eBay makes changes to Charity Auction fee structure

[mandy]

***A Message from Kristin Cunningham – Important eBay Giving Works Changes***

August 31, 2006 | 01:16PM PST/PT

Kristin Cunningham
Hi everyone, this is Kristin Cunningham with eBay Giving Works, our dedicated program for charity listings. eBay Giving Works allows you to donate part or all of your final sale price to any of over 8,500 certified nonprofit organizations. I want to share some changes we have coming in the next few weeks.

New Lower Minimum Donation
Many members have told us that they would like to list more often with eBay Giving Works, but the $10 minimum donation requirement has been a barrier. We are pleased to announce that on September 14, we will be lowering the minimum donation requirement to $5 for all eBay Giving Works listings. Now when you create an eBay Giving Works listing and the item sells, your minimum commitment will either be the percentage of your item's final sale price that you've opted to donate, or $5 — whichever is greater.

Any existing eBay Giving Works listings that end on or after 12:01 a.m. PT on September 14 qualify for this new lower minimum donation requirement. (Please note: the $5 minimum donation requirement is applied per eBay listing, not per item, and does not apply for nonprofits selling directly on eBay for their cause.)

Change in MissionFish Deductions for Donation Processing
As you know, the area of charitable donations is highly regulated. Therefore, eBay Giving Works is powered by a third-party organization, MissionFish, a fully licensed nonprofit organization that is responsible for handling and processing all donation amounts. To cover their staff expenses and other operating costs they must support in order to provide these valuable services, MissionFish deducts a small portion of each total donation amount. All charitable organizations participating in the eBay Giving Works program have authorized MissionFish to offset their expenses in this way.

Currently, MissionFish deducts a flat amount of $3 for operating costs, and 2.9% for credit card processing. Beginning September 14, they will deduct a percentage based on a tiered schedule as follows:

Donation Amount MissionFish Deduction
$5.00 - $49.99 20% of the donation
$50.00 - $199.99 15% of the donation above $50
(+) $10 from the first tier (20%)
$200.00 - $999.99 10% of the donation above $200
(+) $32.50 from the first two tiers (20%, 15%)
$1,000 - $4,999.99 5% of the donation above $1,000
(+) $112.50 from the first three tiers (20%, 15%, 10%)
$5,000+ 3%* of the donation above $5,000
(+) $312.50 from the first four tiers (20%, 15%, 10%, 5%)

* If the seller pays by check or EFT, the deduction is only 1.5% of the donation above $5,000

MissionFish needs to make these changes in order to remain a viable, cost-effective solution provider, and has worked closely with us — as well as leaders in the nonprofit world — to ensure that their deduction structure is in line with industry standards.

These deductions only apply to individuals selling their items on eBay, and not to nonprofits selling directly on the site.

Receive A New Credit on Your Listing Fees
We've seen firsthand the generosity our sellers have shown by using the eBay Giving Works program. In order to further support your philanthropic efforts, we are excited to introduce the new eBay Giving Works Fee Credit Policy, which will go into effect on October 1. (This will replace our current eBay Giving Works Fee Donation Policy on that date.)

Under this new policy, when you create an eBay Giving Works listing and that item sells, eBay will credit the Insertion and Final Value Fees back to you, equal to the percentage of your final sale price that you opted to donate. For example, if you donate 30% of your sale price with eBay Giving Works, you'll get 30% of your Insertion and Final Value Fees back as a credit. One important note: These credits can not be handled automatically during the listing process, since they are based on the final price. For this reason, sellers will receive a credit to your selling account approximately six weeks after the listing ends. (We hope to shorten this timeframe in the future.)

Any eBay Giving Works listing that ends on or after 12:01 a.m. PT on October 1 will have the new eBay Giving Works Fee Credit Policy applied.

We hope these changes will enable you to support the causes you care about by listing even more often with eBay Giving Works! We will be hosting a workshop on September 14 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. PT to talk more about these changes and answer your questions.

Again, we thank you for your incredible commitment and generosity. Your efforts are helping to make the world a better place!

Sincerely,

Kristin Cunningham
eBay Giving Works