Why does Ebay have no viable competition? It seems to have a monopoly which allows it to charge high fees.?

Answer 1

I believe there are other auction sites out there, but they are not as popular as e-bay.

One site I have found quite useful is WWW.Craigslist.com
This is basically a giant website of classified ads, with no fees attached whatsever. There are many large cities in the U.S. that have a Craigslist page. I have sold a pool table ($400) and other merchandise totaling over $200. My brother-in-law bought a wonderful set of used golf clubs for $40. The site has something for everyone, including merchandise, pets, jobs, singles, barter opportunites, garage sale listings, etc. This is great for sellers because there are no listing fees, and great for buyers because there are generally no shipping fees (since it is local, most people usually just pick up.)

Answer 2

Partly because they were first. There are other auction sites but once you are the biggest, having the most potential customers you tend to stay on top.Ebay also has been good about improving their service based on customer input.