EBay Inc. is cutting the fees U.S. sellers on its site pay for fixed-price items, in one of the company’s boldest moves this year to boost merchandise for sale, lure new buyers and take on competitors.
Total sellers’ fees will decrease in most cases under eBay’s plan to improve the balance between buyers and sellers on the world’s largest online auction site, and thereby reduce customer defections to rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.
“I’d say this is the most fundamental change we’ve made, ever, to the marketplace,” Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay marketplace operations, told Reuters. “It’s a huge shift from where we’ve been.”
Category eBay | 0 Comments »EBay Inc. scored an important victory in court Monday, as a federal judge said companies such as jeweler Tiffany & Co. are responsible for policing their trademarks online, not auction platforms like eBay.
Tiffany had sued eBay in 2004, arguing that most items listed for sale as genuine Tiffany products on eBay’s sites were fakes.
But U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan in New York ruled that eBay can’t be held liable for trademark infringement “based solely on their generalized knowledge that trademark infringement might be occurring on their Web sites.”
The judge said that when Tiffany notified eBay of suspected counterfeit goods, eBay “immediately removed those listings.” Although the online auction company refused to go further, by preemptively taking down suspicious listings for Tiffany jewelry, the judge said eBay didn’t have to make such a move.
EBay spokeswoman Nichola Sharpe said Monday that the ruling “confirms that that eBay acted reasonably and has adequate procedures in place to effectively address counterfeiting.”
Mark Aaron, a spokesman for Tiffany, said the company was “shocked and deeply dismayed” by the decision. Tiffany lawyer James Swire said his company might appeal it. Swire said eBay should be responsible for counterfeits on its sites, or else sellers of fakes could “go on victimizing consumers.”
Category eBay | 0 Comments »LONDON – Luxury goods may be one luxury that eBay can no longer afford.
On Monday a French court ordered the Californian online auctioneer to pay 39.9 million euros ($62.9 million) to the luxury goods company LVMH for allowing the sale of counterfeit goods on its online auction site.
“We are very satisfied with this ruling,” an LVMH spokeswoman told Forbes.com. EBay said it would appeal the decision.
LVMH (other-otc: LVMHY – news – people ) closed up 0.8%, or 53 euro cents (83 cents), to 66.58 euros ($104.77) in Paris on Monday, while eBay (nasdaq: EBAY – news – people ) ticked down 0.3%, to $27.53 in New York midday trading.
Last month another French court ordered eBay to pay luxury goods maker Hermes 20,000 euros ($31,548) over the sale of three Hermes bags, including two fakes. (See “EBay’s Faux Pas”)
“The LVMH ruling is entirely consistent with the Hermes ruling,” said George Collins, an intellectual property lawyer at London-based business law firm LG.
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