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Author Topic:   eBay to end auction house collaboration
LCDR Scott Schneeweis
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posted 04-15-2008 04:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LCDR Scott Schneeweis   Click Here to Email LCDR Scott Schneeweis     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Associated Press: EBay says it will end auction house collaboration
quote:
EBay Inc. said Tuesday it will discontinue by year's end the section of its site that allows users to participate in live auctions hosted by other companies.

The company said the move will not materially affect its business — though millions of users patronize eBay's partner auction houses.

EBay's vice president of seller experience Jim Ambach said maintaining and improving the 7-year-old Live Auctions platform falls outside the company's current focus on boosting listings, improving buyers' experiences and making the site safer from fraud.

"As we work to improve the buying and selling experiences... we need to make sure our resources are aligned with our priorities," Ambach said in a company statement on Tuesday.


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Scott Schneeweis
http://www.SPACEAHOLIC.com/

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-15-2008 04:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Ambach said in a company statement on Tuesday.
Here is the full text of the eBay announcement:
quote:
Hi everyone... As of December 31, 2008, eBay will no longer offer eBay Live Auctions. As we work to improve the buying and selling experiences which you've heard our leaders talk about – including significant investments in Trust & Safety and customer support – we need to make sure our resources are aligned with our priorities. In the case of Live Auctions, maintaining and improving this platform falls outside our immediate focus, and will, therefore, be retired at the end of the year.

Many members may not be aware of Live Auctions – these are differentiated listings linked to physical or virtual auction houses, and moderated by a live auctioneer. Furthermore, these listings are not subject to a specific end time; Live Auctions conclude when there are no further bids.

Before I continue, let's be clear: eBay will continue to offer auction-style listings which constitute the majority of items on eBay.com.

Over the years, eBay partnered with a very small number of service providers who in turn worked directly with the live auction houses to supply merchandise and auctioneers for eBay Live Auctions. In addition, several hundred sellers list their items directly using the Live Auction format.

This announcement will represent a significant change for the small number of partners, buyers, and sellers involved with Live Auctions, which is why we're giving eight months notice. We've been in touch with each of our service provider partners, and between now and the end of this year, we'll continue to work with our Live Auction partners and sellers to ensure a smooth and seamless termination of this aspect of our business.

Sincerely,

Jim Ambach
Vice President, Seller Experience


Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-15-2008 04:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is unfortunate; while eBay Live Auctions left much to be desired, it did allow a common format to be implemented by many different auction houses, rather than having many separate systems. Hopefully, another service might pick up where eBay leaves off, though one supposes if the model was financially sound, eBay would not be divesting from the business.

Ken Havekotte
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posted 04-15-2008 04:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Does this mean for future space auctions after 2008 conducted by Heritage, Goldberg, Swann, and others that we can no longer bid via "Live Ebay Auctions?" I've recently started using Ebay Live for many space auctions and much rather bid "live" instead of faxing/phoning bids in.

SpaceSteve
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posted 04-15-2008 05:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SpaceSteve   Click Here to Email SpaceSteve     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
Does this mean for future space auctions after 2008 conducted by Heritage, Goldberg, Swann, and others that we can no longer bid via "Live Ebay Auctions?"
That's the way I read it Ken. This is unfortunate in my opinion, as I like to use Ebay Live Auctions. In many cases, it's the only way to get a fair shake in bidding, as several auction houses, while allowing online bidding through their own websites, don't allow online "live" bidding. That is to say they end online bidding a day before the actual live auction, and in so doing, give floor bidders a significant advantage in knowing ahead of time, the bids they have to beat.

Steve

dsenechal
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posted 04-15-2008 05:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dsenechal   Click Here to Email dsenechal     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is yet another seemingly inexplicable move by eBay. I'm sure they know what they're doing, but it almost seems they're intentionally trying to alienate their customer base, and undermine their business. They've instituted the much-loved "mystery bidders" feature, along with upcoming changes to feedback (sellers will no longer be able to leave neutral or negative feedback for buyers), and the termination of Live Auctions, to name but a few. I just don't get it.

