eBay lowering fixed-price sellers' listing fees

By Alexandria Sage

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - EBay Inc is cutting the fees U.S. sellers on its site pay for fixed-price items, in one of the company's boldest moves this year to boost merchandise for sale, lure new buyers and take on competitors.

Total sellers' fees will decrease in most cases under eBay's plan to improve the balance between buyers and sellers on the world's largest online auction site, and thereby reduce customer defections to rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.

"I'd say this is the most fundamental change we've made, ever, to the marketplace," Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay marketplace operations, told Reuters. "It's a huge shift from where we've been."

Instead of charging sellers to list each item separately, eBay will charge 35 cents (15 pence) to list any number of the same types of fixed-price items. Similar changes will be made in Germany and Britain, eBay's second- and third-largest auction markets.

The move, effective September 16, is a bid to reduce the clutter of similar items on eBay -- 100 pairs of white socks will now be sold as a group, for example. The change is timed to boost business heading into the crucial holiday season.

Such items will remain listed for 30 days instead of seven, helping sellers avoid the time-consuming process of re-listing unsold items and lowering the risk of inventory going unsold.

Fixed-price items, which made up 43 percent of merchandise sales on eBay last quarter, often attract newer or less-sophisticated online buyers who don't want to wait for a multi-day auction to close. EBay says fixed-price sales are popular because they bring in newer, more in-season goods, whether its plasma televisions or the latest video game.

EBay has been trying to attract more buyers as its main auction site has experienced slowing growth in recent years. The novelty of online auctions has waned and rivals like Amazon have muscled in on its turf with strong fixed-price offerings.