Will eBay be discriminating against me as a buyer?
I am an eBay member who mostly buys items. I choose not to buy from sellers who only accept Pay Pal or electronic credit or debit payments because I do not want my credit or bank information compromised. I do pay with “same as” cash Postal Money Orders, bank cashier’s checks or personal checks when the seller accepts these forms of payments. In October, eBay will require all sellers to only accept debit, PayPal, Pro Pay credit card electronic payments to pay for purchased items. This means I will not be able to participate in eBay buying as I will not risk credit card fraud or theft, which is so prevalent today. Also, what about people who have NO credit or checking accounts and could still pay with Postal Money Orders or similar “same as” cash methods. Is this legal? As eBay is not the owner of the items being sold. PayPal is a division of eBay… so more profits will be heading to the same pot. Would this be considered a monopoly? Can eBay force sellers to only accept electronic payments? And are they discriminating against individuals who choose not to use electronic payments? If so, What can be done legally to insure everyone can shop on eBay? Thanks in advance.
I am not concerned whether PayPal is air tight… as air tight has been breeched before. I am concerned whether it is legal for an institution to FORCE buyers to pay with a credit card as well as to FORCE sellers to only accept credit card when for 10 years people have had the option to use same as cash methods for purchasing their items.
NOTE: I would like to hear from lawyers or legal authorities.
NOTE to kleighs mommy: You are highly presumptuous. How dare you assume I am not a responsible buyer, as I have 100% feedback with a 300 + ratings since 1998. Also, you should learn to spell.
Pay Pals encryption system is air tight. I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life but it is completely safe to use.
it is legal
checks bounce and money orders never arrive
learn to use paypal its very safe and secure
your the kind of buyer they warn us who sell to avoid
you demand the item be shipped before payment has arrived and cleared
im for this new policy for me the seller its safer to not take checks or any same as cash method
Ebay’s choice to accept only electronic payments does not amount to discrimination. It is a business decision designed to improve their profit margin by funneling more funds through their subsidiary, PayPal.
You have the choice to participate or not, as you see fit.
Ebay can make any rules they choose, as long as those rules are lawful. Forcing sellers to accept only electronic payments is lawful.
as a ebay member for over 4 years.i rarely anymore get a money order or a check.it does happen,but rarely.in over 500 plus sales and 464 positive feedback’s.i have yet to have a credit card crisis or fraud.to me,i think you should be able to send what ever.”beggarscorner2″ ebay name.check it out!
Yes it is legal because the seller is using their medium to sell stuff. Just get Paypal; as a 3 year Paypal user, I can say my security was not compromised at all. If you sign up, you will see that it is pretty much like an online bank account(you even get a debit card). It even has a money market account option. The only thing is that it is not FDIC insured; so, obviously you do not want large amounts of money in there. Leave that for ING or HSBC. This way you get paypal which is secure and your not sending off your credit card numbers to all your sellers. Plus when you purchase through Pay Pal, you get buyer security jsut in case a seller scams you.
Oh also to add: Checks are not secure, they have all your bank info on the bottom(account number/ routing number). A bad person can use this info against you.
Sorry. EBay is a business. They can choose to conduct their business however they want.
Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make it discrimination. Discrimination can only be against protected classes – race, gender, religion… that sort of thing
“Non-pay-pal-user” is not a protected class.
As for a monopoly, there are hundreds of online auction sites. Ebay is not the only game in town. If you don’t like how they do business, take your business elsewhere!
It’s their site and their rules, play by the rules or go to a different site, there’s several to choose from. My sister has purchased things on EBAY and paid thru paypal and never got her items. When she complained they told her there was no money on his account so they could’nt give her a refund. Now, that was a rip-off. The seller is the one who should choose what method of payment he will accept, NOT EBAY.
I don’t see it as discrimation, but it does seem like restraint of trade of some sort. In the real world, it would be like a shopping mall telling all the store owners that they can’t take checks anymore.
I assume they had their lawyers look at the whole idea ahead of time; but I think it is wrong and it will cost them in the long run
Personally, I think e-bay has overstepped their bounds here and I can see a lawsuit resulting from this fiasco. A company like e-bay cannot force people to do business a certain way, the individuals can, but not e-bay. I see a lot of arguments that e-bay sets the rules for selling and buying, wrong they are only the medium by which buyers and sellers are brought together and complete a transaction. This restriction by e-bay goes against many laws of open commerce. If your looking to start something on the legal side of it, then I would consult a lawyer who specializes in the field.
E-bay will also starting in October, begin to dictate to sellers what their listed shipping fees are. I believe this is also a violation of trade and commerce laws.
Common solutions are to boycott e-bay all together. Once their sales revenues fall into the basement, they might change their gestapo ways. Shame, e-bay used to be a great thing and they’ve ruined it. Two things come into play here. Profits and greed, and the IRS. Certain senators and congresspersons have been pushing to tax e-bay sellers profits. I’m not 100% sure, but I think they already passed a law that says they internet auctions sites are going to be required to keep a record of sales for reporting to the IRS. This would enable e-bay to do just that, and reap the profits at the same time so e-bay has no reason to put up a fight.
It is perfectly legal for a company to discriminate and chose what method of payment that it wants to accept.
Too many sellers have been ripped off by phony cashier’s checks and money order and personal checks and there is nothing E-Bay can do on their behalf unless it is handled through Paypal, which is the reason for the change.
Paying through Paypal also protects the buyer because it is easily verifiable that a payment was made; if you send a cashier’s check or money order, unless you send it by a method it can be tracked, there is no way to prove you sent the funds and nearly all cashier and money ordrer places will not even accept paperwork to see if the check has been cashed or issue a replacement until after at least 10 days. Even if the check is cashed, if it is another party other than the one stated in the check, you can be left trying to pursue a criminal claim and the seller will file a non-paying bidder strike against you and re-list the item and you are out your money and won’t receive the item.
I have a specific credit card with a very low availabilty that I use for my Paypal account only as it affords more protection if someone would get my account information and try to use it, or you could open up a saving account specifically for E-Bay and only transfer the exact amount of funds into as the auction you have won and then make the payment through Paypal.
They have the right to choose whatever method of payment they will accept and if you choose not to participate, that is your choice and there is nothing you can do about it changing that. There are other auction sites that don’t require Paypal and you can use one of those instead.
Well, why not try amazon.com?
that’s where i go, i don’t like ebay’s paypal payment system either, it doesn’t seem safe to me. I ordered my camera, lenses, and all of the accessories right on http://www.amazon.com that’s the only place i go. However, ebay does have cheaper prices.
They shouldn’t make you Use paypal. However, i can see how the vendors would be getting their money faster, and not worrying about other things.
your legal theories are absurd.
ebay is not a monopoly – you can buy the items there anywhere, online and off.
you can choose to take your business elsewhere, if you don’t like the way ebay (which is a private business and can take payment in whatever form it prefers) works.
that is entirely up to you, ebay is aware of that, and willing to take the risk.