Ebay have reduced listing fees and thrown in ?extras? such as gallery for ?free? and redefined their search algorithms to focus on sellers DSR's in an action that gives the seller more exposure the happier their customers are. The more exposure that a listing gets the higher the likelihood is that the final selling price will be higher and as such the greater the FVF that Ebay will collect, thus offsetting the lower insertion fees. There are even rumours that Ebay will be moving towards free listings for all, does this not simply sound like the Amazon business model??

Look at Amazon, they offer a free to list policy to their sellers however the marketplace is a hell of a lot more structured and controlled and they then take a larger proportion of the final price in fees. If the customer isn't happy then it is up to the seller to make them happy or they no longer sell on the Amazon marketplace.

No one can really argue that it really is a good business model but can Ebay really go from its seller focused approach (you can make your fortune on here type of marketing) to a buyer focused approach (a really use able and confidence building marketplace) without turning upon the very sellers (read legit) that have made it what it is today.

Thoughts?