Huge warning if you sell on eBay
Last Update: Apr 19, 2021
I have been a seller on eBay for many years. Other than their ever-increasing fees, I’m been fairly satisfied with them. That is until now.
I know a lot of people in here sell on eBay, but I haven’t seen this mentioned. I’ve always managed my payments with eBay through PayPal. If you sell on eBay you’ve received notice, or will be receiving notice that you must now sign up for managed payments through eBay. This means that you can no longer receive payments through PayPal, but instead eBay will handle all your payments and deposit your proceeds directly into your checking account. You MUST have a checking account to sign up for managed payments.
I really didn’t like this idea, as my PayPal account kept all my eBay transactions separate, and I had control over when or if I want to transfer funds to my checking account. eBay is now taking that choice away from all of us.
When I looked into the managed payments further, it concerned me that they wanted my social security number and date of birth. That is very personal information, and I didn’t see a need for it, as I sell on another site and have never had to provide that information. So, I contacted eBay to get further information on this.
I tried to see if there was someway I could continue to sell on their platform without having to provide such personal information, and was told that I could not. I then asked them if they would be responsible for any loss resulting in any breach of such personal information that they hold. I’m sure most people feel that this would be automatic.
Following is a copy of the response that I received from eBay:
10:59:43 UTC Baylin
Section 15 of our user agree outlines out limitation of liability
10:59:50 UTC Baylin
agreement*
11:00:06 UTC willow
In a nutshell, what exactly is your liability?
11:01:21 UTC Baylin
we (including our parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and our and their officers, directors, agents and employees) are not liable, and you agree not to hold us responsible, for any damages or losses (including, but not limited to, loss of money, goodwill or reputation, profits, other intangible losses, or any special, indirect, or consequential damages) resulting directly or indirectly from: the content you provide (directly or indirectly) using our Services; your use of or your inability to use our Services; pricing, shipping, format, or other guidance provided by eBay; delays or disruptions in our Services; viruses or other malicious software obtained by accessing or linking to our Services; glitches, bugs, errors, or inaccuracies of any kind in our Services; damage to your hardware device from the use of any eBay Service; the content, actions, or inactions of third parties, including items listed using our Services or the destruction of allegedly fake items; a suspension or other action taken with respect to your account or breach of the Abusing eBay Section above; the duration or manner in which your listings appear in search results as set out in the Listing Conditions Section above; or your need to modify practices, content, or behavior, or your loss of or inability to do business, as a result of changes to this User Agreement or our policies.
11:03:19 UTC willow
I'm reading this quickly, but it seems that eBay is denying any responsibility at all if my account is hacked from giving you all this information?
11:04:16 UTC Baylin
Correct
Ebay will now be taking every sellers:
- Full name
- Address
- Social security number
- Date of birth
- Checking account information and access
And they hold no liability if that information is used illegally. Do you realize how many eBay employees are from other countries, and who can have access to that information? Do you know how easy it would be for someone to steal your identity with all that information in one place?
I have sold on eBay for many years, and I’m sure many of you have as well. Unfortunately, what I do make off of eBay sales is not sufficient to cover the enormous risk of loss that I could suffer for their site being hacked, or if one of their employees stole my information, or my identity.
Unfortunately, many people will not read the fine print, and will assume that eBay would take great care of such information, and that eBay would protect their sellers from fraud. This is exactly the opposite of what eBay intends to do.
Please take care of your information.
If someone here has alternate suggestions to eBay, I’d love to hear them.
Recent Comments
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There is a lot of mixed messages here friend. The fact is that eBay does own PayPal, which both operate separately with different fees and structures. eBay wants to replace PayPal with a Dutch firm called Adyen by the end of 2021. You will still be allowed to check out with PayPal until July of 2023.
If they are going to do business with a Dutch firm, I would agree with you for such concern.
I was going to do business with eBay, but their fee is too high at a flat 10% of the sale price, including postage, while the PayPal fee is 2.9% of the final amount, including postage.
The best thing to do is use FB free marketplace to sell your products with a link to your webpage and have them check out with PayPal if you want. For me, I think PayPal is one of the safest places to do business with. You can get your problem to solve easily and fast. All the best!
