Just when you think eBay is done infuriating longtime users across the world, the auction site keeps cranking out the hits.You almost have to admire the steadfast dedication – that ability to bear 'mid now and ice, a banner with the strange device; Excelsior!
Or something to that Longfellowian effect. Point is, the bitter tears of eBay users must taste like candy to the company's board members.
This July, eBay Australia was forced to ditch its massively unpopular attempt to force virtually all payments through its subsidiary, PayPal. Not only did the policy change fuel outrage in its most established users, it even prompted Australian regulators to begin an anti-competition investigation.
Not a huge success, in other words. But eBay dutifully learned its lesson and will attempt to create a more open environ...
Just kidding. eBay now plans to ban checks and money orders as payment methods in the US. The news comes out of an FAQ update listing the change under "a more consistent buyer experience to drive more sales."
View: The Register
It's not Tom's fault just to let you all know, it's sources fault.
It is poorly written I agree.
Btw, I love paypal and using it. I would never use chq or m/o on ebay.
It is poorly written I agree.
Well find some better sources then!
When will the admins here get the message?
Relax......
Still pretty infuriating to see how the Australian failure (big thanks to the consumer protection organisations over here) has not educated eBay at all.
Well, maybe it has learnt something. By slowly chipping away at payment methods (starting with the least popular), it seems to think it can get away with it without being noticed.
So when they start thinking about the seller and the buyer this just has very little chance or benefiting eBay... I am rather frustrated when i sell things on ebay... Though PayPal is good and more efficient... The cost that i wear as a seller is crazy...
After adding the cost ebay takes for the listing plus the cost of the paypal transaction plus the % of the final selling fee... This thing ebay wants to implement is just a desperate grab for cash IMO
Traditionally people never send goods out until the cold hard cash is in their hands, with cheques you need 5 working days to clear, and usually by then customers get all worked up and threaten to place bad feedback. In regards to Mkvos' post, money order != actual money sent through mail. I believe it's something with the post office (if it's the same as here in NZ) where you give the money to the post office and there's an actual record of you sending the cash.
Bottom line, it's a business, what do people expect? Some may boycott eBay, but will it make a significant dent in their business? Probably not.
Heck, you have more protection on a money order that you get from your bank than you from paypal. Paypal's protection policy usually involves going after the party that they can locate in order to cover their losses.
Like everyone else I have gotten sick of eBay fees and policies and use other places like kijiji.com or craigslist.
What people should be more concerned about is getting PayPal regulated, so that both sides have statutory protection from all the sharks and twisters out there.
Sellers seem to do is whine about fees, but it's the buyer who actually pays them, when the purchase the rubbish being offered.
No, there are far more tears trying to make sense of the words thrown up in this article. I kind of feel bad for Austin Modine as he's proven to the whole world that Grade 4 English is just too difficult. But in this day and age that won't stop you from being a published writer! Thank God for the Internet.
"For eBay's next act, it will drown cats."
That's interesting. My employer does not allow me to drink or do drugs on the job. Apparently those rules are not enforced at The Register.
http://www.ebid.net
Ebay without the fees. I only found this the other day but it seems pretty active
You realise that eBay is a site for users to sell stuff to other people, right? And removing that would the main way to do that?
Not very altruistic, are you.
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