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EBay Revising Fee Structure To Take On Amazon

EBay is stepping up an overhaul aimed at getting more users to sell items at fixed costs -- a development that will make it look a lot more like Amazon, whose emphasis on fixed-price sales has surged in popularity as the more auction-oriented business on eBay has declined. EBay will announce today that it is slashing the upfront fees it charges to list sale items by as much as 75%.

Under the new fee structure, eBay will charge just 35¢ to list an item for sale on its site, but will raise the fees it charges when an item sells. It will also charge sellers who have multiples of the same item just once to list all of their identical inventory.

The bottom line is that eBay will earn 80% of its revenue from sales commissions and just 20% from fees to list items. The company hopes that inventory for sale will surge. "We believe by making the fees more success-based, buyers will have more choice, better values, and that sellers will sell more," says Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay's global marketplaces business.

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