eBay Australia ditches PayPal scheme

Seller fury prompts backdown

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Small Biz, 4th July 2008 11:26 GMT

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eBay Australia has given up on its attempt to force virtually all payments through its subsidiary PayPal.

The move proved hugely unpopular with users and had to be put on hold while it was investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. eBay notified the ACCC of its decision to move to PayPal-only payments - this prevents the company being sued for that conduct while it is being checked by regulators.

eBay's Australian boss Simon Smith said: "While we disagree with the ACCC's draft notice, we have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay community."

"eBay regrets any uncertainty that this process has caused among the community and believe that today's decision will remove further doubt."

The plan was to only allow payment by PayPal or by cash on delivery. The first step was to force all sellers to offer PayPal as one way of accepting payment, the second would have been to remove other payment options. Sellers in the UK have also been obliged to offer PayPal as a payment option and US sellers who ship outside of the country must also offer PayPal.

eBay Australia will still require sellers of most items, except houses, businesses and vehicles, to offer PayPal as a payment option.

But despite the move eBay is accused of removing listings which show preference for non-PayPal payment methods.

Posters on eBay's forums complain they have had listings removed which favour other payments methods. eBay's Ts&Cs specify that sellers cannot push one payment over others.

Forum posters are making further complaints to the ACCC about the issue.®

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