EBay Reduces Fee for Fixed-Price Listings

Online auctioneer eBay Inc. said it will lower the fees it charges for products listed for sale at a fixed price, in a bid to become more competitive with rival Web sites such as Amazon.com Inc. Ebay, which sparked seller protests earlier this year when it raised fees for auction listings, said it will reduce the fee for fixed-price listings to 35 cents, down from as much as $4, and increase the duration of a listing to 30 days from seven. The company will simultaneously raise the commission it charges once the products are sold -- in effect taking on more responsibility to drive buyers to the site. Ebay declined to provide details of the commission increase. Both changes are effective Sept. 14. The company is playing catch-up to other Web sites that have focused on fixed-price sales [Wall Street Journal]