They are trying to push people towards store subscriptions.. I have a store and I get the 150 Free listings, but I have like 300 items listed on eBay and a whole lot more I would like to list, but I can't until I get free listings or the sell down the other items I have listed.
My options are to upgrade to a bigger store, which I don't want to do, I don't even want the one I have.. Or wait for promotions..
I personally feel that they are going after the people who are selling under multiple ID's to avoid listing fees..
It makes me wonder if this is a good eBay strategy, if I was a shareholder.
Does the cost of some additional subscription revenue, outweigh the cost of the Final Value Fee they would of received from people who will no longer sell a ton of items on eBay.
And does the lower price an auction might bring from a sale (people will sell more) out-weigh the higher fee they will eventually collect from a final value fee.
Then are their people with stores selling the same items that people who didn't have stores are selling - So ebay really won't being losing the FVF, since they will just collect it from a different seller.
I'm sure eBay crunched their numbers and projected the revenue growth by the changes the implemented.