Just got E-mail notification of eBay fee increases, which are now .40-cent insertion fee and 3.25% final value fee - up from .35-cents and 3.00%.
Here's what Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America, had to say:
"An important part of any business strategy is the regular evaluation of pricing structure. From time to time, we make pricing changes to correct unhealthy dynamics in the eBay marketplace, as was the case last July. Typically, however, we make changes on an annual basis at the beginning of the year.
"Today, I'm here to tell you about fee adjustments for eBay.com and eBay Motors which go into effect on January 30, 2007.
"Let me say that, while we believe these changes are modest, we consider any changes that may impact our sellers with great care. These adjustments are the result of careful analysis and we believe they're the right thing to do to keep the marketplace strong for our eBay.com and eBay Motors sellers."
C'mon, Bill. "Unhealthy dynamics"? Gimme' a break! The only thing "unhealthy" about eBay is price gouging on the part of the corporate executives! Soon, your "modest" annual increases will have us paying eBay and PayPal half of our profits!