Ebay Fee Hike Sparks Mass Exodus

Editor's note: This story was originally published Jan. 30 by CNN.Money

"If eBay's fee changes were meant to shore up market share at a time when sellers are increasingly migrating to competitors such as Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), initial response suggests it may do the opposite: eBay's veteran sellers are furious, with some forecasting ruin for their businesses.

"Ouch!" said Laura Ricciotti, a seller from Windsor, Ontario, about Tuesday's announcement of a new fee structure for the online auction giant.

Ricciotti said the new fees, set to go into effect Feb. 20, will pinch her already tiny margins selling children's books through her eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) store, Read With Me Books, which began in 2000 with posts for a few auctions for baby clothes and other finds.

"Sellers need to remain competitive in their pricing to do well in eBay's global marketplace, and it will be very difficult to continue to do so and still see a profit," she said, under the new scenario."

And that was one of the gentler reactions