BERLIN/Germany: Online trading platform Ebay will no longer charge listing fees or sales commissions for private sellers in Germany, the company said on Tuesday.
The elimination of the costs, effective as of Wednesday for an unlimited period, removes what the company believes is the biggest hurdle that consumers have when selling on eBay.de.
The regulation only applies in Germany, the company’s third-largest market in terms of turnover after the US and Britain.
So far, sellers have been charged 11% in commission, alongside a fixed charge of €0.35 ($0.37).
The new regulation does not affect the charges paid by business sellers.
The managing director of Ebay Germany, Oliver Klinck, said the move to eliminate fees for private sellers was an investment by eBay Germany in the entire marketplace business.
The incentive is aimed at driving private sales, expanding the variety of offerings on Ebay Germany, and so increasing the attractiveness of the marketplace, he said.
“We see that private sellers are also much more active as buyers. Those who also sell on Ebay also buy twice as much as buyers who only buy.”
Klinck said the initiative was timely given the current economic climate. “We’re living in a time when many families lack money in their wallets.”
He said a representative opinion poll commissioned by YouGov showed that because of the energy crisis, inflation and other adverse circumstances, families on average were short of €180 a month. “Therefore, there is a great need in Germany to generate additional income through private sales.”
