eBay Australia cheap listing days for Computers
July 24, 2008
eBay Australia are holding four days of cheap listings for the Computers category. From 26th to 29th July 2008, sellers can save 25% on insertion fees and 25% on FVFs. The offer is valid for Australian resident sellers listing in the Computers category of eBay.com.au only, and applies to both auctions and BINs. All other fees apply as normal.
eBay have been doing quite a bit of experimenting with fees in technology categories recently, most noticeably 1p listings for two weeks in UK technology categories. This promotion is slightly unusual in that it discounts both up-front and final value fees, and no doubt eBay will be closely watching how this affects seller behaviour.
25% off fees for Aussie computer sellers
July 21, 2008
Computer sellers in Australia will be waking up to news of a four day fee reduction starting on Saturday. All items listed by Australian sellers between 26th and 29th July in the computing category will receive 25% off insertion and final value fees.
With five days advance notice to prepare for the promotion there’s plenty of time for interested sellers to prepare and schedule their listings.
eBay Oz offers free 99c listings
July 10, 2008
eBay Australia are offering free insertion fees for auctions and BIN listings starting at 99c, listed between 12th and 21st July. Multiple items are included, but SIFs are not and there are some category exclusions. All other normal fees apply.
eBay Australia backs down on PayPal
July 3, 2008
eBay Australia have said that other methods of payment may continue to be offered by sellers on the site, though offering PayPal will remain compulsory:
eBay will continue to allow all existing payment methods on eBay.com.au. We have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay Community. … eBay requires all sellers to offer PayPal as a payment choice on eBay.com.au along with other permitted payment methods of their choosing.
eBay have strenuously denied any plans to make eBay.com PayPal-only; it remains to be seen whether compulsory PayPal will be tried in other markets than Australia and the UK.
eBay refuse be drawn at ACCC conference
June 30, 2008
Simon Smith, MD of eBay Australia, refused to be drawn into arguments at today’s ACCC conference held to discuss PayPal only on eBay.com.au. Sellers argued that PayPal isn’t safer than other payment methods and that “It is the Australian way to support having choices”
Whilst sellers were more than happy to air their opinions, Smith read a prepared statement and declined to enter into the heated discussion. I’m guessing that was in all likelihood a stipulation made by eBay’s legal team, who may still decide to challenge an adverse ACCC decision in the courts.
Reports say that only sellers voiced opinions at the conference, and it appears that Google had nothing to say in person following the revelation that Google authored an anonymous submission to the ACCC.
Best of eBay launches in Australia
June 30, 2008
On the date of the ACCC meeting to discuss the future of eBay’s PayPal only policy there’s some lighter news. eBay Australia have just announced that “Best of eBay” has been launched along with a competition to win up to AU$5000.
Best of eBay was launched in the US back in November 2007, and allows you to vote for the wierdest and whackiest items you can find on the site.
If you win the competition the prizes totally AU$20,000 will be paid as PayPal credits so if you live in Australia get nominating listings, if you find a weird enough item you just might win.
All my life’s been auction-wrecked
June 26, 2008
The Australian man selling his entire life on eBay has cancelled millions of dollars’ worth of bids after being auction-wrecked.
44 year old Ian Usher is selling literally everything after a split with his wife. His house, car, job, motorcycle, jetski and ‘lifestyle’ are all up for sale; he will walk awaywith only the clothes he’s wearing, his wallet and passport, and intends to create a new life with the proceeds of his auction.
Usher’s auction was one of the best pre-publicised I’ve ever seen, so it’s unsurprising that bidding got off to a brisk start. It’s also perhaps inevitable that some less than genuine bidders took an interest in such a high-profile auction. Bids of up to AU$1.85million were cancelled, and the high bid is back down to just AU$390,500, which Usher told reporters is “not even 75% of the value of the house”.
There are three days left to go on the auction which now has pre-approved bidding only.
eBay.com.au indefinitely postpone PayPal only
June 26, 2008
eBay Australia have for the second time delayed implementation of the PayPal only policy, but this time a little more permanently
On the 21st May Australian users became obliged to offer PayPal on all listings, and it was planned that eBay Australia would go PayPal only on the 17th June. This was then delayed until July 15th but now pending the outcome of the ACCC decision PayPal only on eBay Australia has been postponed indefinitely.
eBay apologise to users for the change saying it “regrets any ongoing uncertainty that this further delay may cause” and that “eBay appreciates the feedback received from the Community and will use this input to consider where we can make improvements that benefit both buyers and sellers.”
