EBay cuts auction listing fees for casual sellers

EBay cuts auction listing fees for casual sellers

NEW YORK — The online marketplace eBay is eliminating some upfront fees to attract more sellers who occasionally auction off items.

San Jose, Calif.-based eBay Inc. said users will soon be able to offer up to five items for auction every 30 days without paying the fees that eBay usually charges to list goods. Those listing fees usually run 10 cents to $4, depending on the item.

EBay users will still have to pay fees for items sold. Under a new fee schedule that applies to no-listing-fee items, sellers pay a flat 8.75 percent of the sale price, with a cap of $20 per item. Usually, sellers pay different rates depending on the sale price, with no cap.

EBay spokesman Usher Lieberman said that the change, which takes effect June 16, is meant to make it simpler for consumers to list items on the site.

It also lowers the upfront risk for putting items up for sale — something that eBay hopes will lead more consumers to dust off items buried in their garages and closets and auction them off online.

The fee change does not apply to fixed-price listings, and sellers pay standard fees after their five no-fee items.

Cisco to supply Clearwire with WiMax devices

NEW YORK — Clearwire Corp., which is building a nearly nationwide wireless data network, said Cisco Systems Inc. has agreed to make devices that can use that network.

Clearwire has its new WiMax network up and running in Baltimore and Portland, Ore., but it doesn’t have a lot of devices that can use the network apart from USB modems for laptops.

Cisco said Wednesday it would launch a WiMax device before the end of the year under the Linksys brand, aimed at consumers and small businesses. It didn’t specify what it would be, but given that Linksys is a big maker of routers, the new device could be a Wi-Fi router than connects to the Internet through WiMax.

Clearwire will also buy network equipment from Cisco, the world’s largest maker of such gear. That announcement continues a trend of hardware suppliers agreeing to supply Clearwire with WiMax devices when they get contracts for network equipment.

Associated Press