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eBay Australia Makes PayPal Mandatory

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-about-dubloons dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Australian press are reporting that eBay is using Australia as a guinea pig to trial a new policy where all other modes of payment are barred except for PayPal. If successful, eBay will roll it out to other markets."

8 of 390 comments (clear)

  1. From the horse's mouth by afaik_ianal · · Score: 5, Informative
    It's not just in the media, either. They emailed us all the following:

    Hi

    Because you are a valued seller we'd like to let you know about some changes to eBay.com.au that are going to make our marketplace an even safer place for you to buy and sell.

    These changes will be introduced in two stages:
    From 21 May you must offer PayPal on all your listings as well as currently permitted payment methods.

    From 17 June you will only be able to offer PayPal on your listings and pay on pick up (i.e.paid for when picking up the item).

    Pay on pick up can only be offered in conjunction with PayPal. No other payment methods will be permitted.
    A small number of exclusions will apply to these changes.

    Get the lowdown on how these changes will affect you.
    "These changes may have some significant implications for how you trade on eBay.com.au, which is why we're organising a series of Q & A events to discuss them with you in person.

    Come along and hear from me about why eBay is making these changes. We'll have a number of eBay and PayPal staff available to answer your questions and explain the changes in more detail.
    We are also conducting a series of online workshops about the changes throughout April and May, so keep your eye on the announcement board for details."

    1. Re:From the horse's mouth by ranulf · · Score: 5, Informative
      Also, Ebay UK looks like they're not waiting for the results of the Australia experiment. From an e-mail from them this morning:

      Starting in late April, eBay will now ask all sellers to offer PayPal on their listings. This means that even more items on eBay will offer buyer protection.

      This is one of many new initiatives that eBay and PayPal are doing to make it much more difficult for bad sellers to operate on eBay. As a result, you'll notice a dramatic improvement in quality when buying on eBay.
    2. Re:From the horse's mouth by Bert64 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Except that many of the worst sellers actively use and are supported by paypal...

      See http://www.ev4.org/wordpress/category/fastmemorymanscam/

      Basically if you buy an item from a seller, and it's wrong, defective, etc, paypal will give you a refund but only if you ship it to the seller's "registered" address, using a shipping service with online tracking. Because of this, sellers can register an address in a foreign country, sell low value goods, ship you garbage, and then it becomes uneconomical to send it back so the seller keeps your money.

      Aside from the fact that that when selling something, i'd prefer *not* to use paypal, as i have to increase the cost of the item and shipping to cover paypal costs. I much prefer personal collection, i can demonstrate the item to prove it works, and i receive the full amount i sold the item for in cash.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  2. Definitely time to look for an alternative :( by DiSKiLLeR · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, I guess its definitely time to look for an alternative, and pull my highly rated account from ebay :(

    I refuse to use paypal due to having bad experiences with it in the past.

    In Australia i'd say paypal for paying for ebay auctions is hardly use AT ALL since in Australia its far easier and quicker and cheaper to pay using direct deposit with netbanking. That is THE standard pay to pay here. Why use a middle man? And now to be FORCED to use one? I don't think so.

    --
    You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
  3. Re:I refuse to buy from sellers who dont take PayP by freedom_india · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nope. If it were a bank, the merchant would pay for the loss or the bank will bear it.
    As banking laws go, once the money is in your account, nobody (except by court order) can debit your account except you.
    Nobody.
    Similarly, they can't suddenly block access to your account without informing you in writing.
    PayPal OTOH can debit your account and drain it fully and then refuse to explain why plus put you in call waiting.

    --
    "Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
  4. Re:Legal status of Paypal? by Bashae · · Score: 5, Informative

    When Paypal europe moved to Luxembourg last year, due to EU regulations it had to become subject to banking rules. More information here: http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=16927 I don't think it's a bank outside europe though.

  5. Not illegal in the US by Mathinker · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not true in the US.

    Here's a US Treasury Dept. link from a comment I recently modded Informative:

          http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml

    I cannot find the comment now, Slashdot's search function is too under-powered :(

  6. Re:I refuse to buy from sellers who dont take PayP by vux984 · · Score: 5, Informative

    my god you people miss the mark by a long shot. the merchant is the CC company providing the funds.

    No. Sorry. You are the one way off the mark.

    As someone who has owned a business I can assure you, the merchant is the *business owner*. The other party is typically called a "bank", "merchant bank", "merchant account provider", "acquiring bank", or "acquirer" ... but the *merchant* is ALWAYS you.

    Now, from the "merchant account providers" point of view...

    "In the Visa and Mastercard rules, the merchant's processing bank [merchant account provider] is 100% responsible for all the transactions that the merchant performs. This can leave the provider open to millions of dollars of potential losses if the merchant operates in an illegal or risky manner and generates many chargebacks. The providers pass this cost on to the merchant, but if the merchant is fraudulent or simply does not have the money, the provider must pay all the costs to make the card holder whole."

    Which is probably what you are talking about. So, Yes, its absolutely true that THEY (the merchant account providers) are liable for any fraudulent charges, and THEY must cover it. If you, as a cardholder phone Visa and ask who pays if your card is stolen, they'll just tell you 'not you'. If you persist they'll tell you that (according to PCI DSS [Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard]) the cost is borne by the bank providing the merchant account ["merchant account provider"].

    However, as it says in the above quote, while they are responsible, they *invariably* try to recoup that cost, plus fees, plus fines, from the merchant (that would be YOU). They only get stuck holding the bag and taking a loss, if they CAN'T get the money from you...and that only happens if you're insolvent, or you've fled the country, or something equally drastic. If you are an upstanding reputable business in good standing, they WILL pass that cost on to you, and you WILL pay.

    So as far as your card issuer or VISA is concerned yes, the liability rests with the merchant account provider. But you're daft if you don't think they in turn pass that liability to you via your 'merchant account' agreement/contract, and collect on it vigorously.

    Look it up.