Sellers on Ebay.fr, eBay's French site, went on strike for a few day to protest what they call the "incredible rise of fees" that will be instituted on the French site beginning January 14. Sellers have been gradually slowing their sales, and are talking about a major week-long strike beginning on January 14.
One unhappy French merchant told AuctionBytes that the aim of the strike is to send a message to eBay.fr that it cannot raise charges while avoiding enhancing services. "French sellers would accept a raise of the charges if it was accompanied by a significant enhancement of the quality of the services, but will not if things stay as they are." He added that French sellers want all fees refunded, including listing fees, when a sale fails to conclude due to bogus buyers. He said many users are upset with the amount of fraud on the site, feeling eBay could do more to prevent it.
Sellers who are removing listings from eBay.fr are listing on other sites, including Aucland.fr, according to the source.
New prices were announced on the eBay.fr announcement board at http://www2.ebay.com/aw/marketing-fr.shtml
