Hi, this is John from the eBay Trust & Safety team, and today we’re going to be covering the topic of Selling on eBay in light of the new accepted payments policy that was announced in August.
Other eBay and PayPal Pink members are also at hand to converse and answer questions you may have about what has changed, and how that impacts your selling on eBay.
I’ll start by posting some information in a couple of introductory posts and then we’ll open it up for questions. You may also want to refer to more detailed FAQs on the change, at www.ebay.com/payments.
I. WHAT’S CHANGING?
Summary of Policy
No checks or money orders. In basic terms, beginning October 20th, eBay sellers will not be allowed to include checks or money orders as payment methods in their listings, or to solicit checks or money orders as payment in any way outside of their listings.
What can you be paid with starting on October 20th? You can be paid for items by one of the following ways. Sellers must offer at least one:
PayPal – through which buyers can use credit or debit card or bank account to pay, all while keeping their financial account details private.
Credit/debit card directly - use your merchant account to accept credit or debit card payments directly.**
ProPay – this is another way to be paid via credit card for eBay items. You receive buyers’ credit card payments via the ProPay payment service.
Or, if you sell something and agree and arrange with the buyer to pick it up in person, you can be paid using whatever payment method you and the buyer agree to.
**NOTE: INTEGRATION OF YOUR MERCHANT ACCOUNT INTO EBAY CHECKOUT VIA THE PAYFLOW GATEWAY IS NOT A REQUIREMENT UNTIL 2009. If you are accepting credit or debit card payments directly today, you may continue to accept such payments after October 20th in the same way that you do today. We will have workshops and other communications in the future on this topic, with plenty of time for you to take action to integrate into eBay checkout. WE WILL NOT BE ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PAYFLOW GATEWAY OR MERCHANT ACCOUNT INTEGRATION WITH EBAY CHECKOUT IN THIS WORKSHOP TODAY.
How will checks and money orders actually be excluded? If a seller has not already revised their listings, the checks and money orders options will be removed, or in other words masked from view.
eBay is giving a grace period until January for sellers to remove references to checks and money orders from the Item Description section. Under the new policy, however, even if checks or money orders are mentioned in the Item Description section, sellers should not solicit checks and money orders in any other ways, such as emailing to ask buyers to pay by check or money order.
Is there an easy way to change my listings? Yes. You can remove prohibited payment methods through your seller preferences page in My eBay. To remove item description wording in a large number of listings, we recommend that you use “search and replace” within Turbo Lister. To find detailed instructions, please read the instructions archive in the “Revising Listings Quickly and Efficiently” workshop that was conducted on October 7, 2008.
We’ve made this change for the following three reasons:
1) To provide a more consistent and better buying experience. For approximately 1 out of 5 transactions on eBay today, buyers are required to leave the site to arrange payment for an item (such as, by mailing a check). Moving to electronic-only payments enables eBay to integrate all of the approved payment methods into eBay checkout, which will then provide a more consistent and secure buying experience EVERY TIME buyers shop. GIVING BUYERS A CONSISTENTLY GOOD EXPERIENCE EVERY TIME THEY SHOP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON TO MAKE THIS CHANGE. A Jupiter Research study of online shoppers in April of this year showed that “a consistently good shopping experience” is the #1 reason buyers return to a website to shop.
2) To ensure an overall safer buying experience for your customers. A healthier, safer marketplace will benefit all sellers. Individuals who pay with a check or money order on eBay.com today are 80% more likely to file an "item not received" dispute, and 50% more likely to leave a negative feedback than buyers who pay with PayPal or a credit card. Prohibiting paper payments greatly reduces buyers’ exposure to fraudulent activity, and moving to electronic payments with consumer protection built in gives your buyers recourse every time if something goes wrong. In addition to credit card protections, as of October 20, PayPal will now cover buyers purchases more than ever – up to the full purchase price of the item, plus the original shipping costs.
3) To provide faster and more reliable transactions for you. You will be paid faster with electronic payment methods, so you can ship items more quickly, which increases the chances of buyer satisfaction with shipping times. You will also reduce your incidence of unpaid items on eBay by accepting only electronic payment methods. Items that accept only electronic payment methods today are less than half as likely to result in an unpaid item dispute than items that do not accept electronic payment methods.
