Ebay. A step closer to Paypal only payments

[peanut]

today Ebay sent out an email to all its members announcing imminent changes to some major aspects of buying and selling on ebay.

This will have serious implications for both buyers and sellers.

Firstly all media sales will have to be post and packing free from Sept 09 onwards.
This means that sellers will have to include P&P in the item price to recoup their loss.

This is a very cunning move by ebay.

The upshot is its a win- win situation for ebay because more items will sell (buyers thinking they have a better deal) and because items will now have the P&P element included in the item price, ebay will rake in more sale listing fees and final sale fees and Paypal will rake in more transaction fees .
Clever eh!?

In association with this ebay are now forcing sellers to list items for sale with immediate payment only .
This leaves buyers with no option but to use Paypal once again.

With all sellers being forced to offer paypal payment last year ebay are slowly and surely closing all the gaps now and shortly Paypal will be the only accepted form of payment on ebay .
Mark my words.

its time for a revolution its time for the UK to say NO to ebay and NO to paypal and promote alternative Auctions and alternative payment methods like NoCheque etc

 

[peanut]

thats the point really we need to start and promote our own online auction in the UK its not difficult .Ebay did it 10 years ago. Its just they were very aggressive and everyone else has been complacent and apathetic.
Ebay needs to be exposed and audited in the UK .

 

[swee'pea99]

There did used to be a UK auction site - I think it was called qxl....just went to check the url, and if I'm right, it's gone. Interestingly, not everywhere relies on ebay - it's unknown in New Zealand, eg, which has its own site called Trade Me. I agree that ebay is getting bullying/greedy - I think it's in the nature of monopolies. They can't help but abuse their monopolistic position.

 

[I am Spartacus]

An enterprising bod needs to co ordinate all the for sale/wanted threads on related forum sites and there's your game show host.
Now someone do it and run off to the Dragons and remember me when yer sunning it in the Bahamas

 

[peanut]

we must do something about this immediately Swee pea, I nominate you for chair of the working party
we could start a UK cycling auction right here at CC . Ride in on the crest of the current wave of cycling enthusiasm

 

[Panter]

Completely agree Penut, Ebay are taking blatant liberties.

All of the last items that I've listed have met with the same message from ebay with effect to "because of your limited transaction history on ebay you must offer paypal as a payment option."

Really? limited history? I've been trading since May 2006, I have 99 feedback scores (the vast majorty as a seller) and 100% positive feedback. What the hell else do they want?

 

[Davidc]

Immediate payment can also use other means - its just more convenient for most users of ebay to use PayPal. I find the steady infiltration of PayPal into areas outside ebay more worrying. All too often now its the No1 option on online retailers websites.

IIRC QXL was bought by Microsoft while it was still young. If so I'm rather glad ebay won the fight. I also seem to remember that Google bought ebay some time ago, in which case roll on the alternative.

I'm sure that worldwide monopolies on the web are potentially very dangerous, and would hope to see action to curb them (EU for us?) but haven't noticed anything yet.

 

[Crankarm]

Well as a seller you want to have the greatest number of people view your item and achieve the best price. I guess eBay does this. I am more often than not a buyer. There are numerous other ways to sell you just takes your picks and your chances. For me ebay has been a seriously good idea for connecting sellers with buyers who want to purchase the particular piece of crap on offer. Ok there are numerous improvements and loopholes eBay could make or fill but in principal the operation is pretty good. I have only had one really bad experience with eBay and Paypal. Their desire to investigate and resolve it was zero so I lost out so I try and not to use them unless there is really no other option and I need the item up for auction. If you really don't like eBay or Paypal then don't use them. If sufficent people think the same then they might reconsider as they will not make as much as they did previously and adjust their policies.

