EBay Users Plan Boycott Over Fee Hike

EBay's recent announcement that they will be raising fees once again has sparked an outrage among their sellers, and calls for a boycott has gained momentum. In past cases, calls for boycotts, especially where eBay is involved, have tended to sputter out. This time, it appears the boycott movement may actually have teeth.

The boycott calls began, of all places, on eBay itself, on a message board set up for sellers to communicate. Powersellers, an official designation given to eBay's biggest sellers, and small-time sellers seem equally upset over the move. The main sticking point seems to be eBay's new final value fees, which in many cases are over 8%. In eBay's competitive marketplace, margins are narrowing, and the new fees are taking up more than what many feel is fair.

Thus, eBay sellers have started a petition on the eBay message board to organize protesters, with signers promising to not buy or sell on eBay from February 18 through 25, the week the new fees are due to take effect. Several thousand sellers have signed the petition and pledged not to sell that week. A protest petition at PetitionsOnline.com had nearly 30,000 signatures from buyers and sellers who plan to take their business elsewhere.

In addition to the planned fee hike, Paypal, eBay's sister company and an integral part of the auction process for many, has also announced that they are changing policies. The payment service website is now telling customers that they may withhold payments by as many as 21 days, in cases where they feel there is a high risk of fraud. Long time PayPal customers are upset that they may be left without access to their money, and feel PayPal should come up with a more secure system.

Auction websites that had long tried to break eBay's domination have benefited from the protest. Some have reported sharp spikes in sales, as well as new registration of bidders and sellers. While some argue that the move will only delay eBay getting sales and fees by a week (something eBay can weather), they say the only way to truly combat eBay is to leave it. The question is: can buyers and sellers totally give up eBay?