I recently purchased a large amount of merchandise from eBay sellers for a future web development project we are working on with a consumer electronic manufacturer. I wasn’t really surprised, but rather upset that eBay attempts to force buyers to pay for merchandise via instant bank transfers or eChecks (which are really the exact same thing) - you have to manually change the payment method to credit card. View the picture below to see how Paypal tries to convince you that paying with your bank account is more secure than paying with a credit card:

Paypal: thanks for explaining to eBay buyers that paying with your bank account means, “No finance or bills to pay.” Does paypal suck at times? Oh wait, that was a rhetorical question as well Paypal! Paypal attempts to automatically get buyers to pay via direct banking transfer instead of paying with a credit card - so they can make more money and avoid credit card fees.

It is far more secure to pay with a credit card than it would be to pay with cold hard cash. For example, I recently got ripped off from a Hong Kong seller that is no longer a registered user on eBay. I can very well call up Visa and dispute the paypal charge (but you may risk having your paypal account closed) - which is what paypal has to deal with on a daily basis, probably by the low thousands. The only reason paypal attempts to persuade eBay buyers to pay via a checking account is so they don’t have to pay the merchant billing fees when transferring funds from credit cards to users paypal accounts. This is clearly misleading and not ethical for a major fortune 500 to be doing. Stop it eBay!

Furthermore, if you purchase large quantities of items, as I did this week, you can’t pay for ALL of the items at once with your credit card. You are forced to pay for the items one by one; and this can take an hour or more. If you choose to pay with your checking account you CAN pay for all the items purchased in one process.  Clearly a double standard and unethical business practices.  If I had the time, I would report them to the BB in California.  Please digg this below and help spread the word.

I recently purchased a media device from an eBay power seller. What I failed to realize is that this eBay power seller is from Honk Kong, regardless; his feedback was impressive and in the thousands with a 99% satisfaction rating. So how the hell did I end up getting ripped off? Well, these Honk Kong eBay sellers act like pump-and-dump stock schemes. They actually ship products for a few months, then when they build up enough credibility, they upload thousands and thousands of items, collect the money, then never ship. So thanks eBay for protecting your buyers - you suck. In the future, put a big sign on international seller accounts that say: LOOK OUT! Even more annoying is the fact that I am unable to leave the seller feedback and let him/her know how evil they are.