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SAN JOSE - A new tax on online purchases in the European Union will mean higher fees for eBay sellers on the continent beginning July 1, and it could mean a temporary downturn in eBay listings there, according to several media sources.

The San Jose-based auction company posted notices this week on its English and German electronic bulletin boards, warning that it will begin collecting higher fees July 1 to comply with the EU's new value-added tax (VAT) on digital services. The taxes apply only to items sold within the EU and should not affect purchases in North America or elsewhere.

The tax will be a percentage of the service fee that eBay sellers pay on goods they list and sell, as much as 5% of the sales price of an item. The VAT will vary according to the country where the seller lives, ranging from 15% in Luxembourg to 25% in Denmark.

Germany, one of eBay's most popular markets outside the US, has a VAT of 16%. The new fees will raise the cost of a 500-euro item by a couple of euros, depending on the listing. But the fees could add up for larger items, such as cars and computer equipment.

eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said sellers will likely try to unload merchandise in the weeks leading up to July 1, but he was confident they'd return to the world's largest online auction company.

"Historically, whether in the United States, Europe or Asia, what we've seen is a heavy increase in listing a week or two weeks before the implementation [of a] fee, then a drop-off for four weeks," Pursglove said. "Then the listings tend to ramp back up to their normal rate."

eBay doesn't collect taxes on behalf of users in the US, but advises sellers it's their responsibility to pay taxes. Winning bidders are supposed to pay the tax rate in the seller's state or county, if any, but few vendors charge more than a shipping fee.

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