Dave

mjanovec
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posted 04-15-2008 10:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:
Does this mean for future space auctions after 2008 conducted by Heritage, Goldberg, Swann, and others that we can no longer bid via "Live Ebay Auctions?"

Heritage also has their own live online bidding system which I feel is even better than the Ebay interface. So for Heritage, at least, live online bidding is still an option.

LCDR Scott Schneeweis
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posted 04-15-2008 10:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LCDR Scott Schneeweis   Click Here to Email LCDR Scott Schneeweis     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This may be more of a technical issue for Ebay - i.e. they are finding it difficult to integrate listings from other auction formats in a manner that preserves the integrity of their "Trust and Safety" initiatives - as alluded to in the announcement.

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-15-2008 10:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LCDR Scott Schneeweis:
i.e. they are finding it difficult to integrate listings from other auction formats
Then why integrate them at all? Why not offer eBay Live Auctions as a standalone application so that their catalog items don't appear among the regular listings and that it is only used for the live bidding rather than the pre-auction proxies as it is configured now?

They could even offer it as a hosted service without the eBay branding, where each auction house would customize the look and feel of their live auctions to match their own websites (within templates) and the only indication of eBay's role would be a "Powered by eBay" button, if so desired. That way, eBay would still benefit from selling use of their software without being libel for the auction houses' listings.

Or, they could license the software and distribute it for auction houses to run on their own servers as an off-the-shelf solution.

It just seems somewhat abrupt for eBay to exit the market completely after they have spent so long establishing the partnerships.

spaceflori
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posted 04-16-2008 12:47 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceflori   Click Here to Email spaceflori     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I assume there are a ton of start-ups and other companies standing by to take over this interesting market of live auctions - it's hard to believe indeed that ebay terminates those services.

I heard ebay Australia? now only let sellers take Paypal and no other payment service anymore?

Hmm.... at least in Germany more and more sellers get sick of ebay and concentrate on other venues - I wonder if that's the beginning of the decline... (hint, hint... if you own ebay shares).

Florian

Ross
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posted 04-16-2008 08:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross   Click Here to Email Ross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hello Florian and other members,

Your comment that 'I heard ebay Australia? now only let sellers take Paypal and no other payment service anymore?' is incorrect. It appears to be a misunderstanding. EBay worldwide introduced a new policy in January 2007 as follows: "To keep eBay a safe place for both buyers and sellers, sellers who register after January 17, 2007 are required to offer either PayPal or a merchant account credit card as an accepted payment method." Which means they can offer other methods of payment as long as PayPal or a credit card is one of them. If you check say the US eBay site, the rules are the same. In fact, considering how eBay works, it would be difficult to have a different policy just for Australia.

Remember this policy only applies to sellers registered after 17 January 2007.

Ross.

cspg
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posted 04-16-2008 08:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cspg   Click Here to Email cspg     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by spaceflori:
I heard ebay Australia? now only let sellers take Paypal and no other payment service anymore?
Well, Ebay and Paypal are the same company, no?

When you're a seller on Ebay, you pay for inserting the items you sell; pay when your items are sold; pay for the money to be transferred to Paypal and pay, again, to have the money transferred from your Paypal account to your bank account...

I threw everything away, Ebay and Paypal. You can take me for a ride but there's a limit

Chris.

poofacio
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posted 04-16-2008 08:50 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for poofacio   Click Here to Email poofacio     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I really do believe that Ebay, as a company, are quite entitled to behave in whatever fashion they see fit, they are neither a charity nor a public service.

I also believe that I do not have to use their services and am entitled to hope fervently that by behaving in the way they are they go bust and disappear up their own Ebay, there are many excellently run auctions out there, Astro-Auction being one that springs immediately to mind.

DOX32
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posted 04-16-2008 09:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DOX32   Click Here to Email DOX32     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Many new actions by eBay continue to hurt buyers as well.

Now they have a new check out process for paying by PayPal that makes it harder to use credit card and automatically defaults to a bank withdrawal.

I am fed up with eBay and think a better venue show be explored for everyone, especially live biding using some other service than eBAY.

Really a poor choice.

