EBay Earnings Force Fee Change

EBay is raising its Store Inventory listing fees, hoping to re-emphasize its auction business and recapture the growth missing from yesterday’s financials.

Beginning Aug. 22, eBay will charge five cents for listings starting below $25 and 10 cents for those starting above, eBay spokesperson Catherine England told internetnews.com. The original price for both is currently two cents.

Ebay will also raise the final value fees from 5 percent to 7 percent on items with selling prices between $25.01 and $100.01.

The fee hike comes after yesterday’s vanilla second quarter results.

EBay sales rose 30 percent to $1.41 billion, matching estimates. And earnings of 24 cents a share were also in line with expectations.

The company reiterated forward guidance, too. Marketplace revenues were up 22 percent, payments revenues were up 39 percent, and communications sales climbed 26 percent. The company said it plans “marketing and pricing initiatives” to boost trading.

Reaction was positive and so was aftermarket trading, but eBay wants more growth.

Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, said in a community board post that the company is increasing store inventory fees to push people back into auctions.

It’s also an attempt to catalyze growth.

Every time an item is sold on eBay, the company earns money. EBay grows when vendors sell more in less time.

But according to Cobb, store listings take 14 times longer to sell than auction items, and it costs eBay 50 percent more to host them.

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