 

[Panter]

Well as a seller you want to have the greatest number of people view your item and achieve the best price. I guess eBay does this. There are numerous other ways to sell you just takes your picks and your chances. For me ebay has been a seriously good idea for connecting sellers with buyers who want to purchase the particular piece of crap on offer. Ok there are numerous improvements and loopholes eBay could make or fill but in principal the operation is pretty good. I have only had one really bad experience with eBay and Paypal. Their desire to investigate and resolve it was zero so I lost out so I try and not to use it unless there is no other option. If you really don't like ebay/Paypal then don't use them. If sufficent people think the same then they might reconsider as they will not make as much as they did previously and adjust their policies.

That's exactly the problem IMO.

It is the best option to sell your junk on, they know that and charge a hefty premium for it.
I guess that when it gets too bad, people will start to vote with their feet and they, coincidentally, the fees will drop slightly.

I use ebay, just like millions of others, and complain bitterly about them, just like millions of others. Ebay get their money so what do they care!

I suppose with the recession, Ebay are probably finding their profits heading upwards too?

Much as I hate the management behind ebay, I greatly admire their financial prowess

 

[Dan B]

Immediate payment can also use other means - its just more convenient for most users of ebay to use PayPal. I find the steady infiltration of PayPal into areas outside ebay more worrying. All too often now its the No1 option on online retailers websites.

That would be, quite simply, because (until something goes wrong) it's the zero-fuss option for the seller. Getting your own credit card merchant number is a hassle, using any other hosted payment option lacks the brand visibility that paypal has, and direct bank transfers in this country are a mess (compare with Germany where it's the perfectly normal thing to do).

A bit of action from banks or banking regulators and they could probably crush paypal with very little effort

 

[Mr Pig]

its time for a revolution its time for the UK to say NO to ebay and NO to paypal

I agree, I hate ebay. These days I buy stuff but early sell anything on eBay as the cards against you are stacked so high. This news dosn't come as much of a surprise as it seems there's little they won't do to rob sellers of more cash.

I don't know if you know but eBay fees are now determined by your feedback score? So if your feedback is not 100% five-star you pay more! I often wonder how they get away with these things without falling foul of discrimination laws.

I hate eBay.

 

[Davidc]

That would be, quite simply, because (until something goes wrong) it's the zero-fuss option for the seller. Getting your own credit card merchant number is a hassle, using any other hosted payment option lacks the brand visibility that paypal has, and direct bank transfers in this country are a mess (compare with Germany where it's the perfectly normal thing to do).

A bit of action from banks or banking regulators and they could probably crush ebay with very little effort

Crush PayPal OK - ebay might take a bit longer!

 

[beanzontoast]

In the past, when buying stuff off Ebay, I've sent a message to sellers who say 'Paypal only' to say "Hi - I don't do Paypal, but I've got a great rating and loads of feedback about me paying promptly. Ok if I pay by cheque?" and almost without exception (including one firm who's ad said they didn't accept cheques and that if you sent one, it would be ripped up and binned) they have said yes.

Will Ebay stop sellers accepting cheques as payment by arrangement in future, even if the adverts only mention Paypal? If this is the case, can't see me bothering with Ebay any more.

 

[Davidc]

^^^^ Cash seems popular as well if collecting.

As yet for cash or cheques sellers only pay a fee to ebay, not PayPal as well, but how long before it's 'simplified' to just one fee which includes PayPal?

 

[nigelnorris]

I'd like to see the postage forced into all transactions up front rather than a separate charge. I'm sick and tired of wading through endless buy-it-now-retailers charging 99p for something small but adding £15 postage charges to improve the deal by the £14.50 extra profit there. It's a rip off and should have been outlawed by eBay long ago.

I know exactly how much it costs to box up and mail stuff out, I've sold loads of stuff on eBay over time, and I'm happy to factor that into my bids up front when buying. I mean honestly, how many people don't do that calculation anyway when bidding? You bid an amount knowing that the final price will be plus P&P so it's no different. If you are a retailer selling from HK or wherever and your mailing charges genuinely are tens of pounds then you should just have to set a reserve to cover postage charges and learn to live with it.