We need a good competitor now!!

Woody

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-16-2008 08:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If I am not mistaken, LiveAuctioneers was responsible for bringing most, if not all, of the auction houses hosting space memorabilia sales to eBay Live Auctions:
quote:
LiveAuctioneers will be launching its own state of the art online-bidding platform later this year. LiveAuctioneers' CEO, Julian R. Ellison, issued a statement to the media yesterday that explained the company's plans, which dovetail with eBay's own plans to close its eBay Live Auctions division as it refocuses its marketing strategy. Ellison said: "After a very successful and mutually beneficial 5 and a half-year partnership with eBay Live Auctions, LiveAuctioneers.com is going to be operating as a separate entity, utilizing its own platform to create what is sure to be the future of the online art, antiques and collectibles marketplace. We expect the changeover to take effect on or before Dec. 31, which is the date that our current platform provider, eBay, anticipates winding down its eBay Live Auctions division.

Ellison stressed that as the transition is taking place, there will be no disruption to either Internet bidding capability or the many support services LiveAuctioneers presently provides to 700 auction houses worldwide. "The Internet bidding process will actually become more streamlined, from start to finish, and will reinforce LiveAuctioneers' position as the leading live-auction facilitator," Ellison said. "We expect auction houses, and those who bid online in their sales, will be very pleased with our new business model, which will essentially turn LiveAuctioneers into a highly efficient, one-stop shop for both buyer and seller."


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posted 04-16-2008 10:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for chuckj   Click Here to Email chuckj     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I can understand why eBay doesn't want anything to do with live auctions. The buyers premium was always lower, sometimes 5% sometimes less, if you dealt directly with the auction house. So I would look at the item on eBay but used to bid directly with the auction house by placing an absentee bid with them.

spaceflori
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posted 04-17-2008 12:39 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceflori   Click Here to Email spaceflori     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Disagree here - one of the biggest advantages of ebay live auctions was that you can participate in real time with no chance for anyone out there to screw you like when you place absentee bids.

After more than 17 years of auction experience you can trust me that some auctions houses weren't unjustified charged with a couple hundred million $$$ in fees for illegal practices.

In my opinion it's is still a common practice that fake bidders pushup prices for the auction house (i.e. more commission and particulary more cash for those auction houses that run their own items in a sale).

Obviously you can't prove that though I'm sure it is done every day, otherwise I can't explain why I'm winning stuff always at my highbid (with absentee bidding) and never below while it should be 10% above the next high bid.

Florian

David Bryant
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posted 04-17-2008 01:17 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Bryant   Click Here to Email David Bryant     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My only real problem with EBay / Paypal is that the 'security' offered by Paypal only extends for a very short time span. After you've used up a month being told by a vendor that your item is 'on its way: you should receive it soon' if you attempt to claim your payment back from Pp you're informed that too much time has elapsed! And, of course, there's also the problem with so many German vendors (sorry Florian!) accepting only direct payments into their banks by money transfer. Four times this calendar year I've been scammed by that one: the purchase hasn't materialised: a dispute reveals that the vendor is 'no longer active'. I guess it's always going to be caveat emptor!

mikelarson
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posted 04-17-2008 10:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mikelarson   Click Here to Email mikelarson     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
OK, eBay has made some big mistakes over the years, but you guys are a being a little tough on them. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I applaud Ebay's decision to separate from auction houses.

One of the main problems with Ebay over the past few years as that there was way too many auction choices and they kind of lost their way. I remember the good old days when I joined Ebay in 1997 and how everything was simple, with standard auctions only. Next came Buy it Now, which I liked, followed by half.com, which I saw absolutely no value in, then eBay stores, which also had limited value in my mind, then Live Auctioneers, followed yet again by eBay Express (which was probably the dumbest addition of all). Most of the items in the different venues had to be searched for separately, and the one that needed to be separate (live auctions) was lumped in with the regular auctions. So it became a pain to find anything.

eBay has become like Microsoft and other startups that become large, established companies and try to be too many things to too many people. They end up losing their focus, and as a result do anything good (disclaimer on the MSFT shot: I am a Mac user).

Along with some of the changes they've already announced (like emphasizing auction listings over eBay stores), it sounds like they are trying to get back to their roots of basic auctions which I think is a welcome change. We don't need eBay to be another Internet retailer, we need them to be an an online auction house.

So let's talk about eBay moving away from Live Auctioneers. We'll probably never know the real reason eBay ended the relationship. Maybe it was contractual. Maybe it was a money loser. Maybe it was as simple as narrowing their focus. It really doesn't matter much though as it sounds like live bidding with the auction houses currently on eBay will still be available, just directly from Live Auctioneers and not through eBay. So if that's the case people can just move over to the new Live Auctioneers site. And I bet Live Auctioneers, free from being tied to eBay, will be much more innovative in their technology solutions.

As for their recent changes with the fee structure and shifting more power to the seller, I'm waiting to see how it all works out before forming my own impression. Most of what I sell on eBay is higher priced items to customers I know so I'm not too worried, but I'll have to wait and see.

And why would anyone not expect eBay to push Paypal as their payment system? eBay is going to push Paypal, just like Google pushes their checkout system.

And from a privacy perspective, I support their decision to not show bidder IDs. I was against this change at first but it's nice not getting any more bogus second chance offers or other spam from people contacting me via bids I made on eBay. And I expect they were getting intense pressure from governments on the whole privacy issue. But what they need to do is to get much tougher on policing the site for forgeries, which is still very lacking. That's the main reason we all wanted to see the user IDs, so we could alert people when they are being scammed.

So is eBay perfect? Heck no. Have they made some bonehead mistakes over the years? Heck yes. But they are still the best (and just about only) game in town, particularly in the USA. If a competitor pops up and gives them a challenge, then it's good for everyone as it will remind eBay that their monopoly might not last forever and it will give consumers a choice. But I don't see anyone on the horizon to dethrone eBay like Google wiped out Yahoo and am still happy with eBay as a whole.

My two cents.

Mike

Ross
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posted 04-17-2008 11:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross   Click Here to Email Ross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I feel some of the comments on eBay are coming from a particular prospective, especially comments about giving up on eBay and/or PayPal. They seem to assume that other auctions are an alternative. This maybe the case for moderate or expensive items but eBay is really an essential option for collectors like me who, live outside the US and specialise in collecting mainly lower valued covers (or stamps) with a few higher valued ones. Over the last 2-3 years I've seen far more covers in my area of interest at reasonable prices on eBay than anywhere else. Also how else could I afford to buy a few cheap covers at a time if PayPal didn't exist. My bank charges A$25 (getting close to US$25 these days) for an International Bank Draft or Bank transfer and most collectors and part time dealers don't accept credit cards. I'd go broke without Paypal! It has been the single most important development in many years for collectors in my position. While, I still pick up some covers from dealers, most come from eBay.

Yes, criticise eBay where their practices should be improved. I certainly do, under my breath (smile). And yes, some real competition would be great. But, at present, eBay and PayPal are the only game in town for many of us.

Ross

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posted 04-18-2008 11:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for chuckj   Click Here to Email chuckj     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by spaceflori:
I can't explain why I'm winning stuff always at my highbid (with absentee bidding) and never below while it should be 10% above the next high bid.
I agree with you about games being played by auction houses but eBay absentee bidding is not the solution. Let me give you an example.

I left an absentee bid with eBay which was not visible to the auction house. Bidding started on the item. It went over my price by one-bid. Lo and behold, that bid is removed and I pay my highest price for the item. How that floor bid was withdrawn I will never know but I was watching it live when it all happened.

mjanovec
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posted 04-18-2008 01:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mjanovec   Click Here to Email mjanovec     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have also wondered whether any monkey business ever went on behind the scenes at certain auction houses. Most auction houses allow you to directly submit absentee bids with them (as opposed to submitting the absentee bids with eBay). If some absentee bids were much higher than all other absentee bids, it wouldn't take much effort to plant a shill or two in the audience of the live auction with a list of prices to bid each item up to, knowing that they will fall one bid short of the absentee bidder's top price. (Just curious...has anybody even witness a floor bidder who bid on a lot of items, but never seemed to win any/many?)

