Few Australian eBay sellers to benefit from cut in eBay.com listing fees, as decision highlights confusion for local sellers

A relatively small number of Australian eBay users will benefit fee cuts on the eBay.com site, as most Australian sellers operate under a different – and cheaper – fee regime at eBay.com.au.

The fee cut announced in the US yesterday has highlighted the confusion between the company’s international and Australian operations, and suggest some Australian sellers who use eBay.com and not eBay.com.au may unknowingly be paying higher trading fees.

eBay said at the start of the week it would cut listing fees for the first 50 items put on the site by sellers, if those auctions start at 99c. The decision was greeted warmly, with many casual sellers saying the move would help them get rid of unwanted goods without financial penalty.

But the cuts only apply to sellers who list items on the eBay.com domain and not the eBay.com.au domain, which uses an entirely different fee structure.

eBay Australia told SmartCompany it is currently investigating how the fee changes will affect sellers here in order to inform them at least 60 days before the changes take place.

But this highlights an element of confusion within the eBay selling community in Australia, as some new eBay sellers may automatically sign up on eBay.com instead of using the local eBay.com.au domain and could incur higher fees as a result.

The differences between the two sites are highlighted in the local fee structure. While users who list on the eBay.com.au domain are charged a 5.25% fee for the closing price, plus an extra fee if the selling price is above $75, users on eBay.com are charged a flat fee of 9% capped at $US50.

Founder of the Professional eBay Sellers’ Association, Phil Leahy, says there is some confusion between the two domains and there is the possibility some new users could sign up to eBay.com instead of the local URL.

“I think it does happen, and it would happen among new sellers. But not that frequently, I would believe, because many times the site automatically redirects you straight across into the new domain name so you list in the right area.”

eBay Australia says it believes the difference between the sites are clear, and that sellers should be able to figure out which URL they are operating in once they start listing if an automatic redirect does not work.

“It’s not something we’ve heard about being a problem before,” communications manager Jenny Thomas says.

“We think it’s quite clear, as there are two different sites – although there are a lot of similarities, we think they are very different. They appear differently on the front page.”

“They are also quite different when it comes to issues such as fees, and I can’t see it being a problem. Sellers are quite savvy and they’re aware of what region they are in when they are listing.”

However, some confusion remains. Leahy points out there is an incentive for sellers is to list on both eBay.com and eBay.com.au domains in order to appear higher in international search rankings.

“There are a lot of nuances out there and sellers who don’t know how to exploit that. They may have a product that is worthy of export, but don’t have the strategy to get around that.”

“eBay does have that box that says “list for the rest of the world”, but if you’re customers are in another country the seller’s items come up lower in the rankings, because all the local results are exhausted before yours. Sellers should test for those types of nuances because they can differ from country to country.”

Leahy himself says he has signed up on both the eBay.com.au and eBay.co.uk domains in order to widen his marketing reach. But he says businesses who do this should familiarise themselves with different fee structures.

“There’ll be charging US dollars and the listing should come up as US dollars if they are on eBay.com, and the seller can work out fast if they are in the wrong spot. But yes, it could be confusing.”