What should I do if I have long-standing, repeat customers who insist on paying with checks or money orders, even after I explain the benefits of electronic payments and offer suggestions? We know this may happen occasionally. A seller can accept check and money order payment from a buyer if (and only if) the buyer requests it. We will not take action against a seller who is trying to accommodate their buyer, complete a sale and be in compliance with the policy. Once these changes go into effect October 20, 2008, however, a seller cannot in any way solicit check or money order payment from a buyer. This is considered “abuse of the payments policy”. We will take action against such abuse.
Remember also, you can refuse to accept these payment methods. If the buyer doesn't pay, you can file an unpaid item (UPI) complaint. Buyers who insist on paying with these prohibited payment methods in a UPI claim will lose the claim and will not be allowed to leave negative feedback.
These policy changes are burdensome to buyers and sellers. Why do this? Well over 90% of successful items are already paid for with electronic payment methods on eBay.com, and over 98% of items offer electronic payment methods. So, actually, this will not be a big change for most eBay buyers and sellers. Also, it is already standard across the web to pay with electronic methods. Amazon just recently discontinued offering paper payment methods for buyers, and many large retailers online only accept electronic payment methods. Even on eBay, one of the last online destinations where paper payment methods are accepted, Check and Money Order usage has declined 40% in the last 2 years.
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Was my question received?? I currently process credit cards via auctioncheckout.com but no one either at eBay or auctioncheckout seems to be able to tell me how this process will change or not change beginning in 2009...when will this information be available?
Starting next Monday, you will only be able to accept payments through PayPal, ProPay or direct credit and debit card payments to your merchant account.
You can also offer payment on pickup as an additional option.
I'm not 100% clear if auctioncheckout.com provides you with a merchant account or is an independent payment service. If it is the former, you will be able to continue to accept credit card payments through your auctioncheckout.com merchant account.
While this has many advantages, wasn't this tried in Australia and the Government of Australia determined that Ebay could not do this? So Ebay had to go back to accepting checks, money orders also? It seems I heard a news report along these lines some time ago.
After 10/20, as long as you accept credit cards, PayPal or ProPay, you will be able to list and relist. You do not need to have an Internet merchant account integrated into eBay checkout - that will be a requirement in early 2009. Until then, you can keep accepting direct credit card payments with a merchant account the same way you do today.
Hi, I don't know if someone already asked this question or not, but is it okay if we add that we don't accept money orders or checks at the bottom of the listings that use a template that are left over after the holidays? That way, we don't have to rewrite them from scratch.
The payment changes that will roll-out on eBay.com on Monday are different. Buyers and sellers will have several payment options: PayPal, ProPay and direct credit or debit card payments to their merchant account. They can also offer payment on pickup in addition. We are also working with several other payment services to integrate them into eBay checkout, and hope to announce 2-3 more payment options in January next year.
Auctioncheckout.com using my own merchant account via authorize.net as the gateway - auctioncheckout is basically approved software that integrates with the eBay system to process auction payments - my question is basically will there be any change in how this system works come Jan 2009?
Question #2- If we do not accept credit or debit cards now and do not want to start, then it looks like Paypal is our single option. Also, what is ProPay? where can we learn more about this?
I have a grave concern about PayPal that I would like answered.
What is being done to prevent fraud via credit card charge backs??
Scenario: I sell a $500 item. Buyer pays with PayPal. I ship with approved carrier, get delivery confirmation and all would seem to be well with the world.
Next thing I know, buyer turns to his credit card company and claims 1) item never received, 2) item is damaged, 3) item is used 4) etc.....
Credit card credits money back to the buyer, turns to PayPal and demands money back, PayPal turns to me and raids my account of the $500. Turns out that it is my checking account that gets raided without any notice, and now I'm bouncing checks to the tune of $35 each check.
The kicker? I don't get my $500 item back...... the Buyer ends up with an item for free. Paypal can do nothing to prevent this because it was handled outside of PayPal!
What is your take on this issue? What is being done to change this? Sounds like a BIG loophole for the not-so-honest to drive trucks through!!! No?
Adding that language will be OK for the next couple of months. But starting January 15, we won't permit sellers to include the words check or money order in their item descriptions. I just don't want you to need to do a lot work revising your listings twice.
Actually, I was referring to things that are in my store that won't sell until the summer. I took the money order reference out of my templates several weeks ago, but sometimes things sit in my store for months before they sell. Those are the listings I don't want to have to rewrite all over again from scratch.
1. PayPal limits the amount that buyers can spend on eBay. This is exactly what I would not want as a seller. Now that buyers have no other practical option but to use PayPal, will PayPal be removing the stupid spending limit at least for eBay?
2. How will we qualify for Seller Protection Policy for pickup items where we are required to accept PayPal? Or, will we have the option of refusing a PayPal payment if the item is picked up? No seller is going to allow a payment where there is no protection. Perhaps PayPal could accept an impression of the credit card and buyer's signature as proof of the pickup (this is standard in the industry)?
This is forcing addional fees onto the sellers by having to pay for the electronic payment transactions. What will eBay be doing to offset these additional fees?
Although eBay permits sellers to use merchant accounts or ProPay as payment methods, those are impractical for many sellers who will have only Paypal as a usable payment method.
What are eBay and Paypal doing about the problem of Seller Protection? As it is now, Local Pickup items and many international transactions do not qualify for Seller Protection. What are eBay and Paypal doing to make those transactions safe for sellers?
need more info on propay... their website is very vague, says there are plans for ebay sellers coming in "late october", no additional details provided. If we are supposed to have this up and running on monday, shouldn't the service be available on monday????
1) Will sellers be allowed to have a pre-answered question in the FAQs such as "Do you accept money orders or checks?" This won't show on the main auction page, and it will save sellers a lot of time as this is going to be a frequent question.
2) Will sellers be able to state that they accept bank wire transfer? This is the prefered method of electronic payment outside of the US and Canada, where most people don't have credit cards. PayPal is also not available in many countries. It's also critical to keep bank transfer available for sellers who sell very expensive items. Also, direct bank transfer is allowed on other eBay sites such as ebay.de.
3) Will sellers be able to list items for local delivery and/or pickup as cash only? There's currently no PayPal Seller Protection for items sold this way. Not allowing "cash or money order only" on pickup will have a negative impact on consignment shops, and will push a large amount of merchandise off of eBay, especially furniture and industrial equipment.
If you don't want to open a merchant account, yes PayPal is a good option. You can receive credit card payments from buyers through PayPal, but you don't have to go through the usual hassle of opening a merchant account with a bank, nor will you receive or have to store securely the credit card numbers of your buyers. Also, PayPal has lower rates than merchant accounts.
ProPay is one of the payment providers in the accepted payments policy on eBay today. It is the first, but won't be the only, of payment providers currently in the accepted payments policy that will be integrated into eBay checkout. You can learn more at www.propay.com
I don't believe there will be any change in how your auctioncheckout.com merchant account works. However, in late January, you will need to create a Payflow gateway account (free of charge) to integrate this merchant account with eBay.
We will providing detailed information on this integration later this year and hosting workshops to answer questions.
Will sellers have the option to require immediate payment on auctions too now that we can only take paperless payments? Or at least payment within 12 hours? I know that some buyers use sniping services, etc. and may not be around when the auction ends.
When listing new auctions, will we be able to select ProPay as an excepted payment option like how we can select PayPal as an excepted payment option now in our listings? When will the ProPay option be added to the EBAY site? When will the new ProPay EBAY accounts be ready? If you already have a premium ProPay account can that be used also?
Also changing on Monday will be limits that PayPal places on buyers spending ability. We won't be removing sending limits altogether because we have them in place for risk management and regulatory reasons, i.e. once a buyer spends a certain amount, we have to gather more information about them, verify their identity, etc. We will however, have higher limits than we have had previously by account (sending limits) and by transaction (i.e. on Monday, we're raising the $10,000 per transaction limit we have today)
Also changing on Monday will be limits that PayPal places on buyers spending ability. We won't be removing sending limits altogether because we have them in place for risk management and regulatory reasons, i.e. once a buyer spends a certain amount, we have to gather more information about them, verify their identity, etc. We will however, have higher limits than we have had previously by account (sending limits) and by transaction (i.e. on Monday, we're raising the $10,000 per transaction limit we have today)
In regard to chargebacks, you receive better protection from PayPal then you would if you accepted credit cards directly.
In the case of an unauthorized chargeback, PayPal provides full protection with no caps.
In the case of Item Not Received chargeback, PayPal provide protection with proof of delivery (online delivery confirmation) for a transaction under $250. For transactions over $250 you also need signature confirmation.
In the case of Significantly Not as Described, you are correct. It is up to the bank who issued the credit card to determine whether the buyer must return the item before the funds are reversed. PayPal is required to abide by credit card industry standards.
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