Ebay drops Aussie Paypal monopoly
AUSTRALIAN EBAY SELLERS were celebrating victory last night after the online auction site waved the white flag and backed down from plans to ram Paypal down users’ throats.
The move came just as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was in the final stages of deciding to halt the move anyway, pegging it as a threat to competition in the market.
Ebay finally gave it up after months of spinning a load of cobblers that the move, which would have made Paypal cash on delivery/pick-up the only methods available, was actually about upping security, and not lining its own pockets.
The fact that Paypal is owned by Ebay and charges rather large transaction fees made Ebay’s argument sound less than flimsy, and left Australian Ebay users seething.
Ebay didn’t help its case by comparing those who didn’t want to use Paypal to Heroin dealers.
After a strongly-worded draft notice by the ACCC, asking Ebay to cancel its plans, the auction site ridiculously suggested that the organisation was undermining consumer rights, but agreed to put plans on hold while the ACCC investigated further.
Just as the ACCC was set to make its final decision on the matter of whether Ebay’s move would indeed lessen competition in the online payments market and deny consumers choice, Ebay raised its hands in surrender.
The site’s VP, Simon Smith noted, "While we disagree with the ACCC's draft notice, we have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the Ebay community". By ‘disruption’ we assume Smith means Aussie’s boycotting and moving over to competitors.
One thing Ebay still refuses to back down on, however, is forcing all sellers to offer Paypal as a payment option. Talking to the Sydney Morning Herald, chairman of the online users lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, Dale Clapperton said Ebay should give sellers a choice of whether or not they want to use Paypal, noting that many wouldn’t want to because of extortionate fees and bad experiences.
"If Paypal is truly the best payment option, why does Ebay need to force people to do business with them?" he noted.
Still, the Aussie’s would do well to hold on to their victory. After all, a kangaroo in the hand is better than in the bush. µ
L’Inq
Sydney
Morning Herald
See Also
Ebay
feels the pressure from ACCC
Ebay accuses consumer rights group of undermining consumer rights
Ebay's Paypal-only policy spanked by Aussie Consumer Commission
Not using Paypal is akin to buying heroin on the street
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Every company capitulates to the ACCC. I don;t know why no other country in the world has a similar and just as powerful organisation that has consumer choice at it's heart.
Good. Now let's get the US & Europe to follow suit. What's a real competitor to ebay anyway?
I saw this coming! On http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/06/17/ebay-accuses-consumer-rights "They will likely reach a compromise where PayPal will not be the only payment method, but sellers must offer it. posted by : cyssero, 18 June 2008" Go ACCC. Actually defending Australian consumer rights. Take that, PayPal!
now all they have to do is return their fees and charges back as well, and they may start getting buisness back. Paypal only was just the icing on the cake. the start of the abandon ship order was the Ridiculous pricing changes, from fixed prices to % of the final sale, making it completly unsustainable to sell anything on there. Even for me selling stuff randomly I can't justify the cost, I Just put it in the trading post (newspaper) and it sold and I make much more money. I can't imagine how actual buisness owners sell their stuff anymore, its just too expensive. so I hope they drop the pricing, and only then will I and many many others will then return. so thanks to our beloved ACCC looking after Us, the only thing now is we need the ACCC to make milk companies list that they are putting a water/fat soloution in some milks to make it go further, currently the law states they dont need to list it, yet every other company in the world , MUST list all ingrediants otherwise get massive fines. something is a bit fishy there
If eBay is still going to require sellers to offer Paypal then they should be able to pass the Paypal fees onto the buyer. Just put in the auction details that you are now required by eBay to offer Paypal as a payment method, BUT the buyer must choose the shipping method designated for Paypal buyers with an included surcharge to help cover their fees. i.e. Ground, Paypal - Ground, FedEx, Paypal - FedEx and etc.
Stewart wrote: the only thing now is we need the ACCC to make milk companies list that they are putting a water/fat soloution in some milks to make it go further, currently the law states they dont need to list it, yet every other company in the world , MUST list all ingrediants otherwise get massive fines. something is a bit fishy there How very random.....
of course paypal is so great that ebay have to force people to use it!? sounds like ebay logic to me...
I'd like to point out the following news article: http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23993302-5014108,00.html This almost seems as if Ebay allowed the fraud due to the payment method being bank deposit, thus supporting the case that Paypal is 'safer'. There is no way that could go on for so long without Ebay realising something wasn't quite right, at least thats my opinion!