EBay Stirs Controversy, Sparking Anger From Sellers Forced To Link Bank Account After Move Away From PayPal

In a controversial move, eBay will no longer allow sellers on its platform to use PayPal.

Instead, according to the company’s new terms of use, sellers will be required to provide banking details, and will receive payments directly rather than through PayPal, an intermediary service. Conversely, buyers will still be able to use PayPal.

“Regardless of any other terms about settlement methods on the eBay Services (including eBay’s payment policies and information available when you create listings, which may continue to display settlement methods that are not currently supported for payments that we manage), disbursements via other settlement methods, such as to PayPal, are not available at this time,” read eBay’s latest terms of service. 

“But some sellers have threatened to stop using the service over the move,” reported the BBC, adding that “EBay’s forums have several posts from sellers who say they are reluctant to use the new system and give eBay direct debit access to their personal bank accounts.”

There are also concerns regarding fraud, given that eBay is viewed to favor buyers over sellers when it comes to item disputes. For example, if a fraudulent buyer were to purchase a product and return another damaged version in search of a refund, some eBay sellers are concerned that a refund could be taken directly from their bank account.

The BBC also reported that one eBay forum user wrote, “[EBay] are so heavily biased in the buyer’s favor… I am simply not prepared to switch to this new [system] and give eBay direct access to my bank account.”

“Where a buyer or the owner of a payment instrument initiates a chargeback, direct debit reversal, or PayPal buyer protection claim, or otherwise asks their financial institution to open a payment dispute … in connection with a Managed Payments transaction, you understand that we may investigate and, in our discretion, re-present the Dispute with the credit and debit card networks or other payment method providers,” notes eBay’s latest terms of service, adding that “failure to provide requested information on the timeline we require and as specified by credit and debit card networks’ and other payment service providers’ rules could adversely impact the outcome of a Dispute investigation, up to complete forfeiture of the amounts in dispute.”

Regarding the slight change in cost to users, “the new system is set at 12.8% of the final amount, including delivery plus $0.30 for US users (30p in the UK). This is compared to 10% previously for the eBay fee, plus PayPal’s fees and $0.30 (30p),” as reported by Tech Radar. 

While buyers will have the choice of additional payment methods — such as credit and debit cards or systems like Apple Pay — payments will “now take two working days, compared to previously when PayPal transfers would usually happen on the same day.”

The two companies have worked closely together since eBay purchased PayPal in 2002, with PayPal splitting from eBay as a separate entity in 2015.

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