In what sounds like a sea change they also say they are “committed to improving safety and we will continue to look for ways to improve the shopping experience for buyers which will subsequently benefit both sellers and eBay”
This looks like a smart move by eBay, rather than again push the date back in the face of a probably negative decision by the ACCC, cancelling PayPal only plans for eBay Australia now will avoid being forced to if the ACCC decision is against them. If they do have a surprise win they can easily resurrect the policy.
It’s time to move on, and to look at new ways to increase security on the site. A great improvement would be to introduce new checkout features like the ability for merchants to offer alternative payments in the checkout flow enabling eBay to verify that the buyer has paid. That’s one change that would definitely appeal to sellers who have been calling for choice.
eBay to argue case for PayPal at ACCC conference
June 25, 2008
It looks like eBay may argue the case for implementing PayPal only on eBay in Australia in public, at a conference to be held on Monday 30th June at the Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney.
Advance warning to interested parties was sent out via email (opens in .pdf) on Monday this week, and according to Auctionbytes it is to go ahead.
eBay or any interested party could call the conference, so there is no guarantee that they will show up, although it would appear on the face of it unlikely that they wouldn’t want representation. eBay have already stated that they would “work with the ACCC and hopes to achieve a final outcome which has the safety and security of eBay’s members as its paramount objective“.
Currently eBay have delayed implementation of a PayPal only policy in Australia until 15th July (it was scheduled to go live on the 17th June), and the conference could prove the last chance they have to argue their case.
Submissions to the ACCC have been steadily pouring in throughout the whole of June, and currently there is nothing to suggest that eBay will win this battle.
Glitch stops selling to Australia
June 25, 2008
A glitch in eBay’s listing system has stopped sellers listing their items as available to Australia. Users in the TameBay forum as well as others on several eBay message boards have reported that when relisting items, they have tried to select “Australia” as one of the places they will ship to, they receive an error message telling them that they cannot offer their item in Australia unless they accept PayPal. All of these sellers do accept PayPal.
For new listings, the SYI form has greyed-out the Australia box to make it unclickable, whether or not the PayPal information is filled out.
eBay say that they are aware of the problem and are working on a fix, though there doesn’t seem to be an estimated fix time. The only current work-around is to offer your items available to “worldwide”.
Free insertion for start prices under $9.99 on eBay Australia
June 24, 2008
For four days on 26th - 29th June Australian eBayers can list for free for items starting at $9.99 or lower. Unusually compared to UK cheap listing days multiple items and dutch auctions are included in the promotion. There are a few exceptions, such as motors, classified ads and SIF, but virtually every other auction or buy it now listing is included.
PayPal only: eBay vow to fight ACCC draft ruling
June 13, 2008
eBay Australia have issued a press release challenging the ACCC draft notice and vowing to fight on.
They have delayed implementation of the PayPal only policy until 15th July, it was scheduled to go live on the 17th June. The increase in Buyer Protection raising the cover to AU$20,000 will still come into effect on the 17th June for Australian buyers who pay via PayPal.
Whether eBay will succeed is anyone’s guess, but it’s looking increasingly unlikely. The ACCC note that over 600 eBay users, half of them buyers, sent in submissions opposing PayPal only and they themselves have “serious competition concerns” if they allowed an exception.
eBay say they hope to “work with the ACCC and hopes to achieve a final outcome which has the safety and security of eBay’s members as its paramount objective” and that they believe “the consumer benefits of this initiative are worth fighting for”.
PayPal only: Australia says no (for now)
June 12, 2008
The ACCC have requested that eBay delay implementation of the PayPal only policy scheduled to start on June 17th.
In a draft notice issued today the ACCC proposed revoking immunity for eBay’s PayPal only policy on the grounds that it will reduce competition and that they believe “consumers are in the best position to decide which payment method is most suitable for them”.
Noting the benefits that PayPal offer they say the advantages do not outweigh the anti-competitive effect.
Whilst this is a draft notice the ACCC notes eBay have already implemented the policy that PayPal has to be offered, but have asked them to delay making PayPal the only acceptable payment method until the final decision.
Now the draft proposal is published all interested parties can make further submissions so eBay will doubtless respond. It’ll be interesting to see if Google make further waves now that their role has been revealed.
It looks as if eBay Australia users can continue offering and using alternate payment methods, at least in the short term.
eBay must have been pretty certain that they would be granted immunity and allowed to implement the PayPal only policy. Regardless of the outcome it is likely to have an effect in other territories around the world and shape eBay / PayPal policy for some time to come.
