Definition: Fee avoidance is the practice of listing or carrying out auctions in such a way as to avoid having to pay eBay sellers' fees. Fee avoidance is a violation of eBay rules.
The most common type of fee avoidance occurs when a seller lists an item with a Buy It Now price well below market value, then makes the difference up by listing a very high shipping cost.
Another common type of fee avoidance occurs when a seller contacts a high bidder and offers to sell the item to the bidder immediately, outside eBay.
Though the second of these is often tempting to buyers, prospective buyers should beware that they, too, are violating eBay rules when the complete such a transaction, and furthermore, they lose all protections offered by eBay and PayPal when they engage in offsite deals.
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