My suspicions get raised even higher when I see certain items sell for many times more than their typical market value. If an absentee bidder places a very high bid on an item to insure that they win it, it's a situation that an auction house could easily exploit. (Granted, one should never submit a bid for more than they would like to pay for an item.)

As such, I no longer submit absentee bids directly with the auction house. I'd rather pay a few percentage points more and go through eBay.

Ross
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posted 04-22-2008 08:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross   Click Here to Email Ross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It appears that, contrary to my previous belief, eBay Australia are indeed putting further restrictions on payment methods to sellers. As far as I can see, these either have not been announced to pure buyers, or the info is well hidden on their site. I have received notification from an Australian eBay seller (NOTE: not from eBay themselves) that 'As of May, every single transaction must advertise PayPal as a payment method [this was at least partly known]. From 17 June, PayPal and cash on pickup are going to be the only form of payment eBay will allow' [this is new!]. This seller is therefore leaving eBay for greener pastures! Does anyone know if eBay in other countries is doing the same thing??

Ross

Robert Pearlman
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posted 04-22-2008 09:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ross:
As far as I can see, these either have not been announced to pure buyers, or the info is well hidden on their site.
Here is the announcement on eBay Australia's website, as posted on April 10:
eBay.com.au boosts safety – PayPal will be required on all listings

Mike Dixon
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posted 06-13-2008 12:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mike Dixon   Click Here to Email Mike Dixon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by spaceflori:
I heard eBay Australia now only let sellers take Paypal and no other payment service anymore?
I'm not sure how it works for other eBay sites around the world, but the changes they've made and are proposing to make here have incurred the wrath of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC).

The consumer watchdog has issued a notice proposing to revoke a ruling made by (Australia) eBay in April to force all purchases be concluded solely through its wholly owned PayPal subsidiary.

That transition began in May 2008 with all sellers compelled to offer PayPal as a form of payment with the second stage (effective June 17th 08) requiring ALL purchases be effected ONLY via PayPal or cash on pickup.

For those of you unfamiliar with the legal powers bestowed upon the ACCC by our federal governments, they are both far ranging and potentially punitive in terms of fines.

Breaching "Trade Practices" would not be the wisest decision they've ever made and I personally hope the book is thrown at them.

Mike

Ross
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posted 06-17-2008 08:13 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross   Click Here to Email Ross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
eBay Australia have now responded to the ACCC draft notice by postponing the disputed changes until 15 July 2008. A statement released on 13 June by eBay included the following: 'eBay intends to work with the ACCC and hopes to achieve a final outcome which has the safety and security of eBay’s members as its paramount objective. eBay will delay the removal of other payment methods from the site until Tuesday 15 July.' You can see the full statement here.

It will be extremely interesting to hear the outcome of these discussions.

Ross

mikelarson
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posted 06-17-2008 09:09 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mikelarson   Click Here to Email mikelarson     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is another topic that I'm probably in the minority on, but I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, when I sold on eBay before moving overseas 95%+ of the payments I received went through Paypal, and when I buy on eBay I always insist on using my credit card via Paypal for the dual options for recourse if something goes bad (Paypal and CC company). If the seller balks, I don't buy the item and move on.

And if sellers want to avoid Paypal fees, use a personal Paypal account and only accept payments drawn on existing Paypal balances or instant bank transfers. All you have to do is mention this requirement in the listing.

I don't see how any government is going to make doing business on eBay less expensive or more safe. And I also don't see any anticompetitive practices here. If eBay is going to provide a warranty for their service, which is part of their recent changes, they have to control the entire process, just like car manufacturers require you to get something fixed under warranty at one of their authorized dealerships.

And also consider that there are already numerous dubious payment sites that shady sellers use to suck in novice bidders.

My two cents...

Mike

Mike Dixon
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posted 06-17-2008 06:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mike Dixon   Click Here to Email Mike Dixon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Mike

I discussed this offline with Rob P so I'll quote some text from that email...

