New E-Bay Policy PAY PAL A MUST

[Scastles]

Learn more about the eBay Accepted Payment Policy.

Some payments may be held in your account to ensure smooth transactions. PayPal will release the hold after 21 days without a buyer dispute, claim, chargeback or other action. The hold may be released earlier if either of the following occurs:

Buyer leaves positive Feedback.
3 days after PayPal confirms item delivery.





This is what came up when I ran thru the motions of a 'mock' sale.

[gibsonlp]

They have never held my money and I have been using Paypal since '99. I immediately move my sales money to the bank, and wait the three days before I ship. There has never been an issue.

When I bought my 72 4001 I had a real horror story with them, however - with some assertiveness everything can be solved.
viewtopic.php?p=350927#p350927

[jps]

Like any other bank or credit card company, Paypal/Ebay is not very consumer friendly IMO.

Tell me about it!

We are having issues with our credit card transaction company at Labwork. North American Bankcard forced us to void a transaction with a client in the Middle East. Seems they are discriminating against this client simply because of where he lives. What gets us is that our client's bank is the same bank that our CC company is affiliated with!!! They won't even call their affiliate to verify the funds in the account. At this point Labwork does not have the money and neither does our client; it seems the money is being held by NA Bankcard even after being instructed by them on Tuesday morning to void the sale. We are talking about a lot of money here, folks!

[janglerocker]

The checking acct. I have linked to my Paypal acct. is separate from my main account. Most banks offer free checking accounts these days. As soon as funds transfered from Paypal hit that account I transfer them out to my main account. I personally have never had an issue with Paypal and have a 100% positive feedback with ebay but you can't be too safe.

[doctorwho]

Here's what Gary Clauson said, which I hoped sincerely would be true:
"I think that if eBay were to try this in the U.S., they'd immediately be slapped with legal action, both civil and criminal."
Looks like the bas***ds have found a away around it. Another mega-corporation--once a fun friend--has found a way to put its hand in my pocket.
It's a strange new world...

http://www.ftc.gov/bc/index.shtml

The Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition champions the rights of American consumers by promoting and protecting free and vigorous competition. The Bureau:
...

* seeks out and challenges anticompetitive conduct in the marketplace, including monopolization and agreements between competitors; ...

It's about time the FTC is made aware of eBay's shenanigans.

[Scastles]

eBay is not a monopoly. They just have cornered the marketplace. There are other sites offering essentially the same buy/sell program, like Ubuy to name one. A site like UBuy isn't competition because eBay's success makes it difficult for anyone to counter, but nonetheless, eBay is not the only game in town. We, the buyers and sellers, have made it the only game in town.
It would be difficult to prove eBay is practicing unfair tactics. Even though eBay is acting as a third party in the transactions, they reserve the right as to what payment methods they will allow to be used through their business. Many retail outlets won't accept personal checks or any checks. They also may accept Visa/MC, but not American Express.
About the only legal recourse could be through discriminatory practices. By their Paypal ruling, they have eliminated anyone who doesn't have a credit card or a bank account. Previously, if a seller would accept a cashier check/money order, then anyone who had cash could at least partcipate on those kind of auctions. The payment options were left to the sellers discretion, not eBays. Granted few people don't have a credit card or a bank account, but those without have been discriminated against, even if they have a mattress full of hundred dollar bills.
Just my two cents.

[doctorwho]

However elegant the argument, here's where it fails: eBay cannot force a pick-up-only transaction to be paid only by PayPal, because it cannot prevent cash from being used as the form of payment ... read what's printed on U.S. currency, which is in effect the law:

This note is legal tender for all debts, public or private

Being legal tender, eBay cannot prevent its use. Period.

Also, recall that monopolists Getty and Carnegie got into trouble when they sought control of all aspects of their industries, from raw materials to finished product (including distribution).

The bottom line is that we'll see this in court.

[janglerocker]

The Paypal OPTION must be included in the auction but that doesn't mean the buyer has to use it. You can still take money orders, cash at pick up, etc. At least that's the way I understand it.

[Scastles]

However elegant the argument, here's where it fails: eBay cannot force a pick-up-only transaction to be paid only by PayPal, because it cannot prevent cash from being used as the form of payment ... read what's printed on U.S. currency, which is in effect the law:

This note is legal tender for all debts, public or private

Being legal tender, eBay cannot prevent its use. Period.

Also, recall that monopolists Getty and Carnegie got into trouble when they sought control of all aspects of their industries, from raw materials to finished product (including distribution).

The bottom line is that we'll see this in court.

Good luck on all of this, Gary. But if eBay decided they would only accept wampum as payment, then they likely could. Profits might slip though.

[gregga41]

The Paypal OPTION must be included in the auction but that doesn't mean the buyer has to use it. You can still take money orders, cash at pick up, etc. At least that's the way I understand it.

That's the way it is now, but from what they tell us down here, as of May or June, ONLY paypal may be used along with cash on pick-up!

[rikk]

I don't think they are breaking any laws, but in this fragile internet economy, I think they may be hurting themselves. It doesn't take much to change direction if the people so desire. Look at the popularity of Facebook.

[cheyenne]

More PayPal in the news:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/art ... Id=9078898

[jps]

Well, I guess my ebay days are numbered. I use Safari.

[cheyenne]

Sounds like their trying to p*ss everyone off all at once...

[rikk]

I have less of a problem with this move. Security is an important consideration. I use a small VOB that attaches to my key chain. Whenever I log into PayPal or ebay it asks me for for an additional pass code that only my device will show. That passcode changes every 30 seconds. It's easy to use Firefox on a Mac. It's probably better (even on PC) than any other browser.