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If you want to initiate a monstrous crap-storm, just mention eBay’s new Managed Payments System on the eBay Community or any social media outlet. I can guarantee that you’ll get tons of crusty old eBayer’s claiming that it’s the worst mistake that money-grabbing eBay has ever made and that they’re boycotting the platform.
*In fact, since publishing this post we’ve gotten several emails per week saying that we are idiots that don’t know anything about business and we’re probably eBay pawns*
So it is true? Is eBay Managed Payments a money-grabbing effort from the massive corporation that hundreds of thousands of people rely on to put food on the table?
Maybe. But now that I’ve actually been on the managed payments system for a while I wanted to write this post to address some concerns, answer some questions and, hopefully, give you a bit of comfort. After all, an objective review of eBay’s managed payments system is hard to find.
But here’s another thought for you, does it matter if eBay made the switch to make money? They are the largest selling platform on their type online and aren’t giving you options. You don’t negotiate with eBay. They are telling you to use their payment system and you can switch or move on. The question is, where would you go?
How eBay’s New Payment System Works: The Short Verison
Nearly every platform you sell on manages its own payments. What this means is that, when somebody pays you, the platform processes the payments and you will have a balance on that platform. You can then cash out that balance.
So, for example, you sell a pair of shoes on eBay, the person pays via credit card which is processed by eBay (or actually the processing company they contract with), and you will have a balance show up on your “Payments” section of your Seller Hub. Once this balance is available (usually around 2 business days) you can transfer it to your bank account.
It’s worth mentioning here that eBay’s previous arrangement with PayPal made them a bit of a unicorn. Nearly every selling platform manages payments for sales on their platform. If you sell on Mercari, Poshmark, Etsy, StockX, The RealReal, thredUP, etc. you are not paid instantly. Instead, you have a balance that comes available after a time (commonly, after an item is either shipped or confirmed received).
While I did enjoy that I could get instant access to my funds from eBay sales, I still feel that eBay is still the best place for sellers. For one, they do not require you to ship the item to release the payment. However, because it takes several days to transfer you’ll have to lengthen your handling time significantly if you don’t want to ship until you have funds in your account.
Thinking of diversifying? Find the Best Selling Items on Mercari by clicking here.
My Experience With eBay’s Managed Payments:
After a couple of weeks on the new system, eBay’s Managed Payments is working about how I expected it to. There have been no major hiccups as they’ve scaled the system to 42 million sellers globally (unlike with changes they’ve rolled out in the past).
While there are some changes to the fee structure, funding sources, etc. none of them are noticeable enough that they have disrupted the day-to-day function of my reselling business. eBay is claiming that this way is simpler and saves people money. I’m not sure of either. Personally, our fees are marginally higher with eBay’s managed payments system.
It has been taking one to two days for my funds to come available on the site and then an additional 2 days for them to show up in my bank account (business days, so it takes longer over weekends).
I chose weekly payouts (which are sent on Tuesday) instead of daily payouts and haven’t had issues thus far. Luckily, my eBay store and other businesses cash-flow well enough that I have some flexibility, and the delay in payments doesn’t affect my shipping or sourcing.
If eBay’s Managed Payment system had come out two years ago when I was in a much tougher place financially I would probably have many different feelings about it. If you are on the edge and need your money quickly to pay rent, ship your items, etc. you’ll probably struggle with Managed Payments. However, since it’s inevitable now is the time to make moves to minimize the effect it will have on you and your business.
Should You Opt Into eBay’s Managed Payments?
Probably. In the long term, you don’t actually have a choice. In my opinion, there really isn’t much value in holding out to the last second to opt-in. Having immediate funds is the only advantage to continue sticking with PayPal. With managed payments on the other hand you have everything together in one place and, if eBay is to be believed, slightly lower fees.
Whether it’s better is debatable but it is what it is and it’s here to stay. The sooner you can master the new system the further ahead you’ll be of everyone else who is dragging their feet.
I would, however, set up a separate bank account just for your payments. It’s a good idea to have a dedicated business bank account anyway and choosing one of the best banks for eBay’s managed payments will set you up for success in the long run.
