This post was written in August 2008. Information may be out of date.
Red Ink Diary has moved lock stock and barrel (including this post) to HERE where you can read the latest eCommerce, Bonanzle, PayPal and eBay news.
It is hard to pick a single subject when it comes to writing about eBay, they have outraged so many of their customers they may well be the most hated corporation in the USA. It is very hard to remain objective about anything when it affects the way you earn your living. It is hardest of all to change the way you do business after years of learning that 'this' is the way it is done; but change we must if we are to survive as sellers with or without eBay.
eBay has asserted there is no PayPal Only in the USA policy. The reason for this is that we have laws preventing it. There may be no such official policy at eBay but we have now reached a point where there is a de facto policy, and this is open contempt of the law.
Here is a link to the relevant eBay page.
All new sellers must offer PayPal as a payment option.
I received this document last night from a colleague. I urge you to read, cut and paste anything that reflects your opinion and then forward a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission and to the Attorney General of the state in which you live and do business.
I would like to point out that I do not personally have a problem accepting any kind of payment, even PayPal. I am infuriated by eBay's open contempt both for the law of the land and their customers. It is a corporate disease and the only cure for that disease is legal action. I realize that almost nobody has both the desire and the financial means to take eBay to court but what you can do is make noise. Look at the example of what the Australian sellers accomplished, eBay backed down but is trying the same back door policy there as they are using here, clearly expressed in the Discouraging Payments Policy.
You have three choices. Accept everything eBay does to you, quit or fight back.
What will your choice be?
Y'all come back!
4 comments:
That is exactly the issue- is we have no choice but to accept paypal unless we are willing to lose business by accepting cashiers checks and/or money orders.
The way eBay has pushed the payment service into an entirely new service of punishing eBay's customers escalates the importance of beating these people off of our backs. They have pushed us into a corner and are taking full advantage of their ever increasing power.
Their actions are illegal, but unless we point it out no one will ever know and nothing will ever change. Frankly it frightens me to encounter paypal at nearly every single site I visit online. This is an unnatural presence in a free market economy and is literally growing world wide every day exponentially. Don't misunderstand I am not against a business dominating market share, but I am against it doing so illegally and that is what the issue it.
I have been informed just today 11/06/08 that eBay does unmistakably insist on PayPal only as the only acceptable form of payment for the overwhelming majority of transactions. I would love to hear more about this from current sellers who may be reading this.
I'm done buying anything off of ebay. I used postal money orders, which worked fine for me. It irritates me that ebay thinks they can decide how I pay for something, and try to pass it off as some sort of security benefit for me. Good bye Ebay.
We also bought alot on ebay. Their illegal demand for "Paypal only" has already lost them sellers and buyers alot. Many have defected to onlineauctions.com or bidz. They're shooting themselves in the foot with their greed. It was bad enough that they decided to take more from sellers in ways of listing fees and profits. But now demanding "Paypal only" is just another way for them to pocket money. Because Ebay owns Paypal so it's just another tactic of their unending greed. It used to be that ebay was a listing "service". Now it seems buyers "work" for ebay. Craig's List here I come!
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