In a recent press release, Ebay has announced that it will cut listing prices on its site by up to 50%. This includes listing fees as well as other fees and expenses faced by sellers. Ebay’s decision was its latest effort to stay competitive against up and coming e-commerce sites, particularly free sites such as Craigslist.

The cut in prices will come to Ebay on February 20th. Sellers will be able take advantage of discounted auction fees. However, this decrease in fees, will lead to an increase in commission on goods that sell. For example a 5% commission on an item that sells for $100, will now increase to a 7% commission. However, this decreases the risk sellers have when they list their items for sale on Ebay. If their item does not sell, thay are not paying such high listing fees, then losing the money when no one bids on their item.

“A majority of sellers will see their fees go down,” said company spokesman Usher Lieberman. “We are basing our success on their success and we want to encourage sellers to list more items with us.”

So far these changes will only affect sellers in North America, but Ebay hopes to expand these prices changes to the UK and Germany in the next few months.

Popularity: 70% [?]