p2pnet - rss feed: eBay says no compulsory PayPal in US
p2pnet news | Freedom:- eBay to Australians:
“You’ll do what you’re told !”
eBay to Americans.
“Er, um ……”
“It’s our way, or no way, says eBay,” p2pnet posted in April going on >>>
Showing Australians who’s boss, You WILL use PayPal and ONLY PayPal, it’s ordering them.
PayPal is, of course, owned by eBay.
“Once again the average person is screwed by a greedy giant that we helped create,” says littleripper22 on the Australia forums.
It all starts in Australia on June 17, so does that mean having set the principle there, eBay will issue similar orders to Americans and other users elsewhere in the world?
No! NO! hastily blogs the company on Ink, at the same time taking a shot at the Associated Press which, says eBay mouthperson Usher Lieberman, published ‘eBay mulls PayPal only payments’.
He goes on >>>
Along with my colleagues here and in Australia, we talked with the reporter about this story and said several times that “we have no plans to implement PayPal-only in the US”. This quote didn’t make it into the story, which is too bad because it seemed pretty clear what we meant. But in all fairness, this type of language led to a lot of questioning comments on Ink last month.
The result today was an AP story that made it “unclear whether eBay will institute a similar policy in the United States and other countries.”
While we wish the AP had listened to us and printed the quote, I’ll clarify what we meant here:
In the US, we are not mulling, planning, or otherwise seriously considering a move to PayPal-only. There are US market-specific reasons why PayPal-only is something we simply cannot do in the US.
We were offered the chance by the AP to be categorical on this subject, and we declined to do so. We declined because there are no plans, but categorical statements have a tendency to cause headaches down the road, particularly as we evaluate how to move forward in other markets and as conditions could shift in the US.
As I said in the article, we will take what we learn in Australia with PayPal-only and apply it accordingly. What perhaps didn’t come across as well is that we will apply those lessons differently in different markets.’
In other words, it could happen in the US too. Only differently. Clear enough?
Posts Michelle on the blog >>>
Well, I don’t think eBay is going to have opportunity to test the con in Australia- the heavy hitters are out in force recognizing that eBay/PayPal’s intent is to limit competition resulting in a loss for their businesses. People don’t like getting kicked around or treated as though they are so simple minded as to not see exactly what eBay/PayPal is up to with this scam.
I am glad they started this plot in a country that has strong anti-trust laws, because they are exposing the eBay/PayPal tying behavior. This is going to have a global ripple effect and eBay is going to find itself in a lot of financial pain.
It’s all about setting the stage- once Australia puts eBay in its place the payment methods that are Banned in other markets won’t even have to put much effort into bringing eBay’s anti-competitive behavior to a stop.
This is a violation of consumer rights- the basic premise of capitalism is that individuals are rational enough to make their own decisions. As the ARB put it- if PayPal is the best option than consumers will choose it, and if it is so good the ban on other methods is not necessary, and paypal as the only method prevents any better payment service from entering the picture.
Also, anti-competitive behavior is well know to result in lazy businesses that neglect the improvements that would be necessary if competition where occurring. hmmm, what do you think? Would eBay be thumbing its nose at all the counterfeit products if there were competition? Would eBay continue to provide a system infrastructure that had so many defects? would eBay be treating its customers the way they do? All of these (and much more, but I’m not feeling very analytical right now)attributes are classic red flags to anti-competitive business practices. No business that has to compete for customers would ever behave the way they do toward us - ever.
Funny- all the things I have talked with my husband about concerning eBay and PayPal and my feeling they are acting as a monopoly - he said that what will bring eBay down is their tying activity with PayPal. Oh, I mention my husband because he is an economist. Looks like he was right!
Stay tuned.
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p2pnet - Use PayPal and ONLY PayPal, eBay orders Aussies, April 11, 2008
Ink - Some things were said, not all of them were printed…, May 9, 2008
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May 12th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I hope eBay gets kicked in the metaphorical nuts over this.
May 12th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
would be interesting to know what serious alternatives ebay’s have? can anyone think of a alternative online auction site in the US, Australia or UK?
May 13th, 2008 at 2:24 am
To see how much eBay and it’s subsidiary actually takes out of your wallet (out of your total profit), see this new online eBay + PayPal calculator.
http://pheebay.com/1/?eBayALTERNATIVESPheeCalculator
The calculator works for all English speaking countries AU, US, UK, CA, NZ.
It could also help show why eBay is mandating Australians to use it’s 100% owned subsidiary PayPal.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:01 am
My wife ebays a lot and asked me to find her some alternatives to ebay in Oz.
http://www.oztion.com.au/ looks like the big winner. http://www.auctionia.com.au/ seems smaller.
Looks like a diversification is coming. Next step aggregators. Google must be very happy.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I know i will not be using ebay any more, who do they think they are changing these rules. I don’t have a credit card and don’t want to sign up for Pay pal so good by Ebay
July 20th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
As a reputable Ebay Seller, I personnaly don’t like the Idea of shipping an expencive Item to a buyer knowing that anytime within 180 days, (6 months) the buyer can dispute the item for whatever reason even after he or she damaged it themselves and contact their credit card company and have the charge reversed by credit card policy. If it’s thru a paypal account, they will lock you out .