Aussie PayPal promo as ACCC about to rule
June 7, 2008
eBay Australia have announced a PayPal promotion in the run up to the ACCC ruling and the site migrating to PayPal only for payments.
Every purchase made on eBay.com.au gets the buyer automatic entry into a draw for 4 x $10,000 and 10 x $1,000 credited to the winners PayPal account.
The competition runs from today until the 21st June 2008, and also encourages buyers to open a PayPal account if they don’t already have one. Not a bad move on eBay’s part to make it attractive for buyers to use PayPal, and the publication of the winners in July should go further to making PayPal appear attractive. I’m not so sure some sellers already averse to offering PayPal will see it in quite the same light though.
Google puts the boot into eBay
May 31, 2008
As part of eBay’s request that the ACCC approve their request to implement a PayPal only policy on eBay all interested parties were able to make submissions which the Commission would consider when forming their decision.
Following eBay’s response (and after the deadline for public submissions expired on 3nd May), one more 38 page anonymous report was submitted, which set out in detail why they considered eBay’s move to be anti-competitive.
It didn’t take too long though for one eBay user to expose the culprit, examining the hidden (but easily accessible) meta data of the document he found the phrase “ACCC Submission by Google re eBay”. The document has been replaced with an amended version with Google’s name removed.
This has to be embarrassing for Google, all the major banking institutions that made submissions did so publicly, and it looks much worse have your intentions revealed in this manner than it would do to be up front in the first place.
(Thanks go to Richard for spotting this story)
eBay responds to ACCC re PayPal only policy
May 26, 2008
eBay has made a response to the ACCC (Opens in PDF), regarding their move to compulsory PayPal for eBay Australia transactions. The response makes three main points
1) PayPal only on eBay will not significantly reduce competition in online payments as payments on eBay do not comprise a significant proportion of all online payments and PayPal’s membership base will not increase significantly by making it complusory on eBay. They point out that “eBay buyers and sellers who do not wish to pay PayPal fees are able to avoid doing so by listing and purchasing items through competing services”. An additional point is that buyers still have choice of which underlying payment method to use such as bank transfer, debit card, credit card or PayPal balance.
They quote Oztion’s report that their membership has risen 22% since the PayPal announcement, saying “there is evidence to suggest that a number of sellers will choose alternative sales platforms in response to the implementation of the Project, providing a strong incentive for eBay to maintain a competitive offering”.
2) eBay state that use of PayPal will actually increase protection to users. They say “PayPal users automatically obtain the benefits of the security and protection mechanisms offered through those [credit/debit card, Bank funded] payment methods plus the additional layer of security and protection benefits offered by PayPal.”
eBay also highlight that even their main competitors acknowledge “that the information-sharing between eBay and PayPal gives PayPal an advantage in reversing fraudulent transacfions..” as justification for insisiting on PayPal only.
(3) eBay reject a number of claims made in submissions, such as PayPal is not the largest and longest established online payment provider, PayPal will not become a monopoly for eBay payments, it will merely be an intermediary to process transactions made via other payment institutions, and that they don’t discriminate against high-volume and/or low-margin sellers as they offer micropayments and volume discounts.
eBay’s submission suggests that PayPal will not become an online payment monopoly, and that buyers and sellers have choices of venues to buy and sell on. They insist that payments via PayPal not only offer additional security to alternatives, but enable eBay to protect buyers and sellers from problematic transactions through monitoring buyer and seller behaviour.
In conclusion eBay said changes would not be substantially lessening competition, and in any event, any lessening of competition would be clearly outweighed by the significant public benefits that would be likely to result from it.
The big question is will the ACCC grant eBay’s request to go PayPal only, and if so how long will it be before the policy migrates to other countries around the eBay world?
eBay Australia holds 10 day listing sale
May 23, 2008
eBay Australia is cutting listings fees in half for ten days. From 25th May to 3rd June, insertion fees on auction and fixed price listings are 50% of normal rates. The offer is valid for Australian-resident sellers only; all other normal fees apply.
PayPal Australia clarifies policy on multiple purchases
May 19, 2008
A little bit of good news for Australian sellers from PayPal today: the User Agreement has been clarified. Paragraph 4.2.4 now reads “The Seller Protection Policy will not apply to a transaction if you combine eBay items purchased through separate PayPal payments into a single shipment”.
The UA used to say “seperate eBay transactions”, so that combining shipping fees for multiple items at least looked like it was against PayPal’s rules. (I don’t know if any seller protection claims were ever refused on this basis? Maybe one of our Australian readers could leave us a comment.)
