Import Items > From eBay Listings > Active Listings
Change the format of your listings by selecting them and clicking on the 'Change Format' button
When prompted, select the new format that you want for your listings.

**Note: This will not end your Store Inventory Format listings.

Turbo Lister 2

Open Turbo Lister
Import your active listings by clicking on File > Import Items > From eBay Listings > Active Listings
Change the format of your listings by selecting them and clicking on the Change Format button
When prompted, select the new format that you want for your listings.

Alternatively, you can go to your Inventory view then enter information into the fields that you would like to change. To access your inventory view, please follow this path in Turbo Lister:

Tools > Enable Inline Editing

**Note: This will not end your Store Inventory Format listings.

How to Bulk End/Edit Good 'Til Cancelled

My eBay

Click the My eBay tab found at the top of most eBay pages. You may be asked to sign in
Click the All Selling link found on the left side of the page, under My eBay Views
In the Items I'm Selling section, click the check box next to an individual listing
Click the Edit or End button at the bottom of the page (depending on the action you wish to take).
To Edit, you'll be taken to a screen where you can choose which fields you want to edit and whether you want to edit in mass or in bulk.

You can also choose these options in the Action dropdown menus beside each listing in My eBay.

Selling Manager/Selling Manager Pro

Click the My eBay tab found at the top of most eBay pages. You may be asked to sign in
Click the Active link found on the left side of the page, under Selling Manager or Selling Manger Pro
Click the check box next to an individual listing
Click the Edit or End button at the bottom of the list, depending on which action you wish to take.
To Edit, you'll be taken to a screen where you can choose which fields you want to edit and whether you want to edit in mass or in bulk.

Featured Plus listings	Current Fee	New Fee
Consumer Electronics (CatID:293) and Camera and Accessories (CatID:625)	AU$19.95	AU$24.95
Cars, Motorcycles and Parts (CatID:9800)	AU$19.95	AU$29.95
Computers (CatID:160)	AU$19.95	AU$39.95