Changes On eBay – A Realistic Look
If you sell on eBay, change is a constant. People who are successful on eBay are people who can adapt to changes and grow their business in new soil. Every time there is a major change you have hordes of people claiming that it’s the death of eBay and that they’re done selling on this platform. Well, goodbye.
If you choose to sell on someone else’s platform, you have to play by their rules. If you no longer have what it takes to succeed on eBay, get yourself a cardboard box, flip it upside down, and go sell things at a local flea market. Or maybe try building your own website and driving traffic to it so you can learn just how valuable the service eBay provides is.
The reason that eBay is the largest platform for resellers (Amazon doesn’t really count) is that it is the best and most profitable option. eBay is not dying, eBay’s Managed Payments is really not a big deal, and there is still tons of room for growth and success on the platform.
What’s Bad About eBay’s Managed Payment System? (5 Things)
While I don’t hate eBay’s Managed Payment System (I’m pretty ambivalent at this point) there are some things about it that I don’t love (and you might hate):
- Payment isn’t instant. PayPal was great because you’d have your money instantly after a sale. On the new system, you might end up waiting up to a week before money from a sale hits your bank account.
- No PayPal cashback. The 1.5% cashback that I got on my PayPal debit card more than made up for the fee “savings” that I’m supposedly getting on Managed Payments.
- Shipping comes out of your pocket. Since it takes time for the sale money to reach your bank account, you’ll either have to have shipping money on hand or lengthen your shipping time.
- Fees are “per listing.” PayPal charged a single fee per transaction but eBay charges it for every item they process, even if they’re all on the same order. If you sell very low-priced items in quantity this will hurt you.
- Refunds are automatic. When you have a return, the funds are automatically withheld from the amount that eBay will be paying you. If you have been already been paid and the amount owed to you is $0 then your balance will go negative. You won’t be paid again until your account is positive (by making more sales).
I’m sure there are other sellers who will have a much longer list of cons, but the happy news is that most of these will probably be worked out as eBay rolls the system out to more and more sellers.
Final Thoughts: So is it a money grab?
Yes and no. eBay’s Managed Payments is not simply an effort to squeeze more money out of sellers. Contrary to what seems to be a popular belief on the eBay Community, the way eBay maximizes its profits is by taking care of its sellers.
The idea of eBay abandoning its sellers (and the resulting idea of an eBay Managed Payments Lawsuit) is simply not true or feasible.
However, one of the main aspects of running a successful business is the element of control. Any large company or corporation wants to do as much in-house as possible. The only reason to outsource is to save money and, in the case of eBay, managing payments in-house will actually increase their profitability while reducing reliance on another company.
So, while eBay is probably seeing dollar signs, it’s not coming at your expense (assuming you’re a seller).
An interesting side-note is that eBay seems to be discouraging drop-shippers and low-value sellers. Most of the Asia-based sellers that sell super-cheap items will be wiped out by the “per listing fees.” Likewise, most drop-shippers will not have the money to pay for their product upfront and will be unable to continue on the platform. eBay’s new system is the most favorable for sellers who sell single high-value items.
eBay Managed Payments Issues and FAQs
How can I opt-out of or avoid eBay Managed Payments?
eBay does not allow its sellers to opt out of Managed Payments. Unless you provide eBay with the information needed to set up your account you will lose the ability to list items and receive payment when they sell.
If you really detest the idea of providing eBay will your bank account information, just don’t opt-in until the last minute. But it’s coming. You built your castle on someone else’s land and you have to abide by their rules.
Does eBay’s Managed Payments work with PayPal Working Capital?
Not really. While there was supposed to be integration, it never seems to have come to fruition. If you enroll in eBay’s Managed Payments you’ll be breaking your Working Capital contract. Since you don’t have a choice, you’ll be left to make manual payments to avoid going into default.
We currently have a PayPal Working Capital Loan and will be making weekly payments on it. Our fingers are just crossed that PayPal realizes that sellers’ hands are tied and won’t be too cranky about it.
Does eBay Managed Payments Increase Sales?
In theory, it could since it allows a greater range of payment options on-site. However, many people love and trust PayPal and I’ve heard of buyers being turned off by the new options. We haven’t noticed any change in sales.
Is this the beginning of the end for eBay?
