Time to give up on ebay.au ? « Visible Procrastinations

In a great example of how to win friends and influence people eBay Australia is moving ahead with the rort to force all Australian eBay transactions via their PayPal service.

My way or the highway, says eBay [1]
Fran Foo | June 18, 2008 [The Australian]

EBAY Australia has fired off a strongly worded letter to its 5 million customers, warning that failure to comply with its new PayPal ruling will result in an immediate removal of product listings.

This is the strongest sign yet that nothing will stop plans to make PayPal, an eBay subsidiary, the only electronic payment mechanism available on the auction website.

Members received the email late yesterday, with a firm statement that come July 15, PayPal and cash on delivery will be the only payment modes on eBay’s website.

“As previously communicated, any listings that do not comply with eBay’s Accepted Payments Policy will be removed,” eBay said. (…)

This is despite the ACCC making a reasonably strong comment on the matter;

“The ACCC is concerned that the notified conduct will allow eBay to use its market power in the supply of online marketplaces to substantially lessen competition in the market in which PayPal operates,” ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today. [2]

In the ASIC submission to the ACCC, it is listed that PayPal was the only payment service in Australia that refused to sign the Electronic Funds Transfer Code of Conduct. So much for safer financial transactions!

EBay said the ACCC’s decision “undermines online consumer protection,” but at the same time, the company fully admits it wouldn’t try anything like that in the U.S. — possibly because of regulatory concerns, but more likely because it wants to avoid lawsuits from competitors and customers.
“In the US, we are not mulling, planning, or otherwise seriously considering a move to PayPal-only. There are US market-specific reasons why PayPal-only is something we simply cannot do in the US,” said spokesman Usher Lieberman in a blog post. [3]

The death-knell prepares to ring, and I’m hitting the highway.

[1] My way or the highway, says eBay (2008-Jun-18 ) [The Australian]
[2] ACCC proposes to revoke immunity for eBay’s PayPal only policy (2008-Jun-12) [ACCC]
[3] Amazon, EBay Test Legal Waters Overseas (2008-Jun-17) [Wired]

1 Response to “Time to give up on ebay.au ?”

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1 visibleprocrastinations June 27, 2008 at 7:48 pm

eBay has postponed the implementation of their ‘My way or the highway’ PayPal policy due to concerns raised by the ACCC. How about scrapping it totally rather than postpone it?

Important update: 15 July changes postponed
(2008-Jun-27)

Changes to eBay.com.au scheduled for 15 July are being postponed until the review process with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) regarding its recent draft notice is complete. As previously announced, eBay.com.au is continuing to work with the ACCC to achieve an outcome that benefits buyers and sellers.

Changes that came into effect on 21 May 2008, requiring all sellers to offer PayPal, will remain. These changes mean that all buyers have the option of choosing PayPal, the safer payment method for shopping on eBay.com.au. Payment methods that are currently permitted will continue to be allowed on eBay.com.au until further notice.

Other recently introduced safety measures, such as PayPal Seller Protection and increased PayPal Buyer Protection (now up to $20,000) will also remain.

eBay regrets any ongoing uncertainty that this further delay may cause and will advise you of any future plans for implementation following the ACCC process.

As always, eBay appreciates the feedback received from the Community and will use this input to consider where we can make improvements that benefit both buyers and sellers.

eBay remains committed to improving safety and we will continue to look for ways to improve the shopping experience for buyers which will subsequently benefit both sellers and eBay.

Please note that some of our onsite communications may still refer to changes taking place on 15 July 2008. These communications are in the process of being updated.
Regards

The eBay Team