“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,” Mr Smith said. (eBay Australia head Simon Smith) [1]
So how does Mr Smith explain eBay’s actions in the auctions?
… Although eBay yesterday backed down on plans to lock out paying by money order, direct bank deposits and cheques, it has not rolled back a recent policy forcing all sellers to at least offer PayPal as one of the payment options.
Sellers are reporting that eBay is systematically deleting auction listings from sellers who state in their item descriptions that they “prefer” to be paid with non-PayPal methods, such as bank deposit. … [2]
Because it’s all about the security for the customers, not about how far eBay has their snout in the trough.
… On eBay’s website, much of the written material conveys the message that payment methods other than PayPal are not safe and do not have appropriate fraud protections.
But the ACCC wrote in a draft notice on the issue last month: “The evidence available does not support the view that PayPal is the most secure method of payment or offers the best service for all transactions.” … [2]
It looks like it is time for the ACCC to use a bigger stick!
[1] eBay scuttles PayPal plan (2008-Jul-04) [The Australian]
[2] eBay still ‘forcing’ sellers to use PayPal (2008-Jul-04) [SMH]
[3] eBay continues PayPal forcing (2008-Jul-04) [MashUp]