According to internet gurus, eBay has been dying for years. Fortunately, someone forgot to tell eBay because they keep growing.
The eBay platform will continue to grow and change but, if this change scares you, take it as a sign that you probably don’t have all your ducks in a row. There are probably other changes in store (higher fees, new seller restrictions, category restrictions, etc.) so be prepared.
However, we use several eBay alternatives to make sure our business is safe and diversified.
Can I sell all the same stuff?
No. There are several categories that are not allowed on the new payments system. If you sell those items, you’ll either have to pivot your business model or find a new platform.
So, at the end of the day: adapt and overcome! Those who are dedicated will continue to succeed and those who whine and bemoan the success of other sellers will continue to suffer.
Useful Links for More Information:
- eBay Managed Payments Official Page
- Managed Payments Review and Q&A
- eBay Managed Payments Fees
- eBay’s Managed Payments on Reddit
- Managed Payments Opt-In
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There are some good points here and shared truths. It may be their castle but one should always remember their success is tied to providing a public service or value to their users. If sellers drop off in droves, it doesn’t matter that they make the rules, they will wither. I’m sure they have continued to grow but I think that growth is masked in porking the seller. You can see a rise in revenue and a reduction in sellers and I think that has been happening unless there is data to say otherwise.
The categories in which I buy are considered second hand collector items. As such, I have seen a continual reduction in availability over the years. Things in circulation new at times that I use to see 30-50 sellers now only have 12-14 sellers or less. Due to increased fee’s and fee per item plus the platform failing to resist online sales taxes, it all but crushed competition for sellers. Item prices are up to prevent negative net sales but now nothing moves because the pricing is now higher than people can buy on competitor or direct sourcing sites for certain categories which makes it impossible to compete. People go to eBay for deals and savings. If I can buy an item on a direct sourcing site for $8.99 shipped that on eBay is now $12 to prevent a negative net on the sellers end due to fee’s, eBay expecting free shipping to compete even though it’s not their inventory and now expected taxes on the buyer end affecting what they consider the final price, it’s lose lose for the seller. Many times myself I have added an item to cart to realize after taxes it’s way cheaper to buy on competitor sites or better yet FB markets which are poised to knock eBay off their high horse as it cuts them out altogether and puts sales through PayPal directly in the sellers pocket. These groups continue to grow and organize by specific categories for trade and hobby. I think eBay is being close minded and really doing a disservice to their sellers which is their only true source of income.
Just my two cents after selling for 20 years. Maybe I’m just one of those salty sellers and you’re right that it’s their yard. I have ended my account after two decades of value because I feel the margins no longer cultivate a profitable atmosphere. Maybe the truth is that certain categories just die off and eBay loses the secondhand market going new items only but Amazon owns that market and eBay will never catch it IMO as they don’t own their inventory…their sellers do. They seem to forget that.
I was also just a small store seller for a couple years and I enjoyed it until the manage payments and now I quit my store too because not everybody wants their money to go into it a checking account that’s the whole point of selling privately. Not everybody has a checking account some people get garnished out of their checking account and if you go into the negative because the refunds then you have overdraft fees at the bank none of that seems fair. I’ll just sell my stuff on Facebook.
I’m with you Dawn, I’m not a big seller & I kept the money in paypall to buy parts to repair things around the house or car, I liked keeping it out of the bank, I don’t have an account & it goes into my brothers account & he gets assistance & is monitored by the state so it’s a bad thing for me. I sell odd things I find & electronic parts & Facebook hasn’t been a great way of selling these items. I’m sure looking for alternatives, I might as well sell on Amazon & get more money things I sell.
Seth, I as well will be ending my business with Ebay after 20 plus years. With ALL the hacking and info stealing on the web the Last Thing Ebay should FORCE Us to do is Grant Total Access to Our Bank Accounts. They already have Our Credit Cards isn’t that enough and don’t get me started on the Rising Increases On Fees. There are So Many OTHER Seller Options on the Web and EBAY Needs to understand they are NOT OUR ONLY CHOICE ANYMORE. Best of Luck Seth.
ebay’s “taking care of sellers” alright and they made it look like an accident!
