New changes to payment options.

eBay has announced that as of the 21st of May all sellers must offer PayPal as one of the payment options in each and every listing. So, if you have been resisting the push by eBay to offer PayPal, as of 21 May you will no longer be able to if you want to sell on their site.

As of the 17th of June 2008, PayPal will be the only payment option most sellers will be able to offer. From this date the only payment options you will be able to offer your buyers are:

• PayPal, or
• Credit Card (available only if you have a merchant account), or
• Cash if the item is picked up and paid for.

No other payment options will be permitted. The only exceptions to this rule are items such as Cars etc, Real Estate and Services.

More confidence = more buyers.

eBay claims that at present items paid for by PayPal are four times less likely to end in dispute. Therefore, eBay says, this new policy is being implemented to increase consumer confidence by reducing the risk of dispute.

There have been a lot of changes on eBay recently where the eBay has stated that the aim of the policy is to increase buyer confidence. It makes sense to think that any changes that bring more buyers into the marketplace is a good thing for sellers, more buyers = more bids = higher final sale prices.

I know that there will be a number of sellers who will see this policy change as just another attack on sellers. In particular, I sympathise with sellers who operate on low profits margins as they will be adversely affected by the extra fees imposed with accepting PayPal. Personally I don’t think that eBay is making a concerted effort to make life hard for sellers just for the heck of it. I do think that they are genuinely trying to improve the marketplace by attracting more buyers into it. Only time will tell whether these policy changes will actually do this or not.

So, what now?

If you haven’t done so already and you want to sell on eBay, you will need to sign up to PayPal. Over the coming days I will provide a summary of the options available to you in regards as to whether a personal or business account is the best option. eBay is also running an online workshop on Wednesday the 16th to discuss these changes and how they will affect buyers and sellers. To participate you will need to register yourself on the eBay discussion boards prior to the workshop.

Links.

Official policy announcement.

Information on upcoming Workshop.

eBay Discussion Forum - see the debate raging over on the eBay forums.

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