It’s an important reminder for all sellers though, that if you want to be covered by the Seller Protection Policy, seperate PayPal payments have to have seperate proofs of delivery: bung two orders into one box and you are not covered.
eBay Aus wakes up to new feedback
May 13, 2008
Australians are getting to grips with the new recalculated feedback and inability for sellers to leave non-positive feedback. As can be expected though not everyone is happy.
One buyer laments “My 100% changed to 98% because of one neutral“, asking “Does that mean that sellers will be able to leave neutrals, which will count in the percentage?”. The good news for the buyer is that it doesn’t as sellers are no longer able to leave neutrals.
The downside is that for any buyers (and sellers) who have received a negative or neutral in the past year it will affect their feedback percentage until it drops off after twelve months. The flip side is that any buyers who do leave neutrals will in future affect the feedback percentage of their seller.
Sellers are up in arms, over the new messaging that eBay gives when a buyer leaves feedback. A seller reports “I clicked the “positive” radio button… and up pops a screen that says ‘Buyers can’t get negative or neutral feedback… so be honest about the transaction‘ or words to that effect…”
In reality sellers who do a sterling job have little to worry about, I’ve left feedback on dispatch ever since I started selling on eBay and the number of non-positive feedback I’ve received in that time is tiny compared with the positives buyers have left.
For sellers who have in the past left reciprocal feedback it’s time to start leaving positives - there’s absolutely nothing to gain by waiting for the buyer to leave feedback first and everything to gain from reassuring buyers with a positive that you’re a great seller.
There’s just two days left before the feedback changes hit the UK. Buyers have just two days left to worry about receiving a negative feedback and sellers have two days to prepare for the change. I’d strongly recommend leaving feedback for all outstanding paid transactions, but would suggest it should all be positive.
eBay deny ‘PayPal only’ plans for .com
May 12, 2008
In a post on the eBay Ink blog, eBay spokesman Usher Lieberman has denied that eBay’s PayPal-only policy is to be introduced in the US. He writes:
We were offered the chance by the AP to be categorical on this subject, and we declined to do so. We declined because there are no plans, but categorical statements have a tendency to cause headaches down the road, particularly as we evaluate how to move forward in other markets and as conditions could shift in the US.
As I said in the article, we will take what we learn in Australia with PayPal-only and apply it accordingly. What perhaps didn’t come across as well is that we will apply those lessons differently in different markets.
Certainly eBay will have to consider not only local markets, but local laws. In France, for example, it would be both illegal to ban other methods of payment, and very difficult to seperate the French from their beloved cheque books.
Nevertheless, Mr Lieberman has left himself a lot of room to manoeuvre in this statement: I’d interpret it as “we’re not planning anything elsewhere til we see how it goes in Australia, but never say never”. There are other markets where PayPal’s share of eBay’s payments is apparently much higher than in Australia, where making PayPal compulsory might be much less of a struggle: the UK is certainly one of those.
I’ll stick my neck out here: by this time next year, we will have PayPal only on eBay UK. I wonder if Ladbrookes would give me odds?
PayPal: Two weeks for eBay to respond
May 9, 2008
eBay have just two weeks today to respond to hundreds of concerns lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) regarding their proposed exclusivity deal with PayPal. With some 350 odd submissions it’s going to be a busy time for them.
Many of the submissions are from eBay users complaining that they want choice for eBay payments, and in fact the crux of many complaints is simply that they’ll have to pay PayPal fees on top of their eBay fees. In reality this is a lessor concern for larger businesses trading on eBay as they’ll already be paying banking or merchant account fees for each transaction anyway.
One of the most interesting submissions come yesterday, from the Australian Bankers Association (ABA). It addresses two main points - firstly the exclusion of PayPal’s competitors from a large segment pf the market, i.e. eBay. Currently they state 50% of transactions on eBay’s Australian site occur through PayPal, with the next most popular payment method being bank transfer, followed by cheques and money orders. As in the UK whilst there are alternative payment methods they are either used very rarely or are banned from eBay as an unsafe payment method.
It’s the second point that is most interesting though, the ABA assert that exclusivity on eBay for PayPal will give it a “slingshot” effect and unfair advantage for non-eBay transactions. As buyers will be forced to sign up for a PayPal account when using eBay they’ll naturally then find it more convenient to use PayPal rather than sign up for alternative services in the future.
The ABA state “Even banks, which might otherwise be expected to develop their competing services with comparable features to PayPal may be deterred from doing so”. Once PayPal gains an unassailable market position their market share is predicted to be 65% of all Australian ecommerce transactions, should exclusivity on eBay become ratified.
