I am planning to stop listing on eBay in 2009 and am in the process of pursuing a career change.

eBay was an easier place to make profits if you were a seller in 1998 to 2003. Since 2003 there has been a steady decline, then in January 2008, I saw it start to get even more difficult.

I have given eBay well over $1,000,000 in fees since 1998. They have already lost many people like me and are about to lose a lot more high volume sellers due to their high fees. eBay is concerned about short term profit to please shareholders and is not making efforts to keep long time loyal sellers like me.

While online sales continue double digit growth each year, eBay’s share is decreasing.

Why?

Amazon started to gain ground on getting online sellers in 2007 and continues to take sellers away from eBay in 2008. (Amazon does not charge listing fees, only a 15% commision on actual sales)

Craigslist being free and being local has more appeal to many people than eBay.

Walmart.com Target.com etc., are growing their online sales.

There used to be a lot of excitement for bidders to get caught up in a bidding war on eBay. Now there is less interest in waiting 7 days and when there are so many buy it nows on eBay, eBay is just one of 100s of places to buy a DVD or Toy or Book, etc.

Many specialty Collecter Niche websites or auction sites catering to specific collectibles have developed and collectors now have many more options than just relying on eBay.

Since eBay charges a seller a commision on the selling price, but not the shipping charges, many eBay sellers have started charging inflated shipping rates to get around eBay fees. Buyers assume sellers are making lots of money on the inflated shipping and have gotten fed up with high shipping rates and have quit buying on eBay.

Actually, I think you’re referring to the minimum income where you don’t compute the self-employment tax. You are required to report ALL income. Of course, you can offset those with any expenses incurred.