Bosses at eBay have scrapped fees for private sellers across most categories. The online marketplace, which had already removed such fees for fashion earlier this year amid increasing competition from rival sites such as Depop and Vinted, said the move should boost reselling and the customer experience at the same time. It means sellers no longer have to pay final value or regulatory operating fees on items except for cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles on the platform.
The site, which trails only Amazon in terms of customer visits in the UK, was under pressure to introduce the change as Facebook Marketplace and Vinted are among competitors which don't charge people to do transactions. eBay said the removal of seller fees for fashion in April had already led to a double-digit increase in listings for popular items such as jeans, shirts, and dresses, while keeping items out of landfill. It said the removal of fees across its German website last year had led to a doubling in new seller numbers.
A survey for the company, carried out in August, found that 56% of people in the UK sell items they no longer use to make money, with 23% selling products to fund new items. The poll suggested an estimated 294 million unused items across the UK could generate £9bn in resale income. Kirsty Keoghan, eBay's UK general manager, said: "eBay is constantly improving the marketplace experience in order to deliver on what our customers want.
"Removing selling fees across categories is designed.