Well my gripe is, I spent years developing a relationship with PayPal and it’s working capital program, at my peak I could borrow over 180k since the MP rollout the approvals shrank to 15K to 0 as PayPal will not recognize EBay sales for the algorithm , so as of dec 25th 2020 still have not opted in nor been forced in , as with life we start new relationships , start over and reinvent ourselves to succeed , sucks but I have no choice PayPal has closed its door on me, EBay has one open, so I have to make the best of it
Seth,
I am as well one of those old crusty sellers that started back in 6/2000.
I guess not having access to my funds to ship items is a bad thing. I should keep a bank account for eBay only now. I trust PayPal, not eBay. Ebay has been know many times over to hose there sellers at every turn. You may call it changes for the better but most sellers do not agree with you. I am thinking of selling my items on face book now. The reduction of the 13 % fees with eBay and PayPal, down to just pay pals fees is a lot cheaper then eBay and the poorly managed payments. If they could not compete with PayPal then maybe they should not have sold them. The sellers should have had an option to what banking service that they wanted to use. Its not a good business idea to drive away sales. What you are also missing in your article is the categories that eBay is eliminating due to the managed payment system. Adult material, coins, and vehicles.
That sure looks like they are putting all of those sellers out of business, with this managed payments.
I am very disgusted on the complete lack of options for sellers to chose there payment format. Ebay preaches that the buyers have more options to pay, Correct? But the sellers have no choice. This move reminds me of how arrogant Toys r Us was…were are they now.
Thank you for sharing. Haven’t made up my mind about what I am going to do. Caught…but found some insight in your words. Again Thanks!
With you too I agree with you too I was a seller and I close my store. I trust PayPal and I don’t like the fact that you have to ship your items and hope to God eBay pays you. I also don’t like the fact that they have access to deduct from your checking if there’s a refund what if you don’t have enough in there and you weren’t expecting to give a refund and then before you know it you’re overdrafted at the bank? EBay eBay is not going to pay your overdraft fees. Also what about people that don’t want to checking account or can’t get a checking account or what if they have garnishments and you never see your money I think they’re going to be very disappointed in how many people quit buying and quit selling on their platform even though they think they’re growing eventually people get pissed off like they did Walmart and just find another alternative and there’s always other alternatives.
Lots of Sellers (including us ) have now the problem , with bank account verifying .
It simply does not work at all. We opened on 21. of JUNE two brand new Bank accounts for this MP only .
Since then we have absolutely no Payouts received . Every Ebay Rep has another solution but our account still does not work .
We have 3 stores but if this is not resolved soon we are quitting alltogether .
This is a Ebay Problem only . They funded and forced us all in this insain MP .
Not our fault . We tryed everything .Endless chats and phone calls but Ebay is not able to find a solution.This is a shame and calls for a Class Action.
They forcing us to ship our merchandise (which we did) and keep our Money since ???? They sending us one Email after another that we should verify our Bqank data and so on ….. This is a very nasty joke .They really don’t know what they are doing Lets go for Class Aktion!!!
100% agree, ebay has taken away a sellers right to choose the payment options. I remember when I received checks, cash folded in foil, etc. Sellers have a right to accept any form of payment they want in my opinion. However, we are playing in someone else’s sand box, so I will play by their rules until I build elsewhere. I also am slowly moving over to FB, I have noticed the amount of savings in the summer months (I sell a lot more locally through fb & back off ebay & this is when I see the most growth). Guess for now I will play in many sandboxes until I find the one that suits me best for the future.
In my opinion, it is a way to suck the 6% PayPal fee over to e Bay. eBay can increase the “savings” incrementally until they are at 6% + 10% or even higher….in the future. What eBay should have done is delayed the roll out until this pandemic is over and the nightmare of 30 day deliveries for 2-3 day Priority Mail’s has ended. I am getting weekly cases “not received item”. I’ve seen no correspondence from eBay to find a solution to all the open not received cases.
