eBay appears to be blaming seller confusion over the degree of anger expressed by sellers after eBay announced it was increasing fees in February.

eBay announced in January it was increasing commission fees on Store listings from a base of 5.25 percent to 8 percent and raising the monthly subscription fees for Stores from $9.95 to $15.95 beginning February 18, resulting in a deluge of protest from sellers.

An article published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday stated, "EBay executives say some of the anger stems from false rumors that the fee increases apply to every eBay listing."

However, eBay is increasing fees for some auction features as well as to Store commission and subscription fees. The fee for 10-day duration auction listings will be raised from 20 cents to 40 cents per listing. The fee for adding a Buy-It-Now (BIN) option to auction listings increases from a flat rate of 5 cents to a tiered system of between 5 cents and 25 cents, depending on the item's starting price. (Correction: the fee is based on the BIN price.) Auction Gallery fees will increase from 25 cents to 35 cents per listing.

Over the weekend, eBay surveyed some sellers to get their opinions about the upcoming price increases. According to an AuctionBytes reader, one of the questions asked if the respondent thought the increase was site-wide, or just Stores.

It seems unlikely a seller would be confused after reading eBay's announcement, which can be read here http://www2.ebay.com:80/aw/marketing.shtml#2005-01-12075944.

However, eBay may be concerned about an online petition that has been getting lots of attention from users, which starts off, "Ebay sellers are very concerned about the recent fee increase. Of course as ebay grows, it is understandable that the fee structure will increase. But sellers are questioning the amount of increase, mainly the gallery fee (from 0.25 to 0.35) and the final value fee (from 5.25% to 8%)." The full petition can be read at http://www.petitiononline.com/ebayfee/petition.html. The petition currently has 22,548 signatures, though some signers are using it to post endorsements for eBay's competitors.

The group representing some of eBay's largest sellers issued a strong statement against the fees (http://www.gopesa.org/fees_stmt.cfm). PESA, the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, seemed clear about the implications of the fee increase:

"For sellers who often operate on exceedingly low margins, the substantial increase in fees will dramatically affect their businesses. eBay fee changes include a 40% increase in its Gallery fee, up to a five fold increase to use the Buy it Now feature, and a 52% increase in commissions charged on eBay Store sales. Overall, our members are reporting that they will pay up to 22% more to eBay than before the increase. That is unprecedented, and will have broad marketplace implications."

Whether the survey eBay conducted to gauge seller concern over fee increases is used to better understand its users or to further its position that sellers are confused remains to be seen. While investors may like either outcome, serious sellers aren't likely to appreciate the latter position.