[Maflynn]

as reported by ARS They appear to be promising other electronic payment methods in the future but dropping checks/money orders will I'm sure create a firestorm.

For me, its no big deal, as I only use paypal, but I'm sure such a move will only aggrevate people who are already pissed off at them

[Dakar V]

That's quite a feat, hammering the final nail in your own coffin.

[osiris]

Indeed.

[Maflynn]

From that article (and others) they tried and failed to do this very thing in australia, I wonder if the US governement will get involved with this move

[Zeeb]

They are probably trying to cut back on scams from fake money orders and checks. Often, the banks will take their time letting you know if either didn't clear and you found yourself having already mailed the goods. Still, forcing sellers to incur huge paypal fees on top of ebay fees seems doomed to me.

[64stang06]

Originally Posted by Zeeb 

They are probably trying to cut back on scams from fake money orders and checks. Often, the banks will take their time letting you know if either didn't clear and you found yourself having already mailed the goods. Still, forcing sellers to incur huge paypal fees on top of ebay fees seems doomed to me.

Yep. Higher final value fees + ridiculous Paypal fees = less selling for me.

[andi*pandi]

I know I haven't felt like it was worth it to list anything since they made the paypal fees higher. And I don't even shop there anymore knowing that the price is jacked up to cover these costs.

[ghostshadow]

This is definitely going to make some people go insane. The paypal fees now are a *beach*, I'd hate to see what they will be like if they go all paypal.

I'm really sick of this new ebay crap. The auction descriptions suck now, I don't like it at all. I also hate all of this "easy" searching. Adding gloss to everything doesn't make it work better or easier. I think it's about time for some new auction sites, something made by the people for the people.

[Mastrap]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

I know I haven't felt like it was worth it to list anything since they made the paypal fees higher. And I don't even shop there anymore knowing that the price is jacked up to cover these costs.

Same here. It's craigslist all the way now.

[brassplayersrock²]

great, new ways for scammers to take over ebhey even more.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Mastrap 

Same here. It's craigslist all the way now.

Yeah, but Craigslist fails in web design and usability. I detest it. It's also a breeding ground for morons.

[Rumor]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Yeah, but Craigslist fails in web design and usability. I detest it. It's also a breeding ground for morons.

The Internet is a breeding ground for morans.

[Big Mac]

That's painting the Net with a broad brush. I'd say the aggregate IQ of MacNN is quite high.

[moep]

I’m definitely going to delete my ebay account the day it goes paypal only.
It just sucks that there are no real alternatives á la craigslist here in Europe.

[Eriamjh]

Paypal is great for payers but not for sellers. The fees end up being around 5% for each ebay sale, and another 5% or more for each paypal payment. That's over 10% lost to "fees".

eBay could see itself shrinking if paypal is the only method. However, the cries of "they are done for" sound much like the ones for microsoft made by many Apple enthusiasts. Microsoft is hardly hurting for cash. I don't think eBay is either.

[Big Mac]

I didn't realize the fees were that high. eBay's not going away any time soon, but abusing its seller base is ill advised. It's not like eBay is really all that good; it's just a good amount better or more convenient than its much smaller competitors. I wouldn't be surprised if Google opened an auction site some time soon.

[shifuimam]

Did PayPal change their fee structure? Last time I checked, personal PayPal accounts do NOT have any fees for incoming money, even from eBay.

Premium accounts are required if you average more than $500 a month in eBay business.

And last time I checked, PayPal's fee on a premium account was 3%, but maybe that changed recently...

<edit>
Personal accounts only pay fees for transactions funded by credit card, and personal accounts can't take credit card for eBay transactions. However, PayPal pays like a 3.5% fee every time someone uses a credit card with their system, so it's not really unfair to pass that expense onto the user - stores do it with higher prices, and PayPal can't make the buyer pay more for an item, so they just charge the seller.

Are there now additional fees on eBay's side to take PayPal for an auction?
</edit>

[Big Mac]

That's what I thought, too.

[andi*pandi]

Some time ago, paypal did away with personal accounts, at least in regards to ebay. At least they told me I had to "upgrade", had to accept credit cards, etc.

[shifuimam]

It sounds like you CAN have a personal account and accept PayPal on eBay auctions...but as soon as someone wants to pay by credit card, you'll be required to up your account to Premier or Business level.

I don't think it's terribly unfair. They have to pay for their services somehow, and the wide, wide majority of their users are normal people who occasionally sell stuff on eBay. PayPal's fee is annoying, but it does include additional seller protection when you have a Premier/Business account.

It's not surprising that eBay is going to stop allowing people to use personal checks and money orders for auctions. The possibility of fraud is high in those cases. I don't think they're required to allow auctions to accept checks, so I'm not seeing anything legal stopping them from doing this.

[Dakar V]

Let's not pretend eBay is doing this out of any kind of altruism. They're losing revenue and this is the easiest way to increase it.

[shifuimam]

Oh, I'm aware that it's about the money - that's the joy of capitalism, right?

I'm just saying that they do have a valid argument for stopping the use of anything but PayPal for auction payment. It may not be the primary reason, but it's still a reason.

I doubt it's going to stop anyone from using eBay. Nearly every auction I've used has either used PayPal or a third-party payment service to process credit cards, so this isn't going to be a major hit on most of the user base. I, for one, refuse to accept anything but PayPal on my auctions. It just makes my life easier.

<edit>
The other disadvantage to users (but a huge advantage to eBay) is that it's really the de facto standard for selling stuff online, at least in the United States. Craigslist is free, but unless you live in a large city, you're unlikely to get any responses on your postings.

I've been sitting on a second car for nearly three months, since I bought a new one. I haven't been able to find a buyer, even though I have listed everywhere (on the car itself, newspaper, facebook, local message forums, cars.com, craigslist). I stuck it up on eBay motors, and at least it's going to sell now.

All these iBooks I have right now aren't moving...if I can't find buyers for them sometime soon, I'm going to have to list them on eBay. It's the only viable, reliable way to get rid of stuff.
</edit>

[64stang06]

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html