Campus News - FEBRUARY 27th, 2008
EBay policy and fee changes
SANJAY CONNARE - Staff Writer

EBay implemented a number of changes to its online policy and fees last week, causing a boycott, according to USA Today. The company is lowering the price to list items by as much as 50 percent and relinquishing the additional charge to have pictures appear with search results. Other changes, such as eBay taking a bigger commission for sales and sellers no longer being able to leave negative feedback for buyers, have caused controversy.

"I think that sellers should have the opportunity to leave negative feedback. I'd be really upset if a check bounced, so now how do you know if the buyer is trustworthy?" asked Tawfig Afif, a sophomore chemical engineering major who sells various items on eBay. "It's not fair - eBay has a monopoly on the online auction market so they're able to take advantage of that and implement changes like this."

Afif said that he will not be affected by the fee changes as an occasional seller, but he could see how it could affect people trying to make a living off of eBay. A few percentage points in final value fees could translate into a significant difference in income, he explained.

These policy changes do not affect buyers as much as sellers. But many buyers at UB understand the frustration and concerns of the boycotters.

Josh Adenekan, a junior pharmacy major who has made numerous purchases on eBay, does not believe the changes are good for customers.

"The idea of the buyer is always right is arguable, and the seller should be able to leave other comments so that others don't fall victim to bad buyers," Adenekan said.

Most students viewed the changes as negative for the future of eBay. EBay users like Dave Roberts, a senior geography major, however, think the changes will encourage buyers to be more honest about the quality of their transactions.

"Preventing sellers from leaving negative comments makes it easier for buyers to be more truthful and leave the appropriate type of feedback," Roberts said. "As a buyer, I'd be nervous leaving a negative comment out of fear that I would get a negative comment in return."

The ultimate goal of implementing these changes is to increase item listings and site growth, according to eBay's Web site. Currently, eBay accounts for over one percent of worldwide retail sales with roughly 15 million items being listed at any given moment, according to USA Today's Web site.

The boycott caused the number of auctions to drop 13 percent and top tier eBay sellers have stopped using the system since the new policy changes came into effect, according to CNN.com and USA Today.

Hello Tim,

Thank you for your recent phone call to Bill Cobb. As a member of the
Office of the President I will be responding to your email on his
behalf.

Thank you for sharing your concerns in regards to the recent changes
which have recently been announced. Please rest assured that these
changes have been considered in depth by the eBay management team prior
to being announced. I would like to begin by address some of the changes
made to the eBay feedback system. eBay's goal for the public Feedback
system was to provide an honest and accurate record of the buyer's and
seller's online experience to ensure safe and satisfactory trade. This
goal was driven by the desire to create an open environment and to
ensure that eBay members were accountable for their transactions. Over
time, we have found that the open nature of the existing Feedback system
makes some members reluctant to hold others accountable. For example,
buyers fear retaliatory Feedback from sellers if they leave a negative.

Therefore, we'll be making a few important changes to eBay's Feedback
system, both public and private, to continue to improve accuracy and
accountability. Within six months these changes should help to
differentiate and reward sellers who provide a positive buying
experience on eBay. Please understand that these changes in the Feedback
system are designed to improve the eBay marketplace which should benefit
both buyers and sellers. Improving the Feedback system should increase
buyers' confidence making them trust sellers more. This in turn will
stimulate a greater amount of buying on the site, which in turn will
ultimately benefit sellers as well. Likewise we believe that these
changes will reduce any imbalance in the Feedback system. Buyers will be
able to more accurately assess sellers, and sellers will be protected
from buyers who violate our policies (through the Unpaid Item system and
other reporting) without risking a reduction in good buyer activity.

If you haven't read the post regarding the feedback changes I would
encourage you to do so at the below link. It provides some additional
information on why the changes are being made and what protections will
be afforded sellers as well as buyers.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200801.shtml#2008-01-29054823

I would now like to address the recent changes made to the fee structure
on the site. Please understand that these changes to the fee structure
are meant to improve the overall experience of all of our members, both
buyers and sellers. Please understand that by reducing insertion fees
and by making gallery images free eBay is actively shifting our fee
schedule to encourage more sellers to list more of their items on the
site. By reducing the upfront risk to sellers via reduced listing fees,
we hope sellers will list more products and ensure that eBay will only
make money when our sellers are successful on the site. The increase in
Final Value fees is meant to offset these listing fee discounts.

Please feel free to take a look at Bill Cobb's announcement board post
which outlines exactly how and why this fee increase is taking place.
You can locate this post via:

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200801.shtml#2008-01-29054823

For a complete outline of the changes eBay is making to the selling fee
structure I would invite you to take a look at:

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/basic/index.html#insertion

Thank you again for calling Bill Cobb to share your concerns in this
matter. I know change is never easy but I think if you will give these
changes time to have some affect you will see they will benefit the
entire eBay community in a very positive way.


Regards,

David Smith
Office of the President
eBay Inc.