Tranasaurus Reks
Member
To preface, regardless of whether or not eBay's policy change is right, it is indisputable that this is a massive change that more or less has been silently implemented and users of any kind —both sellers and buyers— need to be aware about a policy change that they were most likely never notified of. This change affects both buyers and sellers, because the amount of people willing to bid in an auction/send an offer/continue to utilize eBay as an E-commerce platform will fluctuate, directly influencing a seller's income off of eBay. Plus, there are many users on eBay that both buy and sell, instead of exclusively doing one or the other.
Sellers have the option to turn off the required automatic payment (with it being turned on by default), but as this change was silent, the majority of sellers aren't aware that automatic payment exists, and the buyer would have to communicate with every single seller prior to bidding/offering. Additionally, the option's description is misleading and includes a warning against removing it.
Beginning from 2021, eBay has begun to implement changes towards mandating required payment methods for auctions and offers. They started experimenting with a test group percentage of users on eBay until they were ready to make it site-wide, and as of Q3 2023: this currently applies to essentially every user. For the buyer, there is no way to opt out, since the once experimental test program has now been enforced into a policy.
Additionally, for a user's bid or offer to be registered in the system, they have to agree to let eBay automatically charge your payment method. It is not just the buyers who win the auction or whose offers get accepted; to bid/offer, the user has to agree. The message indicates: “You authorize eBay to save these payment details and use them to collect payment from you for items you offer to buy or win at auction on eBay. The amount collected from you will consist of your offer or bid (up to the total entered by you) and any applicable costs.”
If Buyer Payment requirement is enabled (using Paypal as an example):
1. eBay won't allow the buyer to choose their specific Paypal method of payment but rather charges it towards their Paypal account, resulting in Paypal having numerous incidents where it will automatically charges their purchase to unwanted bank accounts/credit cards linked to their Paypal account, including checking accounts, etc. Even if the buyer chose a primary/preferred/default online payment method in Paypal, it can and has been ignored in many instances (see the tens of posts in the eBay community forum alone by searching up "eBay automatic payments Paypal"). Also, there have been instances of eBay automatically charging the wrong Paypal account for buyers with multiple Paypal accounts.
2. The buyer has many instances where they are not allowed to use seller coupons/seller specials/eBay coupons/Google Pay, Apple Pay, Paypal Credit, Paypal Pay in 4 interest-free payments, or Paypal Pay Monthly.
3. The buyer has many instances where they are not able to combine shipping and handling if they buy more than 1 item from a seller.
4. There have been many instances of potential buyers who bid during the last few seconds on an auction that have been interrupted by the "provide a payment source" requirement message, causing their bids to not register.
5. There have been many instances of unwanted and damaging overdrafts/late fees towards the bank account of an unaware buyer, resulting from eBay's authorization to automatically pay.
In many cases, sellers carefully consider their prices around sales/discounts, and lists their item accordingly. If the price the buyer pays is disproportionate to the price the seller expects the buyer to pay, then a potential buyer can get the short end of the stick. For example, it is common practice for sellers to list their item at its astronomically high "original price" and then put the item on "sale" for the regular price using a discount; if this discount were suddenly not an option, the buyer gets screwed.
Since this policy change involves the buyer, the seller, eBay, Paypal, bank accounts, etc. if there are any issues, the tedious process of contacting every individual party explaining the problem and waiting for a response has resulted in declined cancellations/refunds/chargebacks/overdrafts/late fees/etc. If the buyer pays with an exchange rate card, or if the seller has already shipped the item and is forced to have it returned, they have been many instances where they will lose money even if they are fully refunded. Also, if a user's account is comprimised, eBay has the authority to automatically pay if the hacker wins an auction or a seller accepts the hacker's offer, overiding the need for passwords/two-factor authentification/verfication. It's important to recognize that it is not just the buyer that goes through this process, the seller's time, effort, and overall participation is also necessary in the majority of cases, and the seller's money can be withheld until the issue is resolved.
