EBAY TO DISCONTINUE CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS AS PAYMENT OPTIONS

Deadhorse · October 11, 2008 3:34PM

Ebay is forcing customers to a payment option of Paypal or credit cards by October 20, 2008. Their email states:

Offer an approved electronic payment method by October 20

Make sure you're ready for an uninterrupted holiday selling season: Offer PayPal, a merchant credit card, and/or one of the other approved electronic payment methods by October 20 when checks and money orders will no longer be allowed.

Their release states as follows:

Faster, more secure checkout experience

Paper payments end this October

Beginning late October 2008, all items listed on eBay.com must be paid for using one of the following approved payment options:

Direct credit or debit card payment via a merchant credit card account

PayPal

ProPay

Payment on pick-up

Paper payment methods such as checks and money orders will no longer be accepted on eBay.com.

By January 2009, all approved electronic payment methods will be integrated into eBay checkout. For example, buyers will be able to enter their credit card number directly into eBay checkout, and the payment will be routed to the seller's Internet merchant account or to their PayPal account.

Please note that the new payments policy will not apply to the vehicles categories in Motors, capital equipment categories in Business & Industrial, Mature Audiences and Real Estate.

See the seller checklist for more information about these important changes and tips for bulk-editing your listings.

-----------------------------------------

I was pretty much done with eBay already, but this will be the final straw for me.

What next? Discontinue bidding? Nothing else left to change. (Mom and Pop) sellers are leaving in droves.
I used to spend like a drunken sailor on ebay, and now, even as a buyer, I can’t stand it. Most of my favorite former ebay sellers (antiques and collectibles) have websites and great inventory, and they don’t like the way ebay treats the sellers.
As the sellers leave, the buyers will ebb away also.
Nature of the beast, though. Ebay has to please its investors, not its...field hands.

HonoluluDude · October 11, 2008 3:59PM

ebay is getting more and more retarded as the economy collapses. Shooting themselves in the foot IMO.

secondrepublic · October 11, 2008 9:33PM

I read about this a few weeks ago on the main coin forum. It's absolutely an insane policy. A lot of people - small sellers, foreign sellers - don't use PayPal. Some people, like me, got sick of PayPal and cancelled their account. Ebay is essentially saying they don't want that business anymore.

This is not just going to hurt sellers who don't use PayPal -- it's going to hurt ALL sellers, as they lose the business of anyone who doesn't use PayPal. For a casual buyer, it's not worth the hassle to set up a PayPal account when you can buy the same item directly in a lot of other places without that hassle. So you're going to lose all those bids and all that business.

Ebay is dumb, dumb, dumb.

I hope they change this, but if not, their business will continue to decline.

jmski52 · October 11, 2008 10:15PM

I think that I'm going to complain to my State Attorney General's office. What can it hurt?

I hope that ebay's sales take a steep plunge this Christmas sales season. I won't be buying or selling on ebay for awhile, and maybe not at all if I can find a reasonable alternative.

ebizgobro · October 11, 2008 10:45PM

I am not trying to defend new eBay policies but there is an interesting article in the New York Times dated 10/12/2008 comparing eBay and Amazon. From that article, you can try to understand some of the rationale behind their changes.

NYT article

jmski52 · October 11, 2008 11:05PM

Thanks for the reminder. I was going to check out Amazon as a potential seller. I just bought some books on greenhouses off Amazon last night, and they were all 3rd party sellers.

I'm motivated to get away from ebay, so it's as good a time as any!!!

tincup · October 12, 2008 12:39AM

I'm finished with ebay. Both as a seller AND as a buyer.

Just in the last couple of weeks, I've had the following hassles:
- ripped off for $150 worth of silver that was never delivered
- just received my first negative in over 2,000 feedbacks.... from an insane purchaser of an $8 item that I offered a full return/refund... but he refused just so he could give me a negative. Lousy eBay rule... allows buyers to give inappropriate feedback but sellers have not a chance to do so.
- multiple low ball offers coming in on the few fixed price items I list.... guess in these economic times all the buyers think the sellers are all desperate?

And now being forced into the PayPal extortion racket. No thanks. I'm finished.

mercurynut · October 12, 2008 12:45AM

I am surprised Ebay doesn't charge you 5 cents just to log on to the website. Payed via PayPal of course.

tincup · October 12, 2008 1:13AM

So the way I understand it, why eBay is going this route.....

- they do not like that Amazon is so big and has so much business.

- eBay tried to use eBay express to compete with Amazon... but it failed. In this format, the rules were similar to what they are going to now.... credit cards or PayPal only and fixed prices, etc.

- eBay has basically a monopoly on the auction style format... and acknowledges that it is their most profitable part of the business.

- BUT it does not matter. Since they do not like Amazon with its size of business, eBay is going to throw the dice and jeopardize its regular auction format, just so they can try to bring Amazon to it's knees???

??? IMO eBay will get just what they deserve out of this. Throwing the dice and gambling all, and right before the Christmas shopping season.

Also IMO eBay is giving a gift right now.... the opportunity for someone else to step in and offer the true auction format that eBay seems to be giving up.

cars · October 12, 2008 1:37AM

I'm not happy with the changes but I will continue to sell on eBay. The new feedback system is horrible at the moment. I've only had a few bad experiences with it so far but they could have been avoided. At least in the coming weeks they plan to make feedback adjustable where the buyer can go back and revise their feedback left if problem has been resolved. Although this may lead to some bad buyers leaving negative right away and then telling sellers fix the problem and I'll change it. If you are a good seller this should be much of a problem.

As for paypal only, I don't find this to be all that bad. I believe it will cut down on non paying bidders. 99% of my buyers pay with paypal anyhow. Most items I list with buy it now and Immed payment required so I can avoid the 10-15 Non paying bidders I normally get per week. Money orders may still be used if buyers request seller to take that type of payment but you cannot offer it in you listings. I can understand where the changes are coming from and I can understand why people are upset about them but lets face it, Where else can you offer your items to so many buyers and get top dollar for it for under 10% of sale price. I have yet to find a reasonable alternative to eBay. As long as paypal fees do not rise (which I'm sure they will in distant future) I'm ok with the paypal only rule. I'm sure others will disagree.

fc · October 12, 2008 1:43AM

heck, i sold about 25+ items a week ago and every buyer used paypal.

nothing will change for me. i will continue to use it until it is not profitable
or i learn of something better.

i use delivery confirmation or sig confirmation and follow paypal's rules
as much as possible to protect myself.

OPA · October 12, 2008 2:26AM

I can't remember the last time a buyer did not pay via PayPal. Having bought and sold on eBay for almost 8 years, the number of non paypal payments are negligible. It seems to me, that sellers who do not accept PayPal as a payment method, are screaming the loudest.

storm888 · October 12, 2008 3:05AM

"... it's not worth the hassle to set up a PayPal account when you can buy the same item directly in a lot of other places without that hassle. So you're going to lose all those bids and all that business..."

/////////////////////////////////////

A buyer is not required to have a PayPal account, in order to make a payment via credit-card on the PP platform.

....................................

Sellers can accept paper-payments on request, BUT a "failure to checkout rate" higher
than about 4% will cause "an investigation" that can lead to a 30-day suspension.

..........................

NOTE For Sellers Doing "Local Pickup:"

LPU sellers will now be required to accept PP on such transactions.
There is NO "seller protection" on LPU. Many "buyers" will claim INR
and PP will issue a refund.

...............

delcampe.com

ebid.net

are both worth looking at as alternate venues.

mkman123 · October 12, 2008 3:17AM

I thought they already enacted the no m.o/check and only paypal thing.

Really stinks that ebay is doing this. When I was selling on ebay a few years ago, I only accepted money orders and it was great. Yes I had to wait a few days but it was no big deal for me. Only rarely did I accept paypal and if I did, I charged the buyer a 3% pp fee.

I wish ebay would just let sellers choose the payment method they want instead of forcing paypal down their throats.

ARCO · October 12, 2008 4:43AM

Ebay Auction rules have changed dramatically since I first started buying and selling in 2000. I remember going to the post office every couple of days to get a M/O. I was never patient enough to send a check and wait for the clearing period for a coin I was just itching to receive. I probably spent 100 hours, driving to, waiting in line and fiddling around with M/O's and envelopes over the years...if not more. I absolutely hated it. Paypal was the best invention after Ebay for small time collectors / sellers like myself.

However, when I sold coins that were more than $500.00, I offered discounts to receive M/O to avoid the Paypal fees. I liked the freedom to choose between the two.

