PayPal is Now Becoming Required for all eBay sites Worldwide
A few weeks ago I reported that eBay.com is beginning to require all users to offer PayPal unless they provide proof of having a direct merchant account.
See: http://thebrewsnews.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/paypal-is-now-required-for-all-ebaycom-listings/
Shortly after my blog post, an announcement appeared on the eBay boards indicating that the message U.S. sellers were shown at the time of listing was a “glitch” but there was no denial of the statement that eBay was beginning to require all sellers to offer PayPal. And several U.S. sellers who do not currently accept PayPal have continued to report, even as late as today, that they are having problems listing on eBay.com
And now, that PayPal Required “glitch” is now showing up all around the globe. When German sellers try to list new items, the PayPal payment option is automatically checked and cannot be unchecked and the following message appears (translated to English):
We are updating our regulations concerning accepted payment methods and are thus making transactions even safer for eBay members. The regulations require that all sellers must offer PayPal as a payment method in all of their listings.
I understand that the message above is only one of the messages German sellers receive as there are at least two different versions of the message. The PayPal Required “glitch” is also showing up in various forms in the Netherlands, Canada, and some Spanish speaking countries.
Based on the emails I am receiving and based on the comments on the community boards, I am not sure whether sellers are more upset about the fact that eBay is REQUIRING all sellers to offer PayPal or that they keep claiming the messages sellers are receiving is some kind of a glitch. Just when is eBay planning on being truthful about this new unannounced policy? If eBay makes a formal policy announcement then they will have to answer publicly for their actions. Instead, eBay is using the system “glitches” to enact new unannounced policies that may or may not even be legal.
Nice reporting on this. It steams me that Ebay would pull something like this. Let’s hold their feet to the fire and make them admit that this is no glitch.
The_Cynic
August 5, 2008
[...] in July 2008, I wrote an article about PayPal Being Required for eBay.com Sellers without a Merchant Account and eBay responded with an Announcement that there was a system glitch and that the Payments [...]
eBay Continues to Use the Excuse of System Glitches to Enforce New Seller Polices « TheBrewsNews
September 2, 2008
Glitch, Policy, or whatever – it’s about time German sellers were taken off their high horses expecting us to send them cash Euros or pay with prohibitively expensive interbank transfers that are free within Germany. I’m buying almost exclusively from German sellers who accept PayPal. When I do send cash, it usually reaches the seller and the transaction is completed satisfactorilly – but I have been totally at the mercy and good will of the German sellers and their postal service plus outrageous shipping charges in some cases. Ebay has for years warned against using Western Union for sending cash payments because there is no accountability. WU is a safe haven compared to the risk we take every time we send cash to overseas sellers who think they’re saving money, then start whining about where is the payment when it does not arrive in 2 or 3 weeks.
Sellers are whining that eBay owns PayPal so they are just getting greedy. I don’t care. They whine that increased eBay and PayPal costs are eating into their profits. I don’t care – Let eBay and PayPal charge the buyers the fees; that would be fine. It’s a zero sum game; the bids would just be lower and sellers would end up with the same return, unless they are offering unwanted junk at unreasonable reserve or starting prices.
Hooray for PayPal and you sellers who don’t like it, go get a job in a department store.
Harmonica-Collector
John Whiteman
La Jolla, CA
John Whiteman
December 30, 2008