From June 17, eBay Australia wants to force members to use PayPal, a transaction gateway it owns, for buying and selling goods. The only other form of payment will be cash on delivery.
Meanwhile, an online petition against eBay’s new policy has gained momentum with over 7000 signatures collected.
It creator, Brisbane small business operator Daniel Gibney, hopes to exceed five figures.
“I will definitely be forwarding the petition to eBay, although I doubt whether they will do anything about it,” he said.
Mr Gibney has been buying and selling on eBay for seven years.
Many eBay members argue that the new policy is a prime example of double-dipping and not to protect users as the auction house has claimed.
“If eBay’s motives really are pure, why don’t they offer to lower fees for sellers, to keep things competitive?” Mr Gibney said. “The new policy is a blatant grab for profits, disguised as a security upgrade.” The Australian Competition and Consumer Comission (ACCC) wants to know what you think. Members of the public can submit their comments to the regulator but have to do so by May 2.
Submissions can be made via snail mail or email (adjudication@accc.gov.au).
The ACCC is responding to an “exclusive dealing” notification filed by eBay on April 11 requesting for immunity from the Trade Practices Act.
Section 47 of the Act prohibits exclusive dealing which broadly involves one trader imposing restrictions on another’s freedom to choose with whom, in what or where it deals. In some cases, exclusive dealing is prohibited outright and, in other cases, only where it substantially lessens competition.
Regarding to eBay’s PAYPAL ONLY Policy,consumers want to say,
Dear Officer in ACCC:
For the benefits of all Australian consumers, I feel that it’s unacceptable to let eBay ruled PayPal as the only payment method.
According to PayPal’s policy, Paypal can put user’s money from their account and hold it for 180 days without paying interest!!! My account has been put on hold by Paypal for a long time and the reason the told me it sounds so funny: they said it’s for my account’s safety, they have to check all my documents so I have to mail them all the invoices,business record,etc.
Since all my money in the Paypal account was put on hold, I have no money to buy materials and send it to my paid customers, then my business went down.It harms.
As we all aware that Paypal is an American company, I submit a complaint to American Better Business Bureaus, but it’s useless.Paypal stated that When you begin to using Paypal, it means that you accepted that Paypal has the right to put your money on hold for 180 days without interest!
Then I found eBay users around the world have similar experience with me on www.aboutpaypal.org. ACCC officer please take a look at this site,and listen to our voice.
Currently Paypal has the power to judge all the transactions made by paypal on eBay Australia.I can’t image that what could happen if Paypal will be ruled as the only payment method. eBAY is too powerful already.
Thank you for taking time to read my experience.
Best regards
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We’re with you 100% ebayers! The U.S. May 1st and beyond Ebay Boycott is well under way here. If you can, feel free to come see whats happening at one our main boycott sites http://www.powersellersunite.com/
Let’s unite worldwide, starting May 1st and let ebay know ENOUGH is ENOUGH!
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To: eBay Australia
We the undersigned voice our disapproval at eBay Australia’s new policy stating that ONLY PayPal can be used as a payment option from June 17th onwards. This policy is far too strict, and will limit the amount of people willing to participate in eBay transactions. As a result, online sellers will lose business, and people will find it harder to access the savings offered by eBay sellers.
As PayPal is owned by eBay, it appears that eBay Australia is making this decision purely to generate more profits, and it does not have the best interests of its users at heart.
Claims of PayPal being the most secure way to pay for auctions are not necessarily true, and are deceptive in nature. We note that other international eBay sites have not enforced such strict payment rules.
As sellers and buyers, we strongly urge eBay Australia to re-think their decision to remove direct deposit, money orders and cheques as payment options.
Sincerely,