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Ebay buys PayPal
mdahlman was among several readers who submitted the story that
eBay has
bought Paypal in a deal worth $1.5B in stock. The article is mostly
numbers and money related stuff, but it also briefly mentions some of
the controversy surrounding eBay.
from the article:
PayPal is a tad controversial - it's got jaw-dropping Ts&Cs and it's not very friendly to people outside the US. Also, there are occasional foul-ups, and several states want much closer scrutiny - if PayPal.looks like a bank and it acts like a bank, then it should regulated like a bank.
In fact, the article doesn't mention any ebay controversy. Expect this comment to be modded down and the story silently edited...
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
... here and here.
---- scrm
UGH! Billpoint always got my payments right. PayPal screwed me like 3 times. They double billed me, and their customer service didn't give a rats arse. I hope eBay fixes that. What's going to happen to the Jacoby and Myers suit now?
You guys missed it..sure eBay got PayPal all of it..
But look at who partnered with PayPal and invested in Paypal before the eBay transaction..
Wells Fargo..
PayPal is going to be pushed as the online pay site for all online transactions by Wells fargo..
eBay just wants to make sure they have a full handled on that leader..
Don't Tread on OpenSource
I'd be curious to get a sense about how you feel about PayPal and *your* country.
(fwiw, I care because I use it to sell my software, and I've got lots of international users)
Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
Yeah, I know, it's for the UK only. But I only live in the UK...
Having something like bidpay or paypal better integrated into E-bay would be nice, but Paypal needs to REALLY clean up their act. I use them when I can, but they won't let you have full access unless you "validate" yourself by giving them your checking account information. Which is SO NOT going to happen.
They already have my credit card info and that should be enough. My losses are limited if some bozo breaks into my Paypal account and pays for something with my credit card.
If they have my checking account info, they could potentially wipe me out and I have little to no recourse at that point.
Don't anthropomorphize computers, they don't like it.
What will happen to eBay Payments (Billpoint) users?
"eBay Payments (Billpoint) will continue to function as a provider of online payment services until the acquisition is finalized around year-end 2002. At that time we plan to phase out eBay Payments (Billpoint) as we integrate PayPal into our platform. Since a majority of eBay Payments (Billpoint) users already use PayPal too, the transition will be quite simple for them. For eBay Payments (Billpoint) users who have never used PayPal, we will work closely with them to make sure that the transition happens in the most user-friendly way possible."
FAQ
Original announcement
Discussion #1
Discussion #2
I do not. If paypal becomes the universal standard for person to person financial transactions online, they stand to make much more money than if they only sold "ebay bucks."
This, however, does appear to raise a conflict of interest prospects. Now eBay would stand to make money from:
Listing fee
Final sale price
Payment (and whatever fees they dig up for that)
In effect controlling the entire transaction (unless you choose to pay via check or money order.) I prefer using PayPal for international purchases, as it keeps conversion, etc. simple and offers some protections against fraud.
I'm very disturbed at their cavalier attitude about changing key pages, without warning or period of online evaluation. Expect the same devil-may-care attitude with respect to how PayPal works.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar