There have been many recent changes to auction site fees. Yahoo Auctions began charging listing fees. EBay increased its fees. And Dutchbid (which took over Gold's Auctions) recently began charging closing fees, though there is still no charge to list an item for sale.

I put together a chart of some popular auction sites to compare these fees. You can view the chart on our Web site at http://www.auctionbytes.com/sitepricing.html. Note that the table focuses on listing fees and closing fees. Most sites also charge additional fees for featured auctions, Dutch auctions, Reserve-Price auctions, etc. There is a link to the fee page of each site for more details.

As you can see from the chart, some free venues remain, including ePier, BidBay, Bidville and SnapRat (not listed in chart).

Surpluzz.com offers a unique pricing schedule targeted at volume sellers. It charges $19.99 for up to 2,500 auctions per month. If you do the math, that would equal less than a penny per auction if you posted 2,500 auctions in a month. Not a bad price if you're a high-volume seller.

Of the big three auction sites (eBay, Yahoo & Amazon), Amazon has the lowest listing fees, but Yahoo still has no closing fees. So while Amazon is cheaper if your item does NOT sell, Yahoo is cheaper if your item DOES sell! For example, if you list an item on Amazon for $5, it costs 10 cents for the listing fee. If it sells for $20, the closing fee is $1 (5% of $20). So the total fee would be $1.10. If you list the same item on Yahoo for $5, it costs 20 cents. Since there are no closing fees, the total fee is still 20 cents. And on eBay, it costs 30 cents to list an item with a $5 starting price, and with a $1 closing fee for a $20 final value, it would cost a total of $1.30.

Pricing is only one part of the picture, albeit a major part. You'll have to consider your own preferences, auction-site policies, and the most important factor: the number of potential bidders that an auction site can deliver.

Of course, there are many other auction sites that are not listed in this chart. Specialty sites like JustBeads offer targeted communities in niche markets. You can go to the AuctionBytes Yellow Pages to view additional auction sites http://www.auctionbytes.com/bin/bizdirectory/biz-directory.pl?category= auctionsites auctionsites.

So keep your eyes peeled and your options open. And we'll keep you posted!