PayPal Gets Free Advertising On Bonanza Sellers Listings

Crazy at it may seem, sellers at Bonanza were forced to give up prime real estate on their product listings without an ounce of choice in the matter.

Bonanza decided on their own without any consideration to how their sellers may feel about adding a badge on their listings to simply add a badge but even worse, there is a link to learn more about using Paypal on Bonanza.

Here is what it looks like. You can click the graphic to enlarge the screenshot we took:

Here is the link to the learn more part of the PayPal banner - http://www.bonanza.com/site_help/offers/pp_buyer_protection?layout=false&title=Paypal+Buyer+Protection

In the infomation provided at the above link, Bonanza is USING PayPal's buyer protection in an attempt to instill buyer trust BUT they are diverting trust from all Bonanza sellers, especially those who do not accept PayPal with the following statement:

Purchases made with PayPal as the payment method. Purchases made through Google Checkout or with a money order or other payment method won't be covered.

Nothing like using the sellers listings to promote PayPal for free and then throw a large majority of sellers (some who have paid Bonanza memberships) under the bus.

If Bonanza was truly interested in buyer trust, they would market the Bonanza name broadly - TV, radio, newspaper, magazines and etc so that buyers know that it is not interested in being a fly by night site.

Instead, they are running on the coat tails of PayPal's buyer protection program.

Why doesn't Bonanza do the same thing with Google Checkout? They too have a buyer protection program. Why make one payment service sound so much better over the other when they both provid excellent buyer protection? It can be found here: http://checkout.google.com/support/?hl=en

It makes us think that they are getting some kind of kickback for advertising PayPal. We can't think of any reason Bonanza would give up such a highly visible space on sellers listings and risk angering sellers doing so without something inticing them to do so.

Here is what Bonanza sellers had to say about the PayPal badge:

http://www.bonanza.com/forums/1/topics/140746

http://www.bonanza.com/forums/1/topics/140753

At some point along the way, Bonanza made that huge badge an option and sellers were eventually able to turn the thing off.

eBay Issued Summary Judgment In Antitrust Lawsuit

U.S. District Court, Northern District of California Judge Jeremy Fogel granted eBay's motion for summary judgment. The summary judgment dismisses a lawsuit filed by eBay users who were alleging anti-competitive practices by both eBay and PayPal.

Click here to read the PDF document.

PayPal Seller Protection Update Shakes Sellers

PayPal announced a change to their user policies just over a week ago. Many sellers are not happy. The changes will go into effect March 10, 2010.

The most controversial of the updates deals with seller protection and delivery services, such as USPS. The amendment reads:

The following will be added to section 11.7 (newly numbered 11.5) as an additional example of transactions not eligible for seller protection:

“Items that are not shipped to the recipient’s shipping address on the Transaction Details Page. If you originally ship the item to the shipping address on the Transaction Details Page but the item is later redirected to a different address, you will not be eligible for seller protection. We therefore recommend not using a shipping service that is controlled by the buyer.”

PayPal User Updates

Sellers seem to have mixed feelings because they aren't very clear on how this update will affect them. Many feel that the update and the publicity of it will open the door to fraud even more than in the past. Some even say that it appears that PayPal is suggesting that they shouldn't use USPS because the customer is able to redirect their mail.

Sellers were sharing their thoughts on this at Seller Central
Click Here

To see what sellers are saying in their remarks at AuctionBytes
Click Here

To see what TheBrewsNews thinks and to read comments from their readers Click Here

Here is what they are saying on the eBay Answer Center - PayPal forum Click Here

See what they are saying over at Tamebay Click Here

There are more opinions out there but this will give you an idea of the confusion and concern that sellers are facing.

What is your take on this new policy?

Please leave your comments by clicking on the comments link below this article, just to the right of the time stamp.

eBay - Items Paid By eCheck Show Paid & Waiting To Ship Before Cleared Payment

We have an interesting situation on eBay. This is the first time that we have noticed this happening but it could have been going on before this. We went to put together our packages and noticed one item that is in our eBay's "Paid & Waiting To Ship" section is actually pending eCheck clearance on October 2.
So why is it listed as paid on eBay?

It has always been our understanding that you should never ship before PayPal gives you the ok. For an item to show up paid and waiting to ship on eBay, appears to say that the buyer paid and it is ok to ship.

When we look at the PayPal information across the eBay item page, it shows that the payment was intiated. When we go to PayPal, we see that it is a pending payment with the red flag next to it. When we open the details, we see this:

Click the graphic to enlarge it.Once again we question - if the payment is not cleared why is this transaction showing in our paid and waiting to ship section? If the eCheck has not cleared, we have not been paid!

If a seller is really busy, they may not notice this. We have had times where we just ship as fast as we can because we have tons of orders. This will now slow us down because we will have to make sure what each item in the paid section says before we process the order any further. Then of course, we will have to go back and check it to make sure we ship once the eCheck clears.

Sellers should be careful of this so they don't ship and end up losing the item and the money should the eCheck never clear.

eBay Buyers Can Pay With Credit Card & No PayPal Account

PayPal sent emails to some sellers stating:

Your buyers can pay you with a credit card on eBay - without creating a PayPal account.
Learn More

While this is not a new program, PayPal is making it easier for buyers to understand how to use their credit cards without creating a PayPal account.

PayPal Adds Fees On Personal Accounts

If you use your personal PayPal account for goods and services because you were not being charged fees, you may want to check your account and think again.

From an article in PCWorld by Jared Newman:

"But when money started rolling in last month, I noticed that a fraction of it (2.9 percent, plus 30 cents) wasn't making the jump from my employers' accounts to my own. In June, PayPal had started charging for payments classified as "Goods" or "Services," even if you have a personal account. It's possible to send money for free as a personal transfer, but this is only intended for friends and family."

To read the rest of the article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/169843/paypal_adds_fees_sneakily.html

You just have to question this comment from PayPal in the above article:

"We didn’t want to make a huge formal communication out of this pricing change, because we weren’t really adding any fees, and we were hoping it would be a more useful experience for people,” Charlotte Hill, PayPal’s PR manager said."

Since when has adding a fee to a service that was previously free - become "a more useful experience for people"? What people was Ms. Hill referring to? Certainly not PayPal users who are now paying fees.

When PayPal made the announcement that personal accounts could no longer be used for goods or services, part-time online sellers and other infrequent users were caught off guard. In many cases, they didn't even know about it. Those who do not use PayPal frequently also tend not to check PayPal's announcement board or blog.

It's too bad that PayPal didn't flag all personal accounts with a notice that reflected the costs of using the service after a certain date. This notice could have been front and center for the user to see upon log-in. There could have been a little agreement box for the user to click to acknowledge agreement with new policy before they could continue on the site. With the kind of techie staff PayPal employs, one would think this would have been easy for them to implement.

It is our opinion that it is time for the federal government to take a look at PayPal. With their antics such as the 21 day holds, counterfeit handbag heaven and etc..., they have become difficult to trust. If PayPal was regulated and had to operate under the same standards as banks, this kind of behavior would not be allowed.