This article confirms. You guys are clueless! MP is a mega disaster and selling fees on tax and shipments is as well showing what this company is about. There are hundreds of sellers with their money stuck in nowhere land and the transparency of process and transactions on the eBay account is like my dog doing the bookkeeping. Anyways, I made my peace and after 25 years I cancelled all my auctions and am done with this platform. There would be a huge clientele if someone would launch a platform going back to the origins of eBay. They would rocket launch for sure.
ebid
Ebay was started in the age of peer to peer technology, and was simply a gateway to linking people. Yes they used auction fees to make money to create and maintain the platform, but the transactions were between the users. Ebay stuffed itself further and further middlemanning transactions so far as to one day require paypal and then be forced to sell paypal for monopoly sake, but are now trying a monopoly over financial control again.
The sad fact is that ebay doesn’t care about its users, only their money and control. Ebay is forcing American businesses to deal solely with foreign financial companies and that is closing in on treason. Americans should never be forced to deal with non American middlemen, or have to deal with any non American financial companies, especially when selling to other Americans in Federal Reserve notes.
I do agree that eBay does not care about its users. I’ve been telling people for years that it’s foolish to have all your eggs in the eBay-basket. My approach is simply to make as much money off of eBay while I can and, when the situation becomes untenable, move on.
I tried to list an Indian Head penny on eBay yesterday (23 year member) and was
told I could not list it because of the managed payment system…yet there were over 30,000 listings of Indian Head pennies currently on the sight….Doesn’t make sense…
The inability to list graded coins is head scratcher for me. Graded cards, comics, video games etc are ok, but graded coins are somehow illegal and bad even when graded by the same outfits.
I would prefer they allow me to keep my selling money with eBay and use it toward future purchases. Instead, they are trying to force me to link my bank account which gives them the ability to credit or debit said account. I only sell a handful of items per year and can certainly see why large sellers would not like this bad eBay decision. I have called them twice about my preference and the phone reps are clueless, have to put me on hold and seek peer advise. Since I still have not added a bank account they have restricted my account and won’t let me sell. 20 years, over 625 FB, and never any cases or negative reviews yet now I’m restricted. Seems they are out of touch with their sellers.
I too am a “crusty old ebay user”, dating from 1998. I’ve never sold a whole lot there, but this is going to drive me out from selling.
I never was happy about their insistence on using PayPal – PP is the “devil” as far as I’m concerned, but it did work. I’d rather get a PMO or check in the mail. But eBay’s new system insists on having access to my bank account: Not only NO, but HELL NO! PP encouraged it, but didn’t insist on it.
I’ll probably just re-list my few items on Etsy – although they suck, they do use PP, so I don’t have to give anyone my bank account information. I utterly refuse to have anything whatsoever to do with Facebook or their many other “digital properties”.
I agree with you every time you call eBay the people that answer the phone don’t seem like you’re speak English right and don’t understand your problem. I went online to close my store after 2 years because of manage payments and I couldn’t get it shut it wouldn’t work and so I called five times to see if they would help me and so far there’s been no help and I tell you what I took every item singly and took it off of sale so I have no items and if they think I’m paying a monthly fee for no items they can forget it because my PayPal account is going to be empty for them. I surely don’t trust him to have access to my real bank account and overdraft me no way if they can’t even help me close the store there’s no damn way they’re going to get access to my real accounts.
Bye-bye-bay
I stuck with eBay 21 years through all the sometimes ludicrous changes such as barring sellers from leaving honest negative feedback through to the bizarre taking a 10% commission on actual shipping charges. These recent changes have led me to decide that flea-bay is no longer worth the itch so bye bye-ebay!
I’ve been an eBay seller since 1999. I feel it’s time to end this relationship. I hate the process of paying for shipping out of my pocket then waiting for eBay to send me the funds. Waiting 4-5 days for funds and then shipping is not an option many buyers will take kindly to. I used to love having all the funds in my PayPal account for shipping then spending. Paying 12-15% fees to eBay really feels like just the beginning. I think it’s time to look at cheaper options. And if there aren’t any, then Craigslist it is!
I’m not a huge seller or anything like that but have an over 800 positive feedback rating as I have bought and sold things from various hobbies over the years. Yes I’m older now but I have grown to trust paypal as I have never had one issue with them over all these years. Now I can’t list anything until I agree to let e-bay handle all my transactions and have direct access to a bank account? I’ve done some searches trying to find out if e-bay insures transactions and how problems are resolved by their new payment system but the only thing I can tell is they want full access to deposit and take funds out of my bank account. And if there are problems getting e-bay to handle them and respond accordingly does not sound so reassuring. I haven’t agreed and my ability to post any listings is suspended while I debate just exiting and deleting my account totally. For now I’ll just leave it in limbo, at least I can still purchase something using my paypal account.
