EBay to cut fees for media items after seller complaints

Facing competition from other e-commerce sites and a revolt from its top sellers, EBay Inc. said Monday that it would lower listing fees on media sold on its site, including books, music, movies and video games.

EBay had only last month announced that it would be changing its fee structure, agitating many media sellers who would have ended up paying more. The speed with which EBay responded to their complaints pleased some of them.

“For any big company, it is tremendous that you can move that fast,” said Steve Grossberg, who sells video games online and is president of the nonprofit trade association Internet Merchants Assn.

Grossberg and his association had lobbied EBay to lower the listing fees in the media category. Now, rather than paying 60 cents to list a media item costing $10 to $25, sellers will pay 35 cents.

The changes that EBayis making to its listing fees – as posted on the company’s general announcement board – are steps toward category-specific pricing, in which sellers pay different prices to list various types of goods on the site.

The company had been contemplating lowering the media listing fees, said EBay spokesman Usher Lieberman, and complaints from sellers spurred it to act swiftly.

“If we can identify things that make sense for the health of the marketplace, we will move more quickly than we have in the past,” he said.

The high costs of posting were driving sellers away from EBay to sites such as Amazon.com, Grossberg said.

EBay’s quick response should help the company stay afloat in a competitive marketplace, he said.

“Either EBay will die a slow death or they can reinvent themselves and get on the growth track again,” he said.

The changes will take effect Feb. 20.

alana.semuels@latimes.com