ECommerce: eBay Increases Fees and Sends eBay Sellers and Investors into a Panic

eBay Increases Fees and Sends eBay Sellers and Investors into a Panic

Written by Carolyn Schweitzer

On January 13, eBay sellers received an unwelcome announcement from eBay. Fees were going up.

Partly due to our tendency to "skim" messages and partly due to repparttar way in which repparttar 108655 announcement was worded, repparttar 108656 result was widespread panic and threats of mutiny.

Many sellers started to "boycott" eBay, and began taking their business to places like Yahoo auctions, and Overstock.com. After issuing another email "clarifying" repparttar 108657 price increases, eBay finally sent everyone a "Message from Bill Cobb" on February 6.

Bill Cobb, who became President of eBay North America in December of 1004, stated that he'd been "taking it all in" and "thinking hard about how we can make sure eBay remains a fun, safe place to trade, and a prosperous home for our many dedicated sellers."

Cobb addressed repparttar 108658 issue of fee increases, and concerns about customer support, trust and safety, and frequency of changes to repparttar 108659 site.

Cobb also promised a number of improvements to customer service, a credit for store sellers and a reduction in repparttar 108660 minimum insertion fees for auction style and fixed price listings. He even gave readers his email address and invited comments, promising to read every one of them!

The Bottom line here is that repparttar 108661 most significant changes made will affect eBay Store owners. But Store items are offered at a price determined by repparttar 108662 seller, so increased costs can be passed along to repparttar 108663 buyer. This is what "real world" businesses do all repparttar 108664 time. The cost of doing business rarely goes down and Business people learn to expect increases in overhead.

Choosing a Merchant Account Provider

Written by Mary Hedden

When looking for a merchant account provider, it is important to do a lot of research. You do not want to pay too much or sign up with a disreputable company. However, you do need to keep in mind that once you do sign up it could take up to a week for your application to be approved once it has been submitted.

There are three main factors that you should consider when selecting a merchant account provider.

1. Price 2. Integrity 3. Customer Service

Price (Merchant Account Rates and Fees)

When shopping for a merchant account, it is important to understand all of repparttar rates and fees that repparttar 108654 merchant account provider charges.

You will typically be charged repparttar 108655 following fees:

Monthly Fee - Normally around $25 US and could vary depending on whether you meet your minimum monthly transactions.

Discount Rate- Percentage taken from a sale that repparttar 108656 merchant pays to cover repparttar 108657 costs of repparttar 108658 transactions and repparttar 108659 risk involved. Usually 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent.

Transaction Fee - A flat fee charged for each transaction. Typically between $0.20 and $1.00 US per transaction.

Application Fee - The initial fee you are charged to open repparttar 108660 merchant account. Many merchant account providers do not charge application fees.

Equipment and Installation - Software can range from $0 to $1200 US or more depending on whether you have batch or real-time processing. Costs for hardware (POS terminals) can range from $500 to $1,500+ depending on repparttar 108661 model you purchase.

If you have current or projected sales data, you can forecast what your fees will be for different merchant account providers. Searchmerchants.com has done this for you with repparttar 108662 top internet merchant account providers in their database. If you visit Searchmerchants.com, you may enter your monthly sales data to compare fees for their recommended providers.

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