People have often complained about eBay fees on the sellers side of the equation, yet they remain under 10% and then under 5% Paypal fees. The average auction house charges 20-25% seller fee per item and 10% buyers premium IF ANY. The seller fee covers advertising and handling of the actual sale and people required.
Those of who regularly participate in the big advertising auctions are being fleeced and are willing to bend over and get reamed too. Until participants of those auctions decide to boycott them making the auction profit spiral stop it will continue to go up and up. Rich folk always have money to blow and so those who cater to them don't worry about premiums. But they are buying the cream of the crop, about 10% of overall auction sales. It's the rest of the bidders who buy the 90%, and if they quit showing up... well then you might get a correction. But unless people get together and make a concerted effort to ditch these particular auction houses they only have themselves to blame when they continue to be fleeced and bend over for the next prostate exam.
