Ruby Lane Marketplace Launches New Fee Plan

Ruby Lane is changing its fee structure next month, although existing sellers can choose to stay on the current plan. The new plan offers lower upfront costs, but takes a higher fee when a merchant makes a sale (9.9% versus the current 6.7%).

Presumably the current fee structure is more palatable to high-volume sellers on Ruby Lane since they pay higher monthly fees but a lower commission (“service fee”).

The new plan may attract more new sellers who are uncertain of whether the platform will perform for them, since they pay a lower monthly fee ($25 for unlimited listings instead of $54 for the first 50 items). In addition, Ruby Lane offers a “Maintenance Fee Rebate” in which sellers who add at least 15 items during the month receive a $25 fee rebate credited to their account.

Ruby Lane caps the commission fee for both plans at $250 per item.

You can find the current fee structure on this page, and the new fee structure on this page.

The new plan takes effect on July 1, 2021.

While current shops can stay on the current plan, they can choose to switch to the new fee plan any time; however, they cannot switch back.

All new shops opening or reopening on July 1, 2021 will only have the option of the new fee plan.

Ruby Lane told sellers in today’s announcement, “This New Fee Plan Structure is designed to give shops a flat rate low monthly Maintenance Fee, and reward active shops by eliminating the Maintenance Fee when adding items to their shop, thus creating a Fee Plan Structure where an active shop only pays Ruby Lane when an item sells.”

Ruby Lane spokesperson Palmer Pekarek-Greer told EcommerceBytes the changes are great for both high-volume and lower volume sellers. “Adding 15 items a month to receive a rebate that eliminates a monthly maintenance fee helps smaller shops control costs. We know that adding items to a shop’s inventory every week/month increases a shop owner’s sales. And we do think that new sellers are attracted to the idea of a lower cost to be on our site.”

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.