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Companies are always looking for an edge, and given the economy's current state, most are looking for a major boost.  So it appears likely that eBay will change its fee structure in an attempt to win over sellers.

This is neither a random guess nor a confirmed business plan, but Scott Wingo writes, "It seems some top sellers are getting calls from TSAMs [Top Seller Account Managers] outlining in general the fee changes that are evidently going to be announced next week with eBay's earnings."

Upfront listing fees may be reduced, and bulk discounts could also go into effect.  This will encourage sellers to dump many more items onto the site, with eBay standing to gain from higher post-sale fees.  But it'll also risk annoying would-be buyers.

"If you haven't FIRST fixed finding, the site is flooded with fixed-price items, thus your auction-listings are starved of traffic and get into a death-spiral," predicts Wingo.  Also, "The fraudsters love low listing fees, this gives them the ability to just completely hammer the site with all kinds of wacky stuff."

We tend to agree; it's hard to imagine that many appealing items were held back due to a dollar or so in routine charges.  Still, this sort of change in the fee structure could create a short-term revenue boost, and that'll be difficult for eBay to ignore.  Hat tip to Henry Blodget.