Rob
I am register since 2020
I want my money on paypal, not my bank account
So bye bye ebay
One thing I am surprised that no one has mentioned is the requirement that you hand over your not only your bank account, but SSN. In these days of constant hacking incidents I can’t believe that people are ok with giving ebay this information. When they get hacked, and they will, all of your info will get out. So not only will your bank account be breached but your identity will be stolen as well. No thanks.
Ebay’s Management System is an utter disaster. It causes shortfalls, negative balances, overdraft fees which ebay washes it’s hands off. There is no option of getting paid other than a chequing account. This is utter nonsense and driving Sellers away. Check ebay lately? there isn’t much inventory compared to years past, what is left is limited selection with huge shipping charges which sellers are forced to do so to cover anticipated 12 – 15% charges from ebay alone. The proof is in the pudding, ebay’s shrinking inventory of choices, shrinking Seller base.
When you have other platforms, FB, and local sites as well as your own, EBAY short sightness and “We don’t care about sellers” is evident.
Giving eBay my bank account details is a bridge too far. I don’t like exchanging bank details over the Internet at the best of times and on the advice of IT colleagues at the university where I worked for many years, I don’t have anything to do with Internet banking, as they didn’t/don’t. Assurances of high security and “it’ll be fine” are all very well until some bored teenager or ‘entrepreneur’ hacks into the banking system. Sometimes the banks have even been known to mess things up themselves without any help from outsiders!!
Steve
I am waiting now 6 days for the first Payout to show up in my account .We have alltogether 3 stores on this plattform.
We were shocked how we have been forscet to this new Systhem .
Our Canadian Goverment strongly advises us that under no circumstandes dont give our SIN away . To nobody!
So in order to sell still on Ebay , we had not a single change but to provide them our SIN .
This whole thing is not right at all and smells fishy. We feel like we are now Employees with this Company .
I’m a ebay seller since the beginning of 2000’s, i have no interest of having a bank account (even though i don’t like paypal as well, but it works), let alone share my bank info with ebay and even wait for payments for 5-6 days, this is the dumbest ever move by ebay, not that i thought they are very intelligent, but this is a bye bye.
ebay managed payments is a scam & I have proof, even the fees are higher than paypal has every been, but I have proof ebay are stealing money from sellers without sellers noticing
1, A Buyer orders an item for £3.49
2, ebay take their £0.63p fees out of that
3, You have £2.86 in pending funds
4, same buyer cancels order same day, reason won’t arrive in time
5, you cancel order and refund them
6, refund from your account is £2.92
7, ebay refund £0.57p of the fees
Meaning, you paid more for this cancelled transaction that actual funds received, this is for a low value item, sellers with high value items will if they actually notice ebay are stealing money from you and do it in a way that you may not see
I only noticed this as the pending funds for the same order as below the refund for the same order, pending funds were less than the refund
ebay managed payments system needs to be fit for purpose, at the moment it is not, sellers don’t get the option on how they are paid, USA sellers were all opting out of the system where ebay removed the opt out and made it compulsory,
Today is 19 of July and we are still waiting for our Payouts from 25. of JUNE .
Merchandise was accuratly send .This is a scandal .
WE will contact now a LAYWER .
The Managed Payment idea is insidious!!
Managed Payment is unacceptable. It has been introduced to benefit Ebay’s cashflow.
