[The Pieman]

Some interesting changes for sellers on ebay Australia. The summary of the story is that ebay sellers on the ebay Australia site will be forced to use PayPal for all transactions except cash at pickup.

PayPal the only option for trading on eBay | NEWS.com.au

Coming soon to an ebay site near you!

cheers
Simon

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Pieman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some interesting changes for sellers on ebay Australia. The summary of the story is that ebay sellers on the ebay Australia site will be forced to use PayPal for all transactions except cash at pickup. PayPal the only option for trading on eBay | NEWS.com.au Coming soon to an ebay site near you! cheers Simon

Even if you want to use 'Cash at pickup', notice you are still required to list Paypal as payment option.

 

[Chu]

I sell a fair amount of stuff on eBay, and the rate of default by buyers who don't use paypal for me is around 75%.

About 10% of those claim they sent the money and I never got it. When I press for details (you say you have the CC of the Money Order, who did you buy it from? Did you stop payment on the check? You sent it certified? Ok, Can I get a copy of the voucher or the tracking number?) the e-mails mysteriously stop coming, but the charade is enough to add an extra 2 weeks or so to the NPB process.

It's ridiculous.

Doesn't effect me, but I can see how some would be extremely upset at this.

I would be a little surprised to see this go through this in America because eBay is already stirring the antitrust waters a little with their extremely anti-competitive third party policies (they don't allow any, period) and one lawsuit by the right defendant would force them to change a lot of their policies.

For example, if google wallet or c2it decided to challenge eBay over the policy of banning any 3rd party money escrow service besides Paypal/WU, and got them nailed for bundling, the floodgates would open.

 

[Duggeh]

About a quarter of people who buy from me prefer to use personal cheque. of the 75% who are left. Most use Paypal (I've only had two buyers give me cash in hand).

This move, whatever its real of spoken motives, stinks of monopolistic grasping.

 

[RedLeader]

I hate paypal, I'm in the middle of another big argument with them. I actually had a collections agency call me tonight for $122 for a case that is still under review. If google checkout was allowed I would be all over that faster than you could shake salt at a baked potatoe

 

[Kuze]

Man i just want google to hurry and come with something so i can stop hearing about these long gut greedy bitches.

 

[The Legend]

eBay is becoming too aggressive with their Paypal ways.

Because it is a synergistic advantage they feel that PP is the only way buyers should exchange funds and thus padding their bottom line through fees.

This not only puts conservative people at a disadvantage, unless they only wish to pay with cash which is extremely inconvenient for people who live far distances, but it also creates a larger need for more competitors.

Once you are at the top, the only way to go is down.

 

[shigzeo]

i pretty much only handle via cash at pickup - paypal is a convention i could do without and being forced to use it is complete mishmash and will likely find its way to thedailymash.co.uk - i feel it

 

[Currawong]

Truly insane, as most people I dealt with use direct deposit (into the sellers bank account) as a means for payment. Removing that = removing a huge percentage of sales. Removing a merchant's ability to use their own credit card processing removes a massive chunk more. There'll be a huge uproar over this. Truly suicide for eBay in Australia.

 

[Mister Crash]

Following up on what Currawong said: on Yahoo! Japan's auctions, practically all sellers require payment via bank transfers. Then again, Japan is by and large a cash economy. In the U.S., payments by bank transfer are the exception rather than the rule. Heck, the U.S. government seems to think that any large cash transaction is suspicious, and does its best to make it as difficult as possible for people to use cash, especially for large purchases. A lot of people only pay for things with their credit cards in the U.S., which makes Paypal somewhat useful for sellers who don't already have their own credit card processing methods. Are credit cards prevalent in Australia, or is cash the primary method of payment?

Forcing Paypal upon buyers/sellers is bad for eBay's public image, but if eBay is the only game in town, sellers aren't going to have much of a choice. Besides, if eBay was truly interested in its public image, it wouldn't keep jacking up its fees.

 

[krmathis]

Insane!
Why in the world should they be forced to use a specific payment method? Oh my...

 

[santiclaws]

PayPal is going to, if they haven't already, get hit with a huge class action suit. Amongst other things they do, they sit on your money for days after a transfer, even though they get the money instantly. A pretty nutty way for a company based in California, with its multitude of consumer protection laws, to operate.

 

[batmanwcm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by santiclaws /img/forum/go_quote.gif PayPal is going to, if they haven't already, get hit with a huge class action suit. Amongst other things they do, they sit on your money for days after a transfer, even though they get the money instantly. A pretty nutty way for a company based in California, with its multitude of consumer protection laws, to operate.

Ughh, I'm waiting for a pending payment right now. Paypal is too slow with this. I remember when Paypal was not owned by ebay and was completely free. I miss those days.

 

[mofonyx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Insane! Why in the world should they be forced to use a specific payment method? Oh my...

Because eBay owns PayPal

big money there.

 

[Uncle Erik]

eBay seems to be turning more evil by the year. I still make small purchases under $100 there, but have turned to other sites to buy larger things. I've also stopped selling there. It is much too easy to get screwed over by a bad buyer these days. I don't think eBay will last another 5-10 years with their current policies. Selling will either spin out to specialized sites or a competitor will kill them.

Reminds me of when the neighborhood liquor/wine store sold out to some immigrants. Nothing xenophobic, but these people did not speak English (it once took 10 minutes of gesturing to buy a Coke), jumped the prices and changed the product lines. They thought that because they had the name and location they could do anything they wanted. Well, the invisible hand put a smackdown on that within 18 months or so.