There may be ways to circumvent the automatic payment, but with bugs and issues stemming from each option, including Customer Support who aren't aware/trained enough to assist with the change, the current course of action is to at least let other users know about it.
Sellers have the option to turn off the required automatic payment (with it being turned on by default), but as this change was silent, the majority of sellers aren't aware that automatic payment exists, and the buyer would have to communicate with every single seller prior to bidding/offering. Additionally, the option's description is misleading and includes a warning against removing it.
Beginning from 2021, eBay has begun to implement changes towards mandating required payment methods for auctions and offers. They started experimenting with a test group percentage of users on eBay until they were ready to make it site-wide, and as of Q3 2023: this currently applies to essentially every user. For the buyer, there is no way to opt out, since the once experimental test program has now been enforced into a policy.
Additionally, for a user's bid or offer to be registered in the system, they have to agree to let eBay automatically charge your payment method. It is not just the buyers who win the auction or whose offers get accepted; to bid/offer, the user has to agree. The message indicates: “You authorize eBay to save these payment details and use them to collect payment from you for items you offer to buy or win at auction on eBay. The amount collected from you will consist of your offer or bid (up to the total entered by you) and any applicable costs.”
If Buyer Payment requirement is enabled (using Paypal as an example):
1. eBay won't allow the buyer to choose their specific Paypal method of payment but rather charges it towards their Paypal account, resulting in Paypal having numerous incidents where it will automatically charges their purchase to unwanted bank accounts/credit cards linked to their Paypal account, including checking accounts, etc. Even if the buyer chose a primary/preferred/default online payment method in Paypal, it can and has been ignored in many instances (see the tens of posts in the eBay community forum alone by searching up "eBay automatic payments Paypal"). Also, there have been instances of eBay automatically charging the wrong Paypal account for buyers with multiple Paypal accounts.
2. The buyer has many instances where they are not allowed to use seller coupons/seller specials/eBay coupons/Google Pay, Apple Pay, Paypal Credit, Paypal Pay in 4 interest-free payments, or Paypal Pay Monthly.
3. The buyer has many instances where they are not able to combine shipping and handling if they buy more than 1 item from a seller.
4. There have been many instances of potential buyers who bid during the last few seconds on an auction that have been interrupted by the "provide a payment source" requirement message, causing their bids to not register.
5. There have been many instances of unwanted and damaging overdrafts/late fees towards the bank account of an unaware buyer, resulting from eBay's authorization to automatically pay.
In many cases, sellers carefully consider their prices around sales/discounts, and lists their item accordingly. If the price the buyer pays is disproportionate to the price the seller expects the buyer to pay, then a potential buyer can get the short end of the stick. For example, it is common practice for sellers to list their item at its astronomically high "original price" and then put the item on "sale" for the regular price using a discount; if this discount were suddenly not an option, the buyer gets screwed.
Since this policy change involves the buyer, the seller, eBay, Paypal, bank accounts, etc. if there are any issues, the tedious process of contacting every individual party explaining the problem and waiting for a response has resulted in declined cancellations/refunds/chargebacks/overdrafts/late fees/etc. If the buyer pays with an exchange rate card, or if the seller has already shipped the item and is forced to have it returned, they have been many instances where they will lose money even if they are fully refunded. Also, if a user's account is comprimised, eBay has the authority to automatically pay if the hacker wins an auction or a seller accepts the hacker's offer, overiding the need for passwords/two-factor authentification/verfication. It's important to recognize that it is not just the buyer that goes through this process, the seller's time, effort, and overall participation is also necessary in the majority of cases, and the seller's money can be withheld until the issue is resolved.
There may be ways to circumvent the automatic payment, but with bugs and issues stemming from each option, including Customer Support who aren't aware/trained enough to assist with the change, the current course of action is to at least let other users know about it.
Attachments
Last edited:
