Ebay has been described as a church jumble sale without the excuse of a belltower repair fund. But in the UK, the online auction website has been the launchpad for 178,000 full-time and hobby businesses. Turnover has more than doubled over two years to £2bn in 2007. While the high street has become a graveyard for small businesses, small-scale retailing is flourishing online.
Recently Ebay announced it would change the fee structure of its UK site as part of a worldwide programme aiming to move the US-based web business upmarket. Cuts to listing fees will be accompanied by relatively large increases in fees for selling items. Ebay said the changes would be “essentially neutral” because of discounts for volume sellers.