In conclusion the ABA say “Clearly, the public benefits are exaggerated or illusory” and finish with the warning that PayPal would be “able to increase fees and charges to eBay users.” In reality (for the UK at least) PayPal have lowered fees in recent years, although it’s a legitimate concern.
It’s worth noting that other site with third party sellers such as Amazon have their own exclusive payment method and they too are opening up their payments for off-Amazon transactions. If their off-Amazon business becomes substantial they too could face similar issues in the future.
Whatever the outcome of the ACCA ruling it’s going to an interesting time for the online payment industry.
Angry eBay sellers compared to drug dealers
May 6, 2008
eBay Australia held the first of their roadshows yesterday regarding the Paypal only changes coming in June. By all accounts it was a pretty rowdy meeting with sellers booing the eBay directors.
Prior to the meeting a select group of 12 sellers were invited to a private Q&A. These appear to have been chosen for their willingness to listen and discuss the changes with the sellers voicing their concerns by taking on board the reasons for the PayPal only decision.
The main session appears not to have gone quite so sedately, with a moderator from a local radio station dubbed the “Referee” by the crowd.
“You can boo and hiss all you like, I can just tell you the simple facts”, was the exasperated response by Alastair MacGibbon, eBay Australia’s Trust & Safety Director. His later riposte “We’re not allowing people to offer unsafe choices, just like in this democracy you can’t go out and buy heroin on the streets”, may not have been the wisest analogy to use. Later Simon Simith, Senior Vice President of eBay, emphasised “The problem is not the people in this room - the problem is the thousands of people not in this room”
Enforcing PayPal only is not going to be a smooth ride for eBay Australia, with sellers leaving for rival Oztion and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) still to rule if it’s even legal, there’s a long way to go before the furore dies down.
eBay Motors Australia hooks up with drive.com.au
April 29, 2008
eBay Motors in Australia are partnering with Drive.com.au in a deal which will see eBay Motors listings appear on drive.com.au and vice versa.
Working with dealers to list their entire inventory on eBay is nothing new, the GM partnered with eBay in an agreement to list their entire inventory of used motors on eBay. This is the first time I’m aware of that eBay Motors has partnered with a classified site in a deal to share listings. I’m trying to imagine what eBay Motors UK would look like if they were to do a similar deal with Auto Trader - I imagine motors traders would be quite vocal about the influx of listings, although exposure on another site would be a bonus.
At the end of the day anything that increases exposure of the eBay brand, and of eBay listings has to be good news - partnering with classified sites is an interesting development.
To support the deal eBay Motors Australia are about to launch a revamped site which is currently in beta.
‘PayPal only’ sends Ozzie sellers to eBay competitor
April 25, 2008
OZtion, the second largest online auction site in Australia, has announced record growth in the two weeks since eBay Australia announced their new PayPal only payments policy.
OZtion’s listings have increased 22% to approximately 580,000 simultaneous listings. The site now has more than a quarter of a million members, with daily new registrations up 165% and new seller registrations up 300%.
Philip Druce, General Manager for OZtion commented “The fact that OZtion has seen significant growth across most metrics shows that Australians are looking for alternatives to eBay and will not be forced into only using PayPal. Our internal data shows that 79% of buyers prefer to pay by bank deposit.”
OZtion’s sellers must undergo an identity check process similar to that required to open a bank account. Druce comments: “Many online fraudulent activities are only possible because sites make it easy to create a fake identity. OZtion focuses on preventing fraud and has created a range of identity checks for both buyers and sellers, allowing Australians to shop online with confidence.”
OZtion was started in 2005 when Druce and co-founder Kelvin Yip to offer Australians an alternative auction site to eBay.
eBay Australia VP to meet site users
April 10, 2008
Following the news that eBay Australia is to go PayPal only from June 17th the Senior Vice President of eBay, Simon Smith, is to meet eBay users in four locations across the country.
Visiting Melbourne, Brisbane and two locations in Sydney, he will explain in person why eBay is making PayPal the only available payment option. There will be a number of eBay and PayPal staff on hand to talk to buyers and sellers and answer any questions individuals may have.
I have to say I’m impressed with eBay this year, Stephanie Tilenius spoke at Catalyst US last week, Lorrie Norrington is to speak at the PeSA/ECMTA summit, and in the UK Mark Lewis will be taking part at Catalyst UK. Senior management are becoming much more available to talk to eBay users than ever before which can only benefit all.
If you’re in Australia and attend one of these sessions be sure to let us know how they go and what buyer and seller opinions are after hearing from Simon.
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