In a sign of just how important fixed-price sales have become to the auction site, Information Week reports that eBay has reduced the seller fees for “But It Now” items to just 35 cents per item – that’s a possible reduction of 91%, as fees previously ranged from 35 cents to $4.
More than that, if a seller has multiple copies of an item, they can all be listed for just the one fee, and listing times have been extended from a week to a month, meaning sellers don’t have to renew and pay fees so regularly.
With growing competition on fixed-price items from other sources that don’t charge listing fees, this is eBay’s attempt to hit back. The company also announced that as of October it will protect buyers by only allowing payment via PayPal or by electronic credit card payments.