Seller discovers inconsistent eBay fees

You don’t have to pay any commission on eBay if you sell certain sneakers over $ 100 that go through its sneaker authentication program. However, a seller who uses the service noticed that the terms had changed to raise the threshold by $ 150.

As he explained in his letter, he noticed the verbiage change on April 1. “All the sellers who now think they are selling an item for 100 to 149.99 and will not pay any fees on those items are going to be surprised when they are billed and again no announcement of the change I could find,” a he wrote. (The full letter was published in EcommerceBytes Letters to the publisher’s blog.)

As of March 27, 2021, the terms and conditions of the sneaker authentication program stated that sellers selling certain brands, which it listed, qualified for the program if they sold “$ 100 + to the state. new or $ 300 + used, excluding taxes and shipping. “

Terms now state (April 2, 2021) that qualifying sneakers must sell for “$ 150 + new or $ 300 + used, excluding taxes and shipping.”

The reader also pointed out that he later discovered that eBay had not altered the verbiage on the page describing its pricing structure. We found this page of Sneaker Program FAQ hadn’t changed – it still says: “Sellers pay no insertion fee on qualifying sneakers when the item’s starting price is $ 100 or more, not including shipping, handling charges , taxes or fees. “

eBay initially announced the sneaker authentication program on October 12 on the EBay Business Blog.

So what’s the point of not charging fees on an online marketplace? In a February 3, 2021 article, eBay executive Jordan Sweetnam said more than $ 100 sneaker sales have tripled in the fourth quarter of 2020, and “more importantly, these categories actually increased sales in other areas. For example, the average customer who bought a pair of sneakers over $ 100 spent a total of 2,500 $ on eBay overall – with 80% of spending in categories outside of sneakers. “

Sweetnam said, “It’s this kind of unique, cross-category buying opportunity that we intend to translate into more buyers, more opportunities, and more sales for you.”

If you’ve used eBay’s authentication program in sneakers (or luxury watches), let us know – from a buyer’s or seller’s perspective.

What do you think of eBay’s authentication programs?