Paypal / eBay attempts to force consumers to pay via bank accounts
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.
Tags: auctions, eBay, ebay misleading, ebay sucks, online payments, paypal fraud, paypal payment issues, paypal scams, paypal sucks
January 28th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I hear ya man. Ebay can be a killer
Try this site and save big on ebay
http://www.bigcrumbs.com/crumbs/landing.do?r=Magpie&s=7367
June 10th, 2008 at 4:05 am
I like how they say “You are 100% protected against unauthorized charges against your bank account” as if that is a reason for you to choose to use the bank at that moment. Like someone who is not authorized is going to read that or something. No, they just want to collect the fee instead of the credit card companies. Banks should start charging PayPal for each transfer, or PayPal should give use part of their savings.
I just tried to pay for something with a credit card that had recently expired. Instead of just letting me update the card, I had to add it all over again. They really want to make it hard to do business with them. I think I will simply avoid their business.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I bought something today on eBay - and I am up one their little trick BUT TODAY there was no option to switch to a credit card (WTF) - I believe they didn’t offer a choice - or it was so cleverly hidden I missed it. It was around a $20.00 purchase - so I wonder if they have a threshold to even allow CC purchases? I clicked ‘pay now’ within a confirming e-mail and it was automatically removed from my checking. Maybe I should have logged-in to PayPal first?
What everyone should know:
eBay wants you to pay with your checking money it’s better for them NOT YOU.
You can charge back on credit cards, especially AMEX (that’s true protection). You can’t charge back on a bank transfer.
eBay needs to have a class action brought for such a deceptive (outright lying) system.
They need an option to automatically record your preference to ALWAYS use a credit card.
Not hide it each time - or outright ban credit cards - see how long you’re in business then …
They need to be more open about what they are doing (instead they are just abut lying).
LAWYERS hurry up with your class action already.