Ebay probably has to charge that high of a fee to cover the 1.5 billion they paid Elon Musk when they bought Paypal...lol
Wow, I wasn't aware of all of this. It doesn't seem to make much sense to break ties with one of your own companies; unless they are planning on eliminating that company.
EBay's fees have actually gone up with their managed payments to 12.55% + 30 cents per order.
I actually started a Woo Commerce store, but I'm still struggling with SEO to bring traffic to it. A link to it from FB Free Marketplace is a great idea.
EBay has been so easy for me for so long, just as I'm sure it has been for many others as well. I'm keeping faith that this will be a good thing in the long run.
Thanks! 🙂
You are right about that friend. It's a shame Ebay is getting rid of PayPal, which I think is one of the most trusted place to buy almost anything through.
As it turns out, Ebay is in the process of or has sold all of PayPal to share holders. I am looking forward to see PayPal remain as it is for a long time to come. I don't want it to die out. They are very good in solving problems when making purchases through them. All the best!
I think eBay will refer people to join Adyen for payment processing in the future. That's probably how sellers will get paid as well. After researching more of Adyen, they're huge, Uber, Spotify, Etsy, and much more use Adyen as a payment system method.
Paypal is still my go-to with online purchases, especially in WA.
I've had Paypal Credit for years and recently things have changed.
Paypal Credit was taken over by Synchrony and they have changed everything including fees, percentages, and services.
Before October 2019 Paypal Credit didn't report your activity to the credit bureaus. Now it reports your activity to all three big credit bureaus. Also, as a customer, they hammer me with loan offers.
Thanks for all the information. I hope others understand the risks involved if they continue to sell on eBay.
I've always been pleased with PayPal as well. They're one company that I've always had positive experiences with.
Regardless what Ebay is planning to do with PayPal, I think the main point of getting any problems solve with your order is by far the best service ever provided by PayPal. I know when I have an issue with my order, I would contact them and would get a reply on the same day including a follow-up progress showing what is being done. All the best!
I will add though, that the reason they are likely doing this is because our government is forcing them to so that they can keep better track of our earnings so that they can fleece us for even more money to fund their ill-thought out liberal agendas as well!
Just some food for thought!
Jeff
They claim that they have to have all this information based on Public Law 99-570. This law is The Money Laundering Control Act and it has been in effect since 1986.
I can't find anything stating that they are required to have all this additional information, nor can they provide me with this information when I inquired about it.
Power and control is what it's all about. I'm right there with you.
I know that I didn't read the small print, Cynthia! Thanks for brining it to my attention! I don't like their new payment system foisted upon us because many small deposits into my checking account cause my bank statement fees to increase substantially since they charge $.25/item over a certain number. I loved the convenience of doing a bank transfer at my leisure, or leaving a balance in PayPal to cover my eBay label shipping fees!
Such utter nonsense as this offers no convenience to people at all, and especially now that you have described that they have no liability! i can promise you that they do when a suit arises!
I might have to start a woo-commerce site and sell all my wares there! eBay was just a convenient way to do things over the last 18 years that I have had a store there!
I disliked the idea of all the small deposits into my checking account as well; that's why I hesitated signing up for the managed payments.
I continued asking them questions about it, and received the reply yesterday regarding liability. They say that to continue to sell I must sign up for managed payments by April 25th.
I currently have several items for sale. I have decided to continue to sell until they shut me down. I refuse to turn over all that information to them.
Please be careful when dealing with them. They have lost my trust.
Thanks for the heads-up, Cynthia, and I am certainly not hip to their "strong-arm" tactics, either! Their new policies have really messed-up my status quo, and it is getting more tedious to sell!
I just have to re-think a few things! Ah well, just another problem/adventure to add to the growing pile!
Again, thanks for the important info!
Jeff
Cynthia,
Doesn't Ebay send you a 1099 for money received, for tax purposes. so they would have some of your business/ personal infromation anyways. Don't know if you are in the U.S., if so a copy of that form goes to IRS. correct? They are not going to pay tax on income you made, correct? Like you also would not pay for some-one else.
If they took over the payment process, there must have been a reason. Or two sides anyways, increase and maintain customer experience, and then something being replaced on the seller experience side as well.