Why does it take 2 days to process? PayPal would process it instantly. Why you ask? Well its clear and simple, cashflow.
a person opened an ebay account on july 8, made a purchase from our store that day, item (the 100% correct new shoe, no error was made) was shipped and delivered on july 12. i get a ebay payments charge back dispute notice email the next week, “item not as described”. the buyer NEVER contacted us, NEVER opened a return, NOTHING. even if it was another free return label scam, they would have opened a return. the called visa and made a complaint. ebay says i have to privide info. they have no area to enter any date, they is only a tiny little box to upload a pic? thats it. so i take screen shots or the actual listing, pic of item, shipping invoice with tracking, and my stores inventory history of the item time of day, when the item was pulled out, made a collage of screenshots and uploaded the pic. a week later i get another notice, “we have closed for the buyer”, they they get the $60 refunded and we charge you an extra $20. usually this would not be a real issue of a few dollars, but what stings is that there is no way to get the shoes returned back to us. they get the money and the shoes. paypal if they sided with a buyer, even a scammer, they would insist the buyer return the merchandise, and refund would happen when the uploaded tracking by the buyer showed it was delivered back to us. i called ebay enraged.. i got bounced around to 3 people for an hour. then sent to a person in the ebay payment department, in COLUMBIA! they basically said they gave the refund, and fined us, and they have nothing to do with any return of merchandise at all, and after i tried to explain this was total theft and illegal at best, they hung up on me. i tried again, and was sent to another foreign land, they would not tell me what country, and said the same thing. the ebay payments is not ebay, it is a foreign bank, not regulated by us laws at all, and they do some split with ebay on the profits. how is this possible.
so in effect, i can go on ebay now, buy 300 rolex watches, 75 gold bars with my 7 credit cards, then open chargebacks with visa, get my $800,000 back, and keep all the watches, and all the sellers will get not only screwed, but all will get $20 fines on top of that… THIS IS F’N INSANE!!!
i called ebay back and explained if i got 1000 people to do what i just explained, we could ruin all the sellers lives and bankrupt them all in a week. she just laughed !! they have no clue, they refused to do anything, not even give me a simple credit or coupon.
so , in conclusion, now more then ever, if you are an ebay seller, you can be totally ripped off of your entire inventory at anytime, and there isn’t a damn thing ebay can or will do to protect you.
and there is not a damn thing you can do about it.
There’s so many things I don’t like about the new system. ALL have been pointed out above.
My biggest issue is the fact they they are taking a percentage of what I charge for shipping. Which is already too low. My buyers liked the fact I offered free shipping, but goodness knows, we can’t afford that anymore. But why do they deserve a percentage of my shipping?? It has nothing to do with them. That’s between me, buyer and the USPS!
Also, the fact that it takes SOOO long to get the money. With PP it was in my account in seconds for me to use. Now I have to wait 2 days and MY wonderful bank then takes 5 days, yes five days, to make it available. So now I’m waiting 7 days!!! If it’s a weekend, now we’re up to 9 days. I’m not selling on eBay because it’s fun. I NEED money. I’ve had a sellers account since the day eBay started! And this is the absolute worst change that has been made! I can’t stand it. Also customers don’t like having to wait 7-9 days for me to ship out an item. Idc what they say or when I should ship, I will not ship an item unless the cash is IN the bank! That’s my policy. So now buyers are waiting almost 15 days to receive their item! It’s not my fault!!!
But, like you said, what’s my options? None for me. Either deal with it or leave. It’s hard to leave something you’ve been at for almost 30 years! And you know the ends and outs of. And you have a customer base.
Oh well. It is what it.
Conform or leave. That’s the question now.
