eBay UK Increasing Final Value Fees For Jewelry To Subsidize Authentication Program
eBay UK has announced final value fees across the entire jewelry category (excluding watches, parts and accessories) will be increasing, effective March 7, 2024.
Effective 7 March 2024, the final value fees for items sold in the Jewellery category will be changing.
The current final value fee is:
12.9% of the total amount of the sale up to £450 (calculated per item) and 2% of the total amount of the sale above £450, plus a fixed charge of 30p per order
The new final value fee will be:
14.9% of the total amount of the sale up to £1,000 (calculated per item) and 4% of the total amount of the sale above £1,000, plus a fixed charge of 30p per order
This fee change applies to Jewellery only. There’s no increase to the final value fees for the Watches, Parts & Accessories subcategory.
The fee increase comes just months after eBay expanded Authenticity Guaranteed for Jewelry to the UK market, mirroring similar changes that were made when jewelry authentication was introduced to the US.
Liz Morton
Currently, Authenticity Guaranteed for jewelry in the UK is limited to items priced at £500+ and meeting brand, category and other criteria but just like in the US in 2022, it appears eBay is increasing fees across the entire jewelry category to subsidize the costs of authentication via their partnership with the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
Liz Morton
The growing costs and risks of eBay's various authentication schemes is receiving new scrutiny in light of a recent mass layoff impacting ~1,000 employees, including some in eBay's in-house sneaker authentication operations.
Liz Morton
In his memo to employees about the layoffs, CEO Jamie Iannone took very little responsibility for the situation eBay currently finds itself in, with "headcount and expenses outpacing growth", while expressing that he remains steadfastly committed to the "high value, enthusiast buyer vertical focus" strategy he says is working.
Iannone has been under increasing pressure to show significant long-term growth is possible with this strategy and to find ways to monetize "value added services" like authentication through seller fees, buyer fees or a combination - such as fee increases and mandatory shipping costs for sneakers.
However, increasing selling fees and/or adding additional costs to buyers has proven to be a difficult proposition for eBay to pull off without risking significantly slowing down momentum in these critical focus categories.
When costs rise for sellers in the form of a fee increase, those costs by necessity are passed on to consumers, which runs the risk of pricing less expensive items that do not qualify for or benefit from authentication out of the market all together.
Let us know in the comments below how this fee increase will increase your jewelry business on eBay UK!
