eBay has announced that from 1st June, sellers will not be able to manage monthly billing statements or incoming payment transactions on PayPal after the two companies ended their 19-year partnership.
In a statement, eBay explained that they “now manage the end-to-end selling experience on our marketplace, including payments” and that sellers who do not update their payment details will “lose their eligibility for future selling fee promotions”.
Buyers will still have the option to make payments via PayPal, but the money will be sent directly to the bank account of the seller rather than their PayPal account raising concerns over the security of future online purchasing on the site. The move also means that buyers will automatically have access to every payment option available – including credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and PayPal Credit.
Sellers no longer have to pay attributed PayPal fees; however, eBay will increase its fees slightly as sellers need to connect their actual bank account to their eBay account. The new fee system is now 12.8% of the final payment amount including delivery plus 30p in the UK while the old system was 10% for eBay plus PayPal’s fees, plus UK 30p.
Additionally, one of the biggest impacts will be time for payments to clear – most payments will now take two business to make their way into the seller’s bank account rather than the PayPal standard of same day receipt.
This is the latest in a long line of eBay’s decisions that has been accused of favouring buyers – in this case at the expense of the seller. Fearful sellers have speculated over the worry over eBay having direct access to their bank account and the increasing potential bias that eBay has towards protecting buyers thus further opening the door for fraudsters to buy a product on eBay, swap it for a damaged or different item, and return the package demanding a refund.
The video below demonstrates the ‘simplification’ of the eBay payment process: