eBay cuts media listing fees, but shuts the book on feedback

It seems eBay is starting to recognize that sellers are really steamed about the recent policy changes. In response, the company is making what looks like a token adjustments in fees in some categories, including books. But there's no give on the issue of feedback--sellers will no longer be able to leave negative or neutral ratings for bad buyers.

eBay is slashing insertion fees for these categories by up to 50 percent. For example, auctions with start prices of $1.00 to $9.99 will cost 25 cents in insertion fees, compared with 40 cents under the previous scenario.

Here are the changes, effective February 20:

In the Books, Music, Movies and Video Game software categories, eBay will offer lower insertion fees for the first three insertion tiers as follows:

$0.01 – 0.99 (auction-style only)
Original Categories Insertion Fee: $ .20
New Media fee: $ .10

$1.00 - 9.99 (auction-style and fixed price)
Original Categories Insertion Fee: $ .40
New Media fee: $ .25

$10.00 – 24.99 (auction-style and fixed price)
Original Categories Insertion Fee: $ .60
New Media fee: $ .35

But eBay marketplace honcho Lorrie Norrington pooh-poohed seller concerns that the recent feedback changes would hurt business. "We will proceed with our plans to evolve our feedback system and with the weighting of Detailed Seller Ratings (DSRs) in search, as announced," she said. "They are both central to our plans and will aid in providing a great buying experience from sellers buyers can trust."