Ebay Fails To Force Users To Use PayPal
ONLINE auction site eBay has failed in its bid to force Australian customers to use PayPal to pay for items on the auction website.
The move by Ebay would have meant that users would have had just two payment alternatives: either use Paypal or cash on delivery.
Last night the The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it proposed to revoke eBay’s application to enforce the use of PayPal for all transactions.
The ACCC said that Paypal’s move was a threat to competition.
Australian payment processor, and competitor, Paymate, said that the decision was a vindication of that company’s attempt to allow Australian Ebay users to choose between the two companies.
In the draft notice published by the ACCC, it stated that:
“PayPal offers sellers more protection than some other methods of payment, however, PayPal is not unique in this respect as it offers similar seller protection to that provided by Paymate.”[5.160]
The notice continued:
“The evidence available does not support the view that PayPal is the most secure method of payment, or offers the best service for all transactions.”[5.173]
Opinion: It seems that Ebay may have failed in what was meant to be a test case for its other auction sites around the world.
A legal precedent has now been set that can be used in other jurisdictions.
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Good. I think Ebay and Paypal being so intertwined is detrimental to online auctioning. When such a huge portion of the sale has to be paid back to eBay and Paypal in the form of listing fees, final value fees and paypal fees, it’s getting to the point that it’s almost not worth selling anything on Ebay anymore.