With this new policy of requiring either paypal or merchant account, sellers have absolutely no protection or guaranteed funds for 6 months on items that were sold in good faith and in as described condition.
I wonder how Ebay, greedbay,feebay, whatever would feel about sellers posting in their listings that customers that purchase items over $100.00 thru paypal or credit card will have to wait till the funds are guaranteed prior to shipping item. In the case of a Postal Money Order it is guaranteed immediate funds which entitles buyer to immediate shipping with no hold time. Personal checks are OK but they must clear the bank prior to shipping. All Paypal and credit card purchases will have guaranteed funds in 180 days or 6 months. If they choose to use the later plan, the item will be shipped in 180 days for the sellers protection. I would believe that most buyers would then get the picture as well as ___BAY !
July 21st, 2008 at 4:15 pm
It’s obvious we do not live in a perfect world. It never was and it never will be. There will always be the
honest majority and the ones that are not. We also have laws in the land that punish the ones that steal from
others without punishing the honest that do no wrong.
With regards to the EBAY COMMUNITY, the vast majority of sellers and buyers have always been honest,
while the smaller portion of dishonest sellers have been either thrown off Ebay while the dishonest buyers have
caused a great financial loss to the sellers with their fraud, damage of merchandise , paypal chargebacks, causing uncalled for locked out paypal accounts, overdrafts , Ebay Suspensions, financial stress and much more causing good honest sellers
to leave Ebay Community do to NO FAULT of their own other than agreeing to allowing the 180 reverse charge
option which destoyed their Ebay business.
In the past, Honest Ebay Sellers had the option of selecting a safe form of payment for their value of
merchandise exchanged which was really the American Way. They could select the form of payment that they
were comfortable excepting which gave them GUARANTEED IMMEDIATE FUNDS with no future unpleasant
suprises. Money that was relied upon for sellers and their families to: pay bills, raise a family,go on vacation,
save for the future or just go out and buy something else e.t.a.l. That WAS truely the American Way and the
Ebay Community offered this oppurtunity to the public. Perfect examples include: Postal Money Orders which are
guaranteed immediate funds to the seller in exchange for immediate shipping to the buyer with no hold time for
funds to become available. Another example would be a simple personal check that once it cleared the bank the
item was then safe to ship with fund in hand. For Overseas and in the States there is always the safe bank
transfer option. These options mentioned above are especially desirable for larger ticket items over $100.00 and
up. Paypal and Credit Card payments are only desireable for speed and convenience with smaller ticket (LOWER
RISK) items because the chargeback option on them are easily absorbable and not as likely several months down
the road. Besides, The scammers won’t hit the sellers on the little transactions, only on the substantially larger
big ticket items. Also in times like this where money is tighter ,people think twice about what they just bought,
rescently bought that they realize that they either got their use out of it, desided they really didn’t need, money
right now is more important than keeping it just to name a few examples. Given the temptation and opportunity
to charge back an item for 6 months (180) days from purchase, unfortunately many good honest upfront sellers
get stung on this example in the most unfair manner.
……………………………………….NOT ANYMORE…..STOP……LOOK…..LISTEN…………………………………………………
.
EBAY staff is now telling us sellers that we MUST OFFER THE OPTION FOR ALL BUYERS TO EXCHANGE OUR
VALUED MERCHANDISE FOR a 6 MONTH BUYER OPTION ! YES… You know what that means? No GUARANTEE
OF PAYMENT WITHOUT REVERSED CHARGES FOR 180 DAYS FROM DATE OF PURCHASE. This option gives the
buyer all kinds of time for excuses as to why he or she doesn’t want the item anymore. On any large ticket
item this could be disasterous results. NOW, WHERE DID AMERICAN WAY GO ?…GONE BYE BYE…………………
…………………………………………………MORE NEW EBAY POLICY ……………………………………………………………
ABSOLUTELY NO MORE IMMEDIATE EXCHANGE OF VALUED MERCHANDISE FOR U.S. DENOMINATION FUNDS.
When that large chargeback appears somewhere within the 180 days from purchase and the money is already
by that time spent. IT’S ALL OVER and the EBAY/ PAYPAL system will have literally destroyed your’s and your
families life with absolutely no remorse whatsoever. Ebay’s track record has proven time and time again that
they really don’t care whats in the best interest of the Ebay Seller’s . They feel that there will always be enough
sellers and their additude is like the boss that tells you if you don’t like it you can leave and don”t let the door
hit you in the ass on the way out.
…………………………………You’ve all heard the old saying, “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”………………………………
…………………………………I get the feeling EBAY just modified that phrase to something like this……………………
…………………………………”IF IT AIN’T BROKEN , KEEP SMACKING IT ARROUND REAL…………………………………
………………………………….GOOD SO YOU KNOW THAT IT TRUELY IS BROKEN THIS TIME “…………………………..