The following FAQs provide more information about the change in fee structure for certain Business & Industrial capital equipment categories.
What is the new fee structure?
The Reserve, insertion and Final Value Fees will be changing for select high item price capital equipment categories in Business & Industrial. Please see below for the capital equipment categories affected by the pricing change.
The fee changes for these capital equipment categories are as follows:
- Reserve fee: Lowered to $5, refundable if the item sells
- Insertion fee: Raised to $20, regardless of starting price
- Final Value Fee: Lowered to a 1% flat fee, with a $250 maximum charge
Additional listing upgrade fees will remain the same as for eBay.com. Pricing for all other Business & Industrial listings outside the affected capital equipment categories will remain the same as for eBay.com.
eBay will also introduce Buyer Protection covering up to $20,000 per item in these capital equipment categories this spring. eBay will offer this Buyer Protection at no cost to the buyer or seller.
When will the new fees become effective?
All new fees will become effective as of 00:00:01 (one second after midnight Pacific Time) on February 18, 2005. Listings that begin after midnight on February 18, 2005, will be charged the new fees, regardless of when they were created (e.g. through a listing tool such as Turbo Lister or through the Sell Your Item form using the scheduled listings feature).
What Business & Industrial categories are affected?
The fee changes will apply to the following Business & Industrial capital equipment categories:
- Agriculture & Forestry > Modern Tractors & Equipment (category #: 91952)
- Construction > Heavy Equipment (25249)
- Food Service & Retail > Concession Trailers & Carts (67145)
- Healthcare, Lab & Life Science > Imaging & Aesthetics Equipment (92035)
- Industrial Supply, MRO > Fork Lifts & Other Lifts (42915)
- Manufacturing & Metalworking > Manufacturing Equipment (92080)
- Manufacturing & Metalworking > Metalworking Equipment (92082)
- Office, Printing & Shipping > Commercial Printing Presses (26247)
To view the entire Business & Industrial Category Structure, click here.
Why is eBay changing fees for these Business & Industrial categories?
As the Business & Industrial category has grown and evolved, we've found that business capital equipment buyers and sellers have business needs that differ from other categories on the site (similar to eBay Motors).
After significant Community input and careful study, we're taking several specific steps, including fee changes, to support a vibrant eBay marketplace for business capital equipment. For the select high item price Business & Industrial capital equipment categories outlined above, eBay is announcing the following:
- Lowering the reserve fee to $5
- This is the same as for eBay Motors and is refundable if item sells successfully
- The use of a reserve price can be a valuable protection for sellers who are less experienced with the item they're selling or otherwise unsure about the current market price
- Our research suggests that the business capital equipment buyers on eBay clearly understand the concept of a reserve price and will usually bid on eBay items they need even if there is a reserve price.
- Lowering the Final Value Fee to 1% of the final price, with a maximum charge of $250.00
- This change considerably lowers the final value fee when selling items over $1,000 in the affected categories.
- In addition, he 1% final value fee makes it much easier for sellers to estimate their final value fees when selling capital equipment in Business & Industrial vs. current pricing (5.25% of the initial $25.00 ($1.31), plus 2.75% of the initial $25.00 - $1,000.00 ($26.81), plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1,000.01 - closing value).
- Increasing insertion fees to $20 regardless of start price
- The single largest complaint we receive from the business capital equipment community - eBay buyers and sellers, and related industry experts and participants - is that all the equipment parts, accessories and promotional items (like hats, decals, toys, etc.) currently listed in these categories makes it difficult to find the actual machines and negatively impacts the health of the marketplace. These parts, accessories, and other items can and should be listed/sold on eBay, but just not within the capital equipment categories themselves.
- A $20 insertion fee will encourage sellers to list only capital equipment items in the capital equipment categories, and list non-capital equipment items in more appropriate categories that already exist on eBay.
- Implementing Item Specifics
- For sellers, Item Specifics help make it easier to present a clean, well-organized description that clearly articulates important equipment details that buyers want to see. For buyers, Item Specifics improves the ability to find the right item for a given application.
- Item Specifics have been announced in 9 Business & Industrial capital equipment categories affected by the price change, and additional domains will follow.
- For more information about Item Specifics, please refer to the following:
- Introducing Buyer Protection of up to $20,000 later this spring
- eBay is introducing this to further increase buyer confidence when purchasing capital equipment on eBay
- The program will be at no cost to buyers or sellers
Please continue to watch the eBay Announcement Board and Business & Industrial Discussion Board for additional details on the Buyer Protection program and other announcements affecting the Business & Industrial category.
How does this affect the fees I pay to sell items in the affected categories?
The fees for listing and selling a capital equipment item in the affected categories will generally decrease under the new fee structure. As shown in the table below, for example, the combined listing and final value fees for an item sold for $10,000 will be $47.92 less under the new Business & Industrial capital equipment pricing than under current eBay.com pricing.
| |
B&I Capital Equipment Pricing |
vs. |
eBay.com Pricing |
| Final Sale Price |
Insertion Fee |
Final Value Fee |
Total |
Total as % of Item Price |
Insertion Fee* |
Final Value Fee |
Total |
Total as % of Item Price |
| $1,000 |
$20.00 |
$10.00 |
$30.00 |
3.0 % |
$4.80 |
$28.12 |
$32.92 |
3.3 % |
| $2,500 |
$20.00 |
$25.00 |
$45.00 |
1.8 % |
$4.80 |
$50.62 |
$55.42 |
2.2 % |
| $5,000 |
$20.00 |
$50.00 |
$70.00 |
1.4 % |
$4.80 |
$88.12 |
$92.92 |
1.9 % |
| $10,000 |
$20.00 |
$100.00 |
$120.00 |
1.2 % |
$4.80 |
$163.12 |
$167.92 |
1.7 % |
| $25,000 |
$20.00 |
$250.00 |
$270.00 |
1.1 % |
$4.80 |
$388.12 |
$392.92 |
1.6 % |
| $50,000 |
$20.00 |
$250.00 |
$270.00 |
0.5 % |
$4.80 |
$763.12 |
$767.92 |
1.5 % |
| * Assumes $500 starting price |
Once this pricing takes effect on February 18th, sellers listing items that typically sell below $1,000 in the affected categories should list these items in the appropriate parts and accessories categories to avoid paying the higher $20 insertion fee.
I list parts and accessories in these categories. Why is eBay making it cost-prohibitive for me to list my items with the machines?
As we've seen with eBay Motors, and as we've heard from extensive community feedback, having machines separated from related parts and accessories improves the parts and accessories market for eBay sellers.
Currently, parts and accessories for high priced business equipment are spread across multiple categories. For example, heavy equipment parts can be found in both of the following areas:
- Business & Industrial > Construction > Heavy Equipment Parts, Manuals
- Business & Industrial > Construction > Heavy Equipment
Moving all the items currently selling under $1,000 - the majority of which will be parts and accessories - out of the 'Heavy Equipment' category and into the 'Equipment Parts, Manuals' category would nearly double the size of the category, greatly improving this parts and accessories category as a destination for parts buyers.
What is the Buyer Protection program? When will it launch?
This spring, eBay will introduce Buyer Protection covering up to $20,000 per item on those items listed in the capital equipment categories above. eBay will offer this Buyer Protection at no cost to the buyer or seller.
