All Existing Payment Methods to be Allowed on eBay.com.au

Kevin_TOn 07.05.2008 at 2:21 am Said:

QUOTE: “Using PayPal for pay on pick-up, gives buyers the same increased protections that are normally associated with PayPal – such as no need to share financial information, buyer protection etc…”

Hello Nichola,
Thank you for selectively answering half of my question. My reference to Ebay users above also included SELLERS (you know, the Ebay users who actually pay your wages). It is all very well to tout the protection of buyers when they pay for a pick up only item that is paid for with PayPal, but sellers are (a)left entirely vulnerable to a reversal on pick-up-only items as there is no suitable “proof of delivery” for PayPal’s system (ie: seller protection is voided), and (b) in Australia and the UK MUST accept this form of payment due to the combination of PayPal being required on all listings and the Misleading and Discouraging Payment policy ( http://www2.ebay.com/aw/au/200710021700582.html ), meaning they can not refuse a PayPal payment on a pick-up-only item.

IF a scammer decides to “buy” a high value pick-up-only item and reverse the payment through PayPal, the seller has absolutely NO rights, and will lose both the item and their money. HOW is this deemed to be a “safer payment choice for users on eBay.com.au ” for those selling pick-up-only items, or does Ebay not consider sellers to be ebay users?

Kevin

Peter LOn 07.05.2008 at 9:12 am Said:

‘Paypal Only’ withdrawn? Not so.

Just try buying something on Ebay and look at the newest checkout version.

The buyer is confronted with a checkout where only the Paypal payment option is prominently visible and is selected by default, while alternate payment options (although theoretically available) are hidden for buyers under a non-intuitive button.

Patricia1On 07.05.2008 at 11:34 am Said:

Sold an a/c thru craigslist just recently. Buyer paid cash - I gave him a dated receipt and we were both happy! Had there been a problem he could have used that receipt in small claims court to recoup whatever he lost. KISS

wavdjazOn 07.05.2008 at 11:50 am Said:

Re. Nichola: hear hear, Dimes, None & Kevin-T. How nice that the buyer is protected, too bad eBay seems to think the seller needs no protection.
Read the ‘advanced FAQs’ at http://pages.ebay.com.au/useprotection/advanced-faq.html#a7 :
—————————-
“7. If I offer PayPal for local pick up am I covered by PayPal Seller Protection?
No. The Seller Protection policy requires proof of shipment which is not available for face to face transactions.”
“8. Can I offer pay on pick up and not offer PayPal?
PayPal must be offered on all listings including those with pay on pick up.”
—————————-

Very nice, thanks eBay, I’m sure the sellers are cheering of joy.

TonyOn 07.05.2008 at 1:12 pm Said:

Would the USB Paypal swiper count as proof of delivery for collections?

Nichola, here’s a PR tip for you, don’t force people to accept paypal, you’re getting bad PR over it, there are of course a number of other issues where you’re getting bad PR but this is an easy fix because it’s not a worldwide ruling.

implogOn 07.05.2008 at 10:51 pm Said:

@ Nichola

You wrote:

“I’m just jumping in quickly as Richard is taking a well-deserved day off today before the long weekend, so please be gentle with me.”

Hi Nichola:

While eBay employees are “disrupting” and “enhancing” and “excited” and “jumping in quickly” and attempting to conjure up an “excellent buying experience” from a site on life support, eBay sellers are less than “delighted”.

Ebay is destroying our livlihood and you ask us to “be gentle”.

Tsk tsk.

Got a proposition for you. You guys start being gentle with us and we’ll consider being gentle with you.

Every day, every angered eBay seller is telling the truth about the nuthouse we once knew as eBay. Sellers are talking with family members, friends, buyers, sellers, strangers, strangers at the Post Office, strangers at the swap meets, strangers at the antique malls, tech web sites, financial web sites, bloggers, reporters, governmental regulators and elected officials.

We tried communicating with eBay too but were dismissed as “noise”.

Your post covering for Richard on INK seems to be based on May 19th thinking.

All the PR you may do “jumping in quickly” here and “jumping in quickly” there may have been effective before that date. Unfortunately, eBay PR now could very well be too little and very well too late.

MechelleOn 07.06.2008 at 3:22 am Said:

@Implog

that is so true the word is spreading- to non-ebay users. I was at my sisters yesterday and one of her husbands employees had come and when I was asked how eBay was going he jumped right in asking me about the new search and what does it have to do with shipping. I asked if he was an eBay user and he said no!

Why would or how would a non-ebayer know or care about any of the abuses that eBay sellers are afflicted with by the hands of eBay management these days??

NetsellersOn 07.06.2008 at 11:18 am Said:

@ Kevin_T: yes, I agree with you, the scenario you describe is all too possible. Perhaps sellers in such instances should mail a receipt to the buyer for their payment/purchase by trackable means? Would that work? It gives the seller a tracking number for the sale…

Patricia1On 07.06.2008 at 11:46 am Said:

@implog - you hit the nail right on the head.

Hi Nichola - we know you’re just doing your job but when you say “be gentle” it tells me that Ebay and their employees are well aware of what is happening to their so-called “community”. I hardly know one seller who speaks of Ebay in kind terms and we ARE all spreading it around to be sure. I blog and I comment on every single financial blog and article that allows comments. I want wall street to know what their darling is doing to its sellers (the real customers)! As a 10 year seller with a perfect record who can no longer seem to make a sale on your site - I feel its my duty to warn every potential seller I can find! I tell every potential buyer I meet just exactly what Ebay is doing. None of us have to lie or embellish - we only have to speak truthfully!!!!

MsFish213On 07.06.2008 at 12:51 pm Said:

Its kind of scary when you read ALL the bad and nasty press Ebay has received since the “changes”….I dont see how a company can survive that kind of press. Its to the point now, that even if Ebay were to “roll back” to its earlier format,I think they lost a very large number of buyers and sellers who wont return to their site. End of an era.

dimesOn 07.06.2008 at 5:38 pm Said:

I was visiting an elderly relative yesterday at a nursing home. We were sitting in the dayroom, along with several other residents and their families.

Someone’s granddaughter was complimented on the blouse she was wearing and mentioned she’d gotten it on eBay.

It was like a switch had been turned on. Complete strangers started talking with each other about what a ripoff eBay has become. Although a few people mentioned ‘the good old days’, I must point out that none of the residents participated in the discussion (I don’t think many of them would even know how to turn on a computer).

When nursing home visitors start a spontaneous group rant about the evils of eBay, you know you have a real brand image problem.

JayOn 07.08.2008 at 7:06 am Said:

As a seller, I think the biggest problem with eBay’s brand comes from the sellers themselves.

Sellers are publically complaining to the world of their woes with eBay, meanwhile wondering why buyers (who also read/watch the news) aren’t shopping on eBay anymore.

If I went to the grocery store, and all the clerks told me that grocery store was ‘evil,’ I’d be shopping elsewhere too.

Some sellers are smart enough to know that when it comes to a buyer, eBay and the seller are the same thing. When you cry and bicker about the name brand you represent, the only person you hurt is your bottom line.

JerryOn 07.08.2008 at 9:01 am Said:

Well put Jay, when sellers go out of their way to badmouth ebay then complain when their sales are down they are shooting themselves in the foot.

TheBrewsNewsOn 07.08.2008 at 11:06 am Said:

Jay, maybe you could explain your comment where you think the biggest problem with eBay’s brand comes from the sellers themselves (maybe with some examples or something). I think perhaps I just don’t understand your comment / opinion.

Regarding your comment about grocery store clerks in a grocery store, I think your analogy is not congruent. A clerk in the grocery store is an EMPLOYEE paid a wage. His / her salary is known and it doesn’t vary depending on how many customers come in the store or how much they spend or if they decide to do chargebacks later, after taking their groceries home and eating them.

A better analogy might be that if I went in a mall and noticed there was graffiti everywhere and every other lightbulb was out in the hallway then when I went into a particular store and the owner was bemoaning how the owner was not taking care of maintenance issues then I would understand the store owner’s frustration.

And then when he/she complained that the mall owner was raising rates and not kicking out the store owners next door who were selling drugs and also that the mall owner promised a burglar alarm system to prevent theft (that was increasing because of the drug activity next door) but didn’t pay to have the alarm turned on, then I would have a much better appreciation of why the store owner was telling me that he / she was making plans to move his store to a better retail location. I wouldn’t stop visiting that store in that particular mall location because the owner was complaining about his / her conditions but rather I would stop visiting the mall altogether because of the actions (inactions) of the mall owners.

I consider myself to be a “smart” seller and I guarantee you that my buyers realize and recognize they are buying from ME and not from eBay. I am not the same thing as eBay, nobody (including buyers) thinks that I am, and I certainly don’t want my business to be synonymous to eBay and their business practices. Now, the buyers on Amazon and their perceptions… that is a different story.

Patricia1On 07.08.2008 at 12:16 pm Said:

You can’t beat sellers over the head and then expect them to give you a glowing review. Many of the damaged sellers have reduced listings or do not even list (or buy) on ebay anymore. Unfortunately, word of mouth is a really effective way of spreading something to the widest possible audience and also unfortunately, most of what they spread is true.