Streamlined Checkout for eBay Buyers who are New to PayPal

[mandy]

November 03, 2005 | 05:40PM PST/PT

Hi, I am Jeff Spaulding, Senior Manager, eBay North America Business for PayPal.  Through research and feedback from buyers and sellers, we've discovered that eBay buyers who do not already have a PayPal account often have challenges completing the checkout process and paying for their items. Beginning next week these buyers will go through a streamlined checkout process when paying through PayPal.

These new buyers will not be required to open a PayPal account on the first two PayPal transactions, but they will still be subject to PayPal limits and fraud checks.  They will be required to open a PayPal account on their third PayPal transaction in order to complete future purchases with PayPal on eBay.

Our goal in streamlining the checkout process for new eBay buyers is to provide the best new user experience and drive more completed sales for sellers just in time for the holiday shopping season.  Please note that these changes will be transparent to sellers.

[xppman]

In other words. (This is what he is REALLY saying)…

Our member volume is going down as many are or have reached their $2000.00 spending limit
and refuse to give us their personal banking info.

We are also seeing quite a lot of abandoned ebay “check out” shopping carts when we try to FORCE newbies ebay buyers to “Sing Up” for a PayPal account to purchasing their ebay winnings.

We should have really never ever tried to forced this in the first place but Meg said that we had to do it and well… She is the boss so. Of course now that this Goggle thing is coming online soon Meg changed her mind and said: “we better start making some concessions before we find ourselves loosing even more market share”.

I love this:

These new buyers will not be required to open a PayPal account on the first two PayPal transactions, but they will still be subject to PayPal limits and fraud checks. They will be required to open a PayPal account on their third PayPal transaction in order to complete future purchases with PayPal on eBay.

I already know what this poor guy is thinking on this one:

Well at least we may get two more transactions per ebay seller that we FORCED to
Upgrade to a paying account.

On a different note.
I wonder how long before PP and ebay BACK OFF of this new FORCED upgrade policy?

I’ll bet they are seeing a lot less activity due to this NEW policy and there sure seems to be a lot of really poed users at ebay land over it.

[bargainbloodhound]

but they will still be subject to PayPal limits and fraud checks.

[dnc_ont]

Another change I noticed yesterday when considering making a purchase from a supplier's off-eBay site using PayPal - When I clicked other funding options, it gave me the option of using my credit card despite the fact that I have a PayPal balance.  About bloody time.

[xppman]

It is quite possible that many CC holders have reported PayPal for violating their CC agreement. From what I understand a merchant can NOT put limits on someone using their credit card. And PayPal is the merchant in this case.

I believe they must accept the card presented and run it for authorization.
I haven’t read through all the rules of the MC Visa policy on this yet but it seems I read and heard about this and now that I think of it, a rep just told me on the phone by NOT accepting cards present could cost fines to the merchant if reported by card holders.

I can see in the very near future if it is not already occurring that PP will be changing this
“you got to use your balance first BS”. That in itself is PP circumventing it’s merchant agreement and the fees associated by taking credit cards. That If I’m not mistaken would be a   for them to decline to accept a cc when presented for payment.

Also to edit my bad spelling in my earlier post:"to FORCE newbies ebay buyers to “Sign Up”
But you guys knew what I meant . 

[amy]

I’ll bet they are seeing a lot less activity due to this NEW policy and there sure seems to be a lot of really poed users at ebay land over it.

There does seem to be some PO'd users today:

i hate paypal--what a bunch of rip-offs!!! http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000119992&tstart=0
PayPal Sucks!!! http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000043219&tstart=0
potential class action lawsuit vs paypal and it's affiliates  http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000122726&tstart=0
PayPal Makes Large "Interest" Profits on Holding Our Money http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000122381&tstart=0

[xppman]

Yea I was there too and some of my old  drinking buddies over there aren’t too happy.

I got four pink slaps last night and I only posted like six times?


They hate xppman and now know he is me tlc. 

But I don’t care and I would love to see ebay kick the lieworld gang to the curb.

They would NOT be necessary if PayPal and ebay would just supply
some customer support and come clean with its customers.

Actually the smartest thing they could do now IMO is shut those boards down.


All their dirty laundry out their for the world too see.
That can’t be good PR.

I’ll bet that the most hits in a day at ebay ARE the PP boards
as thousands just go to lurk and watch the next days episode of ???

(oh someone please come up with a name to call that circus over there)

It is entertaining though while waking up to Folgers in your cup. 

[bargainbloodhound]

Actually the smartest thing they could do now IMO is shut those boards down

I'll agree with that.

I've always thought it was ridiculous that a large part of PayPal's and eBay's customer service is connducted hrough web forms and message boards...but it saves them money...and wastes my time.  I can call up Overstock and get a problem solved in 5 minutes...at eBay the same problem can take a week or more to get fixed ( (depending on how many emails they ignore, how many times I have to email them back because their cut and paste reply had nothing to do with my problem, etc).

...ooops off topic, or maybe not.  My bank, credit card, merchant account companies don't expect customers to use a message board to resolve financial problems...yet PayPal expects its customers to...shut down the friggin' eyesore message boards PayPal and hire some telephone support staff like every other Fortune 500 company does  :twistedevil:

[xppman]

Yea someone at the pp boards mentioned (xppman and tlc) on Tulips forum.
So I went in and put a link to an old site that “exposes” the lieworld Um I mean 
PP “CS” reps (cough cough).
Got four pinks slaps then the nice little letter THEATENING “suspension of my eBay account, including all buying and selling privileges.

The above is how ebay tries to deal with it’s problems arising from it’s
paying customers who expose the truth.

Threats by their lieworld counterparts is why I got involved in the first place.

Coercion and complicity by ebay and it’s agents could be construed as
“Violations” of several laws both civil and criminal.
The implications of culpability can be far reaching.

In short:
They really do need hire some telephone support staff like every other Fortune 500 company does and close down those boards before they find themselves in even more deep doo doo.