Update 6-Nov-2008:
eBay bans Checks & Money Orders!
eBay has now banned sellers
from soliciting payment by check or money order or any other
form of payment other than by PayPal (an eBay company) or by
merchant credit card.
eBay says that by restricting
buyer options they hope to increase buyer satisfaction.
Update 16-Jul-2006:
eBay bans Google!
Google is launching a payment
processing service for merchants. Its called "Checkout".
And it lets people make credit card payments online to small
merchants like me. Just like eBay's subsidiary PayPal.
Well, when eBay heard about
it, they banned Checkout's use on eBay!
eBay says its not "Safe"
and "Fun". "Safe and Fun" for whom? I think
its because eBay wishes to stifle its competitors.
Why are my Payment Terms Written
this Way?
eBay recently began dictating
which forms of payment a Seller may "solicit". Simultaneously
they forbade sellers to "solicit" cash payment or online
payments thru most of the competitors to PayPal (an eBay company).
Since payment methods are frequently
written on the listing page itself, a tremendous number of outstanding
listings (apparently nearly 2 million) were suddenly put in violation
of eBay's new policy. eBay has been summarily canceling listings
and threatening to expel any seller who doesn't immediately
modify them.
For a long time, most of my
listings have offered to accept cash as one of several options.
While rarely used, cash is sometimes
particularly helpful to the buyer and it has been an honorable
form of payment for mail order for centuries.
It consumed over 100 hours,
time I can ill afford, to modify my 300 listings.
And that won't be the end of
it. eBay has a history of imposing upheaving rule changes.
There is no reason to expect that
eBay won't do it again tomorrow. Indeed, their policy suggests
they contemplate banning checks and money orders.
Given eBay's posture, it no
longer makes sense to write specific terms where they cannot
be readily changed.
Therefore, I've moved my definitive
payment terms to this page, all in a single place rather than
on each listing individually, where it should be possible to
manage change better.
I am disappointed by eBay's
present posture, both because I think the new rules are a poor
idea, and because of the astounding disruption the change has
caused my business.
Mark
2-Mar-2006
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