Ebay Australia - Stupid New Rules

quote --- One would think ebay would have made sure they complied with the ACCC before going ahead with this. Surely they would not breach Australian law.


You underestimate their arrogance. They have never taken any notice of Australian law in the past. It's been said that their refusal to provide a way they can be contacted by phone is one area where they have flagrantly violated the law.

I contacted the ACCC and they are likely to do nothing. Under the Trade Practices Act it is not illegal to force someone to use a service provided by you. It is only illegal to force someone to use a service provided by a third party. ebay can make you use paypal as they own it. If they said we could only use VISA card (for example) which is not owned by ebay then it would be considered anti competitive.

In response to Bigfella, I was under the impression that E-bay provides a place where items are listed by third parties, for which a fee is paid, end of contract. The transaction only involves the buyer and seller. If you were actually buying FROM E-bay, they could impose payment conditions.

Imagine if all business could do this. You engage a real estate agent to sell your home, for which you pay a fee. Should be the end of your deal with the agent, but no, he follows the E-bay precedent. You then have to use his legal team, his finance company, his removal company etc. etc. All for a fee of course.

Where does it stop?

I really hope this comes back to bite them hard. And Bigfella, if you were to set up an auction facility through your website, I for one would use it. Not sure how you could promote it quickly enough to make it competitive enough for people to list items. Your e-mail data base would be a good place to start. If you are interested, maybe you could start a thread on how to get quick exposure. Sorry, just the business man in me.

Just signed up for a Premier account for Paypal so we can take payments that way.

Put Paypal option on some listings (they now have seven payment options showing).
It now says "seller preferred" for paypal and "seller accepted" for other options. Our preferences are actually the other way around.
Boy, does ebay know how to get up your nose -even a little thing like this can add to the sum total of dis-satisfaction.

Have also signed up for a seller account with OZtion and will be trialling some listings there soon. It certainly looks to have come along since the last time I checked it -some time ago.

Bigfella, what is your Oztion user name?

G'day, at the risk of adding fuel to a fire ...
I live 3,000 km from the nearest coin dealer.
ebay is my principal source of additions to my collection.
I buy as much from USA & Europe as I do within Oz.
If an overseas seller doesn't take PayPal, the fees for a direct transfer were $22 last time I did it, about two years ago. PayPal charge me, as buyer, nothing. I like PayPal.
What's in it for a seller ? If you take PayPal, your item becomes a lot more attractive and accessible to foreigners: the world is your marketplace. If there are more buyers, then the long-standing market model tells us that the price will be higher. This is unknowable to sellers ... until they turn on their grey matter.
As an illustration, I have been looking for a particular medal, as a companion to my collection of Napoleonic coins. At any given moment, there are at least a dozen available on ebay. Most are in France. Many French dealers won't send them outside their country: perhaps there is a law; or perhaps they choose to keep such items within their country. The usual price realized is between USD $60 & $100 (converted from Euros).
Occasionally, this medal comes up in other countries. Earlier this month, I was watching two for sale in USA. One seller didn't take PayPal. I contacted him, and asked if he would make an exception for a foreigner. The firm but polite reply was "No", and he wouldn't ship outside the "ConUS" neither - putting Alaskans & Hawaiians into "the Darkside". The other dealer also replied to me, and would ship anywhere, and take PayPal.
Even I was surprized at the difference in outcomes.
The first seller got USD $26.
The second seller got $206 - far more than I would bid.
How will the first seller ever know how much he missed out on ? My guess he won't, unless he steps back and does some research.
By the way, the week following, I found a French dealer willing to deal with me, and I won the auction for Oz$85, = about US$80, which I consider a reasonable price.

So, if ebay are going to change any rules, I'd like to see -
- everyone takes PayPal;
- everyone will ship anywhere, unless there is an applicable legal prohibition.
Some sellers would whinge about this, but their pockets would fill faster.

Having said all that, I foresee that ebay's biggest hurdle will be when disappointed buyers start suing ebay for permitting shonks to continue dealing after due warning has been given. There is a recent thread elsewhere on this forum about a seller who acquired 87 negative feedbacks before he was NARU'd. The seller is long gone, but ebay is a static target.

Peter in Oz