I look at the alternatives to Ebay and try to keep perspective. I can 1) go to my local dealer and get his piece o' sh@t offer. 2) Use the BST forums here on this board, that have far fewer eyes and a future existance that is uncertain, or 3) Use a popular everyman auction site where my coins get as close to market price as possible with no haggling, low-balling or begging with hat in hands to my dealer to buy a coin at a value that I feel it is worth.

Ebay wins, hands down, all day, everyday, inconveniences notwithstanding.

Tyler

2Sweet · October 12, 2008 3:48PM

Ebay apparently is being run by a ship of fools.

Greed surpassed by Ignorant bliss & blindness!

Psychos with Death Wishes.

dac076 · October 13, 2008 1:13AM

Limiting forms of payment to Paypal only is about revenue for Ebay, and nothing else. The only question is whether or not enough sales are lost to offset that increase in revenue. The vast majority of my transactions on both sides use Paypal, but I occasionally could find a good deal because the seller didn't accept Paypal, limiting the number of bids. I suppose some of those sellers will leave and others will raise their prices to compensate. Both of those scenarios are bad for the buyers that Ebay is supposedly so focused on.

RMLTM79 · October 13, 2008 1:43AM

<< <i>I think that I'm going to complain to my State Attorney General's office. What can it hurt?

I hope that ebay's sales take a steep plunge this Christmas sales season. I won't be buying or selling on ebay for awhile, and maybe not at all if I can find a reasonable alternative. >>

I'm with you on that one, I hope Ebay crumbles to the ground!

adamlaneus · October 13, 2008 1:46AM

<< <i>Payment on pick-up >>

How can eBay tell the difference between "payment on pick-up" and a mutual agreement between buyer/seller of "i'll send it when I get a check"?

I wonder if this is the alternative that allows them to avoid anti-trust problems?

storm888 · October 13, 2008 2:25AM

"How can eBay tell the difference between "payment on pick-up" and a mutual agreement between buyer/seller of "i'll send it when I get a check"?"

////////////////////////////////////

If you list "local pick-up," you will be forced to accept PayPal, IF the
buyer insists. (NO PayPal "seller protection.")

You can accept paper-payments, if the buyer requests it. BUT, if
the total "failure to checkout" gets too high (4%+), EBAY will give
you the boot.

secondrepublic · October 13, 2008 2:40AM

A lot of foreign buyers / sellers don't use PayPal. I think the impact on Ebay is going to be big.

StopYurWhining · October 13, 2008 4:42AM

you can absolutely still use checks and money orders; you just cant state it in your auction terms.

a friendly email at the end of the auction to the buyer is perfectly acceptable.

mrpotatoheadd · October 13, 2008 6:26AM

<< <i>a friendly email at the end of the auction to the buyer is perfectly acceptable. >>

According to the eBay staff posting on a workshop thread about this policy last month, a friendly email at the end of the auction is most definitely *not* acceptable if it mentions (or even hints) at the fact that you are willing to accept checks/money orders.

Now, aside from a buyer reporting you to eBay for offering to accept them (checks or money orders), I'm not sure how they'd find out you were doing that, but it doesn't change the fact that eBay specifically prohibits the practice.

tmcsr69 · October 13, 2008 6:40AM

Bottom line is that the greatest percentage of transactions on ebay are paid with paypal. I have over 3000 buying/selling transactions and in my experience would say 95% prefer paypal. I'm not a fan of paypal or even close to it-But if you desire to do business on ebay it's a necessary evil. Back to the millions of other threads that are looking for a comparative option to ebay-there just isn't one that comes close. Amazon is a fine web site-it's just not the same type site as ebay. I seriously doubt that this change will in any way affect their bottom line profit. For every person who gets angry and quits-there will be 2 newbies signing up.

storm888 · October 13, 2008 7:19AM

According to the eBay staff posting on a workshop thread about this policy last month, a friendly email at the end of the auction is most definitely *not* acceptable if it mentions (or even hints) at the fact that you are willing to accept checks/money orders.

Now, aside from a buyer reporting you to eBay for offering to accept them (checks or money orders), I'm not sure how they'd find out you were doing that, but it doesn't change the fact that eBay specifically prohibits the practice.

/////////////////////////////////

Yup.

No "hinting" allowed.

The way they will catch you is by looking at the "failure to checkout" rate.

Take about 5 out of 100 paper-payments, and you will be on vacation
for at least 30-days.

EBAY TO DISCONTINUE CHECKS, MONEY ORDERS AS PAYMENT OPTIONS

Comments