Ironically, the reason merchants choose Amazon (NASDAQ AMZN) over eBay (NASDAQ EBAY) is the same reason merchants choose Paypal over a regular merchant account. Some people will tell you it’s the complex listing process which funny enough has become so bad it’s created many secondary companies over the years. Others will tell you it’s the high closing fees. Some may even tell you that eBay is just not fashionable. The reality, and I’ve heard this from merchant after merchant, is that when it comes to eBay, you pay the fees regardless of whether the item sells or not. Just as when it comes to a merchant account that you pay a monthly fee and a monthly minimum regardless of transaction volume.
 
When it comes down to it, eBay will go down in history as one of the most successful internet companies in world history but it’s really time to loosen up some of those purse strings. Whether it be buyers or sellers, let’s face facts that without the content and sellers, the buyers have nowhere else to go but Amazon and when you are paying even a few pennies when an item doesn’t close versus nothing at all, you are going to choose the cheaper option to close that sale. When it comes to some of eBay’s powersellers, let’s face it built eBay, it’s really an insult to be trading at some historic lows and still charge your most loyal users an inclusion fee.

I know it’s the old argument that people don’t value that which they don’t pay for but let’s face it, there are plenty of ways to weed out junk content but charging a fee regardless of its closing is not the .option. If they want to get back on the better side of merchants, drop the fees, take a chapter from the Paypal playbook and stop charging on submissions. Sure, upgrades like bolding and high ranking listings are fine but when it comes to a standard submission, go for the gold and drop the greed.