Overstock.com will lower listing and commission fees for online-auction sellers effective April 10, 2007. The head of Overstock.com Auctions Meghan Tuohig also announced on discussion boards the launch of 1-day auctions and the delay of the long-promised bid cancellation feature and Classifieds.

Listing fee decreases range from zero to 7 cents, depending on the starting price. For example, for items with a starting price of less than one dollar, listing fees will go from 17 cents to 10 cents. Closing (commission) fees will also be lowered, with the first tier commission (for items selling for between one cent and $25) going from 3.25 percent to 3 percent.

When Overstock.com launched its Auctions platform in September 2004, online-auction sellers in some categories hoped they could migrate their businesses from eBay to Overstock Auctions. Lower fees, phone support and a commitment to sellers attracted a following on the new auction site. But Overstock is now struggling to find a balance between keeping costs low and retaining sellers, a problem that escalated since it eliminated subscription-pricing programs and abandoned its storefront development.

Tuohig wrote in her post on Friday that Overstock.com "couldn't be more delighted with the results" of the elimination of the subscription plans because of higher sell-through rates and higher average sales prices. She said, "buyers are no longer forced to sort through hundreds or thousands of unreasonably priced items."

The subscription plans were extremely attractive to sellers, allowing them to pay a flat monthly fee for listings, with a choice of ten plans. The top plan allowed sellers to list up to 7,500 items at a time for a monthly fee of $79.95 (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m01/i02/s01).

Tuohig cited delays in ironing out glitches in code for the delay of the new feature launches. However, the company is set to launch 1-day duration auctions on April 4. Some users are worried that 1-day auctions would make it easier for scammers to defraud shoppers. One-day listings will only be available to sellers with a rating of 10 or more and who have been verified for at least 90 days.

http://forums.auctions.overstock.com/viewtopic.php?t=16995