Been informed that unless you have over a 100 transactions you must offer Paypal - for security reasons (nothing to do with it letting Ebay gouge you twice for Ebay and Paypal fees!)

Don't know about the 100 transaction thing but I have over 1000 feedback and they are telling me I MUST offer PayPal as a form of payment. They will also hold the funds for 21 days unless get + feedback or no chargeback/dispute etc. Nice little earner with the interest there, Terry!

So I pay them twice - for the listing/final value fee and then PayPal.

Unfortunately there is not a viable alternative at the moment for most punters. I've put some kit onto eBid but haven't managed a sale yet :-(

But I can just keep relisting for free and accept that it'll take a while to sell kit.

YMMV.

Ian

--

Man with glasses because it's the nearest pic to someone with a Highwayman's mask.

Not a hope in Hades , let the slaughter begin !

These legal sharks from the Oz ACCC have even the ultra rich and very powerful major local multinational Oil Companies bosses ducking and hiding under their desks when they start knocking on their front and back doors at the same time !

Ebay in Oz , would be not be able stand up after their first bite takes off their legs at the knees , the second bite completely removes the left arm legal team down to the last man standing in a feeding frenzy that has most crack Oz QC's running the other way in abject fear when they see them enter the courtroom and the third gently holds their throat as they run up the white flag and sign on the dotted line at the same time !

These Ebay Oz pussies just don't stand a single chance and will be done like a dog's dinner in an instant , when the ACCC shark team comes calling at the front door !

"Paypal are (effectively... genuinely?) a bank, and as such they have enormous flexibility in how much of the transaction fees they pass on to Jo Public, especially when you consider the volume of transactions we're talking about."

Paypal unfortunately is NOT a bank - they are a non-accredited, oversight-exempt, financial authorities-immune company that just happens to transfer money between people - and attempting to grab as much of it for themselves as possible through a myriad of fees and policies.

Nevermind what happens if by chance they suspect you of perhaps having done something they consider against their rules ...

Paypal - arguably one of the most effective semi-legal rackets ever run anywhere ...

whilst I would love to boycott ebay for both buying and selling, I can't... and neither can anyone else.

I used to be a powerseller but my business collapsed when paypal decided to close my account, followed by ebay suspending me because of this.

Took me over 2 weeks to get any sort of response to find out why - and then each email took 3 days to reply to and kept getting in a standard response loop.... they don't care and don't need to care (apart from when I got the Financial Ombudsman on to them!)

Everytime they put up charges or impose conditions people say they will boycott - but it's those people that lose out - ebay/paypal aren't going to notice 1 jot!

I expect these paypal only measures will go the same way - some people will moan, but it'll go ahead anyway.

PayPal recently moved to Luxembourg and was awarded a banking licence - so yes, they're now a bank. This however means it's no longer authorised by the Financial Services Authority - so safer transactions for us UK ebayers? Hmmmmmmm.

Instead of Paris I was gonna have Tux - but penguins don't screw people.

I guess I'm one of eBay's most typical UK customers - on average I buy 1 or 2 items a month, and every now and then I sell a load of stuff that I don't need anymore. I make a few pounds if I'm lucky, and I don't (well, I didnt used to) scrutinise the charges too much.

But recently, with all the broohaa about eBay and PayPal increasing their charges, I've been more reluctant to sell my stuff on eBay.

So... what's the UK alternative? I like being able to set up an auction online, and go through the exciting days and last few hours of seeing what my junk is about to sell for. I also like the thrill of the chase and waiting until the last nanosecond before putting in a bid for something I want to buy. The euphoria and rush you get when you sneak in and win an auction at the last second is almost better than, er, rumpy pumpy with Paris Hilton.

Where else can I do all the above then? I'm hoping someone with some balls will set up a polished viable alternative to eBay, and I'll be signing up like a shot! Mr Branson, how about it? The VirginBay perhaps. Or Stelios, you know you want to start easyAuctions....

Paris, cos I mentioned her once already.

1. The recent move offshore means they are outside the FSA regulations and also now cannot be sued via the Small Claims Court. Many people had successfully done this to get funds out of frozen accounts and maybe this has prompted the move.

2. Paypal NEVER removes your personal or financial information regardless of closing the account. This is how the make sure that if they kick you out, you stay kicked. They keep your bank and credit card details to stop you from using them again on a news account. Pretty certain that this breaches UK data protection regulations.

3. They claim that funds held for 180 days in closed accounts (held in case of CC chargebacks etc) do not generate interest......does anybody believe that ?

I had to complain to the FSO to get my money back but got it eventually.

They claim that they are simply a "facilitator" for ebay and don't do anything other than shift electronic funds about but the reallity is that they are judge, jury and executioner with your account resting in the hands of some halfwit who spends all day sending random cut & paste replies to frustrated customers emails.

It's true I use PayPal for virtually all my eBay transactions but in no way would I like to be restricted to only PayPal for eBay transactions, and as for them saying that PayPal only for Aus citizens for security purposes that's a joke in itself - to log into my online bank I need to enter in two number passwords and two random letters of a 3rd text password. To log into my PayPal account I just need my email address and a single password, which if someone found out they could drain my bank account as it's directly linked to PayPal.

Governments or whoever regulates this sort of things (companies dealing with lots of money) should force PayPal to become an international bank so they take more responsibility towards fraud etc.

Maybe its time I set up an alternative to ebay? what are the legal requirements to run an auction site?

Paris because she doesnt charge to F**K you!

Paypal/Ebay allow for "cash on collection" of the item.

Therefore, simply note to ebay that you intend to pay on collection, then send a cheque/postal order/whatever.

Not a thing they can do.

I take it that you're taking the piss. The ACCC mounts investigation after investigation and yet still the price of fuel changes depending on the day of the week - all other factors being equal. In local parlance, they're weak as piss.