I HATE this new system. I registered to verify my bank account at the end of June, early July, I’ve lost track, because I’ve done it eight times now, possibly nine. Ebay has been taking out their ebay payments from my bank account every month for 16 years without a problem, including June of this year. I didn’t like this, I always tried to do a one time payment, but sometimes didn’t get around to it. Now all of a sudden my bank account is no longer good enough, I’m some sort of lying scumbag now. Yet every email I get about my not being verified uses my correct bank account info in the email. I verified the first time to be told I needed to send a copy of a voided cheque. I did so, nothing changed. I phoned and was told that the screenshot was fuzzy. I am a graphic artist and send out screenshots all the time and have never had this complaint. To make what has become an eight week nightmare short, I was told to do micro deposits, I did this with customer rep who told me to keep trying when it didn’t work, and then I had a message that I tried too often and now had to send a bank statement, I sent a bank statement, it was rejected because my name wasn’t on it, that’s how it arrives when I do online banking, I could have forged it but I didn’t, I was asked to send another voided cheque, no idea what was wrong this time, because I was denied again, I was told to open a US bank account by a manager, my funds are sent in Canadian funds, my bank laughed at this one, I was told that this was a problem with Canada, I was told this was my bank’s fault, I was told I have an ‘old’ bank account, that I needed to open a new one, I was asked to send my debit card info, something I will never do, I was told that this was a problem with my browser, that I needed to use Chrome, when I said that this was an excuse I have heard many times when all else fails, the customer service rep told me that unless I switched to Chrome she wouldn’t help me and then hung up on me. I’m surprised nobody blamed my computer, that is a normal go to answer as well. I verified my account again last night and was told in an email this morning that it failed again and was told by someone else today that all I had to do was add a bank statement and my problems would be over. That’s great except when I get a verification page now there is nowhere to add a document. I called this evening and asked what would happen if I closed my account on Monday, August 31st, because I didn’t want to spend week nine on this. After 16 years of dealing with every stupidity ebay has thrown at me, how would they pay me.? The answer is they wouldn’t pay me for orders I have shipped out since July 12th, that they owe me for, because I don’t have a verified bank account. What, they couldn’t use PayPal?
Seller for 19 years with over 3000 sales in excess of total US100,000..100% Positive Feedback….I’m 74 and just had health problems for some months and didn’t sell anything…today I sold a $200 item today…Buyer made immediate payment as usual…I checked Paypal as usual..nothing… Ebay says my funds are on ‘hold’ for a fortnight until I prove I will do the ‘right’ thing…..19 years, no returns 100% Positive and Dashboard always states ‘Above Standard Seller’…..worse, I have had to Post the item at my expense to keep faith with my Buyer who would not be interested in knowing that the payment he made has not been paid to me.. I post at my cost in the hope that I will be paid at sometime after 14 days AND the Buyer is happy….so Ebay states..I phoned three Ebay Agents after being subjected to a Robot ….they all state this is the “”new”” system….I was about to list another 20 items and they expect me to pay $15 postage on each item BEFORE i receive a cent for any of the sales…until its proven I will do the ‘right’ thing….utter BS.. this is not about integrity its about Ebay holding those funds and making squillions on the short term money market internationally…using OUR FUNDS…..and some dweeb in Ebay now holds my Bank Account Details….19 years..closing Ebay Account..no more Ebay……no more suffering….this is a Ponzi scam ….inflicted on those that they think can’t retaliate…swe can vote with our feet…..Ebay should note…’The Customer is not always right, however the Customer always remains the Customer’.. until they no longer use their Services…
Like Annette, I had setup to use an account that seemed fine (TransferWise, now Wise) which I use for other personal hobby stuff, eBay allowed it, and have made multiple payments into it. They then asked for verification information – after 2 weeks of sending forms, being asked for forms again (no explanation as to why), eventually got told today that they don’t accept TransferWise – in fact they don’t accept pretty much anyone except bricks and mortar traditional banks!
As I have some money owed to me by eBay, I tried to then use my normal current account (of 35+ years) which happens to be a joint account —- guess what, the system just does not allow that as it assumes your first and last name are your account name (not the case for ANY joint account).
So, what do the customer services representatives say? The only option they have now offered is that “You will have to open a new current account” JUST to be able to get the money of yours that eBay has! I did try to get them understand just how ridiculous that sounds – because we can’t accept the bank that we were paying you through, or a joint account of 35+ years with you as one of the names on it, you have to GET ANOTHER BANK ACCOUNT just to be able to sell through eBay!!!
So here’s another one who is going to be leaving eBay soon — possibly having to write off money from a sale made just as this all started as there does not seem to be ANY way to resolve this without setting up a new bank account.
I am a 17 year seller on eBay. I was opted into managed payments in March 2021. Then we moved to a new address and eBay rolled us into an audit. They wanted bank statements which we sent, months went by, they kept asking for the same documents, never telling us that apparently screenshots were not acceptable. It took numerous phone calls to find that out. Then they still wanted more, photo id. Sent that in 4 weeks ago and again since then nothing. This has gone on for 6 months now, they are holding over $30K of my money. I’m about to file an arbitration case….I’m disgusted with eBay.