ebay supplementary user agreement for sellers

[John Lever]

Yesterday I had to agree to the new conditions imposed by ebay when listing on ebay USA. It seems that if you are deemed a high risk to potential buyers any payments you receive are subject to escrow, i.e. the payment is held by Paypal until the item is dispatched. So how is this proved ? Well I would think that the only way ebay could verify this was if you used a Paypal postage label. Their rates are consistently much higher than the standard national rates so it could turn into another nice little earner.
Has any one else had to do this ?

 

[Roughwear]

Yes, I had to agree to this yesterday when I listed a jacket for sale. I'm hoping that once the jacket is listed as posted the money will be freed up.

 

[John Lever]

Do you think Paypal post will be the only proof of despatch?
As a seller it does worry me.

 

[Roughwear]

I sold an item today to a UK buyer and the money is in my account, so I guess it only applies to a sale in the USA.

 

[John Lever]

I thought that might be the case. It is probably an attempt to reduce fraudulent sales to the US.
I may remove my listing from the US site but still offer the sale internationally. The thought of posting something without payment is something I would never do.

 

[John Lever]

Just been on the phone to ebay customer services and was advised that Paypal hold on to your payment for up to 21 days or until you have received positive feedback from the buyer....
This is bad for sellers.
When asked what would happen if the item was never received or ' got lost ' I was told that the only solution would be to claim on the postage insurance. This means that you have to provide all proofs of purchase to the postage company to get compensation.

 

[dmar836]

So if you never receive positive feedback from the buyer your money is held for 21
Days?
EBay is becoming way too big for it's britches IMO. Like big government, they keep adding rules that bring them more revenue while never enforcing the earlier rules that would protect us.

 

[John Lever]

The rules only apply if you list to sell internationally. So if you list as a domestic sale I wonder what happens when a potential buyer from overseas asks if you will post there. Can the same restrictions still apply ?

 

[GoodTimesGone]

So if you never receive positive feedback from the buyer your money is held for 21
Days?

I have had some buyers that never left feedback, including a repeat customer who is great to deal with in all other aspects.

This new policy of holding seller funds is irritating, inconvenient, and demeaning. The worst part of it all is that ebay is doing it to sellers who have a good record and are absolutely not a risk. What they are doing is holding the funds and collecting the interest, so it all comes down to $$$$ for their increasingly greedy and totalitarian organization. This policy they're enforcing on sellers shipping to the U.S. is also bad for the customer, as many U.K. sellers may stop selling to us. I have purchased many items from U.K. sellers. I would greatly miss that, and in some cases this would decrease the sales potential for the seller.
_______________________________________________________
Tom

 

[John Lever]

I think I will revise my item to UK only in a day or so and stay with domestic sales only.

 

[Roughwear]

and of course it might dent Ebay's profits if international selling declines as often sellers can do better when they sell to the USA and Canada.

 

[Anonymous]

It would be of interest to know how much Evil-bay and paypal lost due to fraud, with international sales. Some buyers due take forever to send feedback. How much interest does paypal, and Evil-bay gain on letting money that does not belong to them sit in thier accounts, and then if there is a issue more time passes until resolved.

 

[GoodTimesGone]

I think I will revise my item to UK only in a day or so and stay with domestic sales only.

What ebay is doing to U.K. sellers now has already happened to sellers here in the U.S., and it applied to items shipped within our own country. Several months back, after many successful transactions with perfect 100% feedback they suddenly held my funds after a man bought a jacket from me and paid immediately with paypal. The explanation on ebay stated that this was to diminish the risk of fraudulent transactions. They also stated that the funds could be held up to 21 days. I could see this making sense if they told you upfront and it applied to your initial 10 or so sales. I was steamed. After a couple of days I decided to call ebay customer service, using the concerned, firm, yet polite approach. I told the young man on the phone that I had sold on ebay for several months with 100% feedback, that I had worked as a manager in retail for years and no company I ever worked for would treat a regular customer that way. He said he would make an exception "this time" and release the funds. When I got off the phone I checked my paypal account and the funds were available.
___________________________
Tom

 

[Anonymous]

Is it legal to impose such restrictions? and force people to pay using Paypal? If you had different methods of payment, and paypal/ebay instituted these draconian policies, you would use a different method of payment, no harm no foul, your choice.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

I'm working on a website presently and using my Ebay user name.com so it will be easy to redirect buyers. Ebay has an auto remove system on any links clickable or not, and they have recently restricted text in photos in fear of losing money to outside sales. The statement in any of my descriptions there will be something like this-

"Please Google my Ebay user name.com for an expanded selection, alternative payment options, custom requests, and the same great service I've provided here on Ebay for the past ten years at discount prices"

Basically this is to provide anything they selfishly restrict, they can railroad us into their rules, but I don't think they'll be able to nail me on my plans if the right language is used. If anyone sees a technicality they could get me with, please offer your thoughts.

Not sure how in detailed I'll get, but I also plan to explain why, ie, Ebay fees, ridiculous one sided rules, etc. Paypal will be an option, but I'll offer free name tags on the site, a wing badge or something as an incentive for money orders. I plan to use them for the thousands of positive FB earned, and exposure of new patches and products only.

 

[John Lever]

The thing is that ebay isn't that good anymore for sellers or buyers. There is no way I would post a $1k jacket without being paid first. After 30 years in business that is one thing I have learned.

 

[GoodTimesGone]

I read on a forum that I found on the net where discussion centered on problems with ebay. Someone stated that Paypal gets away with more liberties because they are not classified as a bank, and therefore don't have to follow the same rules.
One more thing ebay has enacted recently is taking away the option to pay with your credit card that they have on file if you have funds in your paypal account. There used to be a drop-down box to make your choice of payment.
___________________________________________________
Tom

 

[a2jacketpatches]

I read on a forum that I found on the net where discussion centered on problems with ebay. Someone stated that Paypal gets away with more liberties because they are not classified as a bank, and therefore don't have to follow the same rules.
One more thing ebay has enacted recently is taking away the option to pay with your credit card that they have on file if you have funds in your paypal account. There used to be a drop-down box to make your choice of payment.
___________________________________________________
Tom

Could I get a link to that forum?

 

[GoodTimesGone]

It was months ago, when I was having my problems with ebay so I don't remember the site name but here's some links affirming paypal's classification:
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1017-858264.html
http://www.quora.com/Why-specifically-i ... not-a-bank
and even Wikipedia addresses this point in Bank Status: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal#Bank_status

 

[a2jacketpatches]

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