"Where I really believe that ebay find themselves in trouble is with the policy alterations themselves. This is not a situation where alternate payment gateways have suddenly disappeared and paypal remains the only viable method of expediting the transfer of funds. They've arbitrarily changed the rules to suit themselves and effectively redirected profits away from those other businesses. The banks and companies (e.g. Western Union) should feel aggrieved that their services are being withdrawn for no good reason other than it suits (Australia) ebay."

I personally dislike any business wielding that level of power and obviously, so do the ACCC.

My 2 cents

Mike

mikelarson
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posted 06-19-2008 07:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mikelarson   Click Here to Email mikelarson     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hi Mike,

I like a good debate every now and then so I'll keep the tread going.

How is this any different from a retail store who stops accepting American Express (or any credit card for that matter) because the fees high or they receive too many chargebacks? Or what if a store stops accepting personal checks due to too many getting returned for insufficient funds?

Isn't that what eBay is doing here? They can argue that other forms of payment are too great of a risk given their new policies of being more accommodating to buyers.

A couple of years my favorite restaurant stopped taking AMEX because they said the fees were too high. Being a big AMEX user (I like their points program), I was bummed out but ultimately respected their decision (and kept going because the food was great!).

Mike

generallou
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posted 06-19-2008 08:26 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for generallou   Click Here to Email generallou     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I dont think its any business of ebays what I AS A SELLER WANT to take a chance on accepting? As a seller it should be your choice, I only accept paypal and money orders, sure it may be limiting but its my choice!
My nickles worth via CC

Robert Pearlman
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posted 06-19-2008 08:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by generallou:
I dont think its any business of ebays...
Sure, that's fine and good until something goes wrong -- either you have a problem with a buyer or the buyer has a problem with you, and then who do you/they contact? eBay. It is therefore very much eBay's business as to how payments are being processed because at the end of the day, you are doing a transaction through their site.

Mike Dixon
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posted 06-19-2008 08:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mike Dixon   Click Here to Email Mike Dixon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hi Mike

In return so do I enjoy the "debate".

My rejoinder to that is that AUS ebay intended (thru their notification) to deny all CC payments... paypal or cash at pickup. No AMEX, VISA, MC... nought.

Your analogy (or in this instance real experience) is terrific as AMEX is also refused by many companies here and solely on the grounds of what they perceive as excessive merchant fees. In your shoes, I'd also feel fenced in by the decisions of of your CC provider and / or the businesses refusing to take your dollars.

At the end of the day (and brother, don't I hate that expression) is it really fair for anyone to dictate which gateway payment you elect to choose to purchase your goods?

BTW, my wife (a Portland girl) would like to know what your favourite meal is... she's missing American food.

Mike

mikelarson
Member

Posts: 293
From: Port Washington, NY
Registered: Jan 2005

posted 06-19-2008 09:21 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mikelarson   Click Here to Email mikelarson     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hi Mike,

As I'm currently living with my family in Tokyo, I may be missing American food more than your wife is! I'll be back in Virginia for a few days in August and already have a list of things to eat. I think I'll have to eat five meals a day to complete list!

I suppose that currently NY-style pizza and Texas chili is at the top of the list as they are difficult to find in Tokyo. Though every day at lunch when I'm staring down at varying dishes of rice, pickled vegetables, and fish my stomach occasionally yearns for anything loaded with calories and fat!

Take care,
Mike

Mike Dixon
Member

Posts: 1397
From: Kew, Victoria, Australia
Registered: May 2003

posted 06-19-2008 06:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mike Dixon   Click Here to Email Mike Dixon     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by mikelarson:
As I'm currently living with my family in Tokyo, I may be missing American food more than your wife is!
Mike

I doubt it mate... I get to hear about it every single day

Enjoy your sushi!!

My best - Mike

Ross
Member

Posts: 472
From: Australia
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 06-27-2008 07:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross   Click Here to Email Ross     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
eBay Australia have now postponed changes scheduled for 15 July 2008 until the review process with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) regarding its recent draft notice is complete. PayPal is still required as one of the payment methods. It appears that that condition is not in dispute.

Ross.

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