Must people don't bother to read the T & C, Terms and Conditions statement to clearly state the limits of liability for the company. Plus there would be more liability for them for taking over the payment process, but if that is now how it is. People will still comply with the compliance rules, and make money.
None of us like change, we want what became known, and hence comfortable to not change, so we can continue,as with a routine,
One thing you can count on is change. IMRG gives some information about this control to give better customer experience, and the challenges of worldwide sellers. Here you go, my dear.
As things currently stand, eBay users have to register with PayPal. Once they do that, PayPal then allows customers to use their preferred local payment method – an extra step on the customers’ side. The problem for eBay in this is that all of that happens on PayPal’s platform without the knowledge or control of eBay.
By integrating a payment process into its own checkout, eBay will be able to control the entire process and gain valuable intelligence on the buyer’s choices and preferences. This insight, in turn, could prove highly valuable for eBay as it could be used to add or improve services for both buyers and sellers alike. Customer data, including on their preferences and behaviors, presents a wealth of opportunity for eBay.
Control can extend even further, into eBay settling funds to sellers. In our experience, we have heard a lot of discussion from retailers regarding issues with PayPal’s buyer protection and settlement process. For example, as soon as a buyer disputes a purchase a retailer’s funds could be frozen for a very long period of time. I remember one of our customers who sells outdoor equipment complained about PayPal freezing all of their funds because it considered a Swiss army knife to be a weapon. By moving away from PayPal, eBay will be able to shield their sellers from this kind of experience.
Taking control over dispute management is an opportunity for eBay to improve the service for sellers and buyers. However, the dispute management also points at new risks that eBay will assume responsibility for, as well. While PayPal provides protection from fraudulent transactions, eBay will have to ensure a proper risk management to balance seller and buyer protection itself. To be better than an experienced global payment expert like PayPal might prove to be much harder than some people think.
Don't know if this helps, but I hope it helps. Perhaps you didn't know this information.
If you are the baby, the seller, don't be too quick to throw the baby out with the bath water!
If payment and payment disputes can be settled more quickly between seller and buyer, that would be a good thing. If buyers have a better experience, Sellers should also be having a lucrative business.
there will occasionally be some buyer fraud, but perhaps your own record keeping via photos of items,etc, can defend your side of the situation. Clinker type people who want something for nothing, do your part to cover your assets, Yes?
I listen to the auction professor because he is a great teacher who has opened my mind to stuff I personally would have overlooked as valuable.
But what I find so valuable from him is his lived experiences, and yes methods for covering his assets! With probably millions of cataloged inventory of items for sale to ebay, I seriously doubt that he is quitting business any time soon. No way. But an outstanding person, honest and of good character, like you also are Cynthia, who is an excellent teacher, you both have much in common. He is a better teacher on the subject of how to respond to this challenge.
You have his name. And he is a very humble and approachable person who loves teaching others. Kind of how Jay is to WA.
And teaches how he and his family cover their assets from those clinker buyers.
I really hope this does help you to help yourself, clear your old mindset, and get ready to rock this thing!
Your friend, Suzay
I've never received a 1099 from eBay, as I don't sell enough on there to warrant one. They don't have my personal identity information.
Others may be okay with this new managed payments, but I am not. I've never heard of the auction professor. He may have a business account with eBay, and they may not require such personal information from a business account.
I've had more that one negative experience with eBay in which they were the ones I was needing protection from, so I can't fall for their seller protection claims. There are other ways for eBay to conduct their business without using PayPal, and without having access to your checking account, but they are no longer giving their sellers these options.
I do know that people will continue to sell on their platform, and I know that they would have a huge lawsuit on their hands if there were a data breach. However, the small seller like myself will never come out ahead in such a lawsuit. To me, the consequences of the misuse of my information far outweigh the money that I do make selling on their platform.
There are many small sellers on eBay like myself who are very concerned about this change. There are also many others, like you stated, that simply don't take the time to read the terms & conditions. I hope my post would be able to bring light to this situation to a least some like myself, whose profit from selling on eBay is simply not worth the risk involved.
I will be writing an update on this situation. I appreciate your perspective. 🙂