Aussie Reserve Bank Eyeing eBay's PayPal Policy

Bulldust writes "Regular readers will recollect the recent story that eBay is forcing Australian users over to PayPal or COD as the only forms of payment in June 2008: eBay Australia Makes PayPal Mandatory. It now appears that the Australian Reserve Bank will consider throwing its weight behind users, should the eBay policy be deemed to breach trade practice and competition laws."

Comments

Re:Ooops

[gstoddart]

I am guessing eBat/PayPal forgot there are regulatory bodies they should consult before doing such things.

No, Ebay and PayPal like to paint themselves as being in a position where they benefit from the regulations they find convenient, and they're exempt from the ones they find inconvenient.

PayPal regularly says they're not a bank and not subject to the rules on banking, and EBay routinely says "we're just a facilitator".

They seem to actually conduct their business as if they are exempt from such forms of regulation. This could be the first time someone has corrected them and pointed out that they aren't the ones that choose which regulations apply.

Cheers

Re:Aussies are crazy.

[gstoddart]

All these stories coming from Austrailia makes me wonder: Who is more communist? Austrailia, or Russia?

Ummmm ... seriously? Why are the Aussies communist for regulating a practice which limits consumer choice and which allows a company to force payment options on them?

Or, is any regulation or the Right And True Free Actions of Companies communist nowadays? Reining in companies does not communism make.

Basically, EBay has said "We, through a subsidiary, get a cut of all sales ... if that payment option takes your money and won't give it back, too bad." Just because you own something, doesn't mean you should be able to force all of the users of your service to use that financial mechanism.

Cheers