San Francisco, CA: eBay has reached a proposed $30 million settlement of a class action lawsuit alleging it had overcharged sellers in the eBay Motors Parts and Accessories category.
The class action, filed by two eBay sellers on April 21, 2009 (and amended in June 2009), states "In particular, Plaintiffs allege that a web page known as the eBay Motors Fee Page sets the second fee, which was called either a Transaction Services Fee or Successful Listing fee; eBay instead charged a Final Value Fee, which Plaintiffs claim applies only to regular or "Core" eBay.com listings."
On December 20, 2010, the Court preliminarily approved the Settlement and ordered that Notice be sent to all Settlement Class Members. The Court will hold a hearing on March 28, 2011 to decide whether to grant final approval to the Settlement, which will affect all Settlement Class Members.
Under the Settlement, eBay will establish a Settlement Fund in the amount of $30 million. The Settlement Fund will be used to (1) reimburse, in part, Final Value Fees paid (net of any previous refunds) by the Settlement Class; (2) pay all expenses to provide this notice to the Settlement Class; (3) compensate Class Counsel and the Class Representatives (as discussed further below); and (4) distribute any leftover funds will be paid to entities to be approved by the Court.Settlement payments of less than $0.50 will not exceed processing and postage costs, so Class Counsel intends to seek Court approval to eliminate all settlement payments to Settlement Class Members that do not exceed $0.50. Whether such deminimus payments may be eliminated will be addressed by the Court at the final settlement hearing.
Payment to Settlement Class members will be proportional to the total amount of Final Value Fees (net of any previous refunds) each Class Member paid between April 21, 2005 and August 26, 2009 for selling Parts and Accessories, excluding listings in eBay Store Inventory Format. According to eBay's calculations, which are subject to finalization and revision, it is estimated that Settlement Class Members will be refunded approximately 6.67% of the Final Value Fees (net of any previous refunds) they paid for these listings.
