eBay's new 'no paper' policy FAQs

We're getting quite a few questions from eBay sellers of all sizes around eBay's new electronic-only payment policy (also known as paperless payments).  First, I urge everyone to read Dinesh's post here that has some good clarifications.

Additionally, I was able to catch up with John McDonald who runs eBay's Trust and Safety for the US today to answer the top questions we are getting.  Here are my questions and my paraphrasing of John's answers.

Q: When is 'no paper' going live?

A: It will actually be 'turned on' today (Monday, October 27, 2008) - What that means is:

• You won't be able to list with paper payment options (in the payment fields) via SYI today
• If you have any live listings with check or money order (MO) specified in your payment fields, they will no longer show in the 'view item' page of eBay 
• In your description/template, if you talk about check/money order, you will receive a message if you post via SYI, and you have a grace period until 1/15/09 to keep that text.  After 1/15, your listings will be in violation of policy and delisted 
  •  (Scot's advice - go ahead and take this out now and avoid any hassles) 

 Q: Some eBay Pinks/TSAMs have said that if a buyer specifically requests to pay with check/money order - the seller can take paper payment.  What's the official stance on this?

A: True. If a buyer explicitly opps out of electronic payments, the seller can take the check/money order.  However a seller may not solicit in any way.  Also for large sellers these kinds of payments can be a pain so they are free to reject the buyer's request for paper payment.

Q: Will eBay still provide tools in MyeBay that allow me to manually mark an item paid?

A: Yes, that will remain.

Q: There is some confusion around international (eBay calles this cross border trade or CBT)- e.g. can I specifically mention in my USA listing that "for DE buyers I take x, y, z?" - assuming x/y/z are allowed in DE, but not in USA?

A: John was going to get some clarification on this one and I'll report back.  Note this example can be between any two eBay countries where there are differencies in the payment policy which is actually pretty common.

Finally, thanks to John for taking the time to clarify these issues that are top of mind with sellers.

Comments

[Bob Miller]

As a seller of many years who has made a lot of money for ebay and subsequently PAYPAL, the recent sledgehammer of no checks or Money Orders does not affect me all that much, but its surely a hardship on those who don't opt for the paypal scheme or credit cards. Fundamentally I think the decision to do this stinks and perhaps someone with more access to legal advice might check to see if this restriction approaches or envokes a restraint of trade. It it sad that there has not been another on-line auction company to come along to give your folks a bit of competition. I, like many other users of Ebay are getting tired of business by fiat.

[Sue @ TameBay]

Scot, re. CBT:
Search on .com for something likely to be only available from non-US sellers, e.g.
http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQLHQ5fPrefLocZ2?_nkw=Tolle+Jeans&_sacat=0&_fromfsb=&_trksid=m270.l1313&_odkw=Tolle+Jeans+v.OHIO&_osacat=0
and click on one of the ones not offering PayPal, you get the message

This item is not available for purchase
This item is not available for purchase on eBay United States.
Learn more about our accepted payments policy.
View the original listing on eBay and buy this item on eBay Germany

For items listed on other sites offering payment methods not permitted on .com, those options simply disappear from the .com view item page: e.g. if you look at an eBay UK item which offers a choice of PayPal or cheque/check, you'll see the cheque line on the .co.uk view item page, but on the .com one, it's disappeared.

[Cliff Aliperti]

Question, I've removed references to checks/money orders from the body of all of my listings. However it remains in the "Seller's Payment Instructions" area at the bottom of several listings. The reason for this is simple--eBay search does not pick up these mentions, so I have to spot them individually. Having 2,500 items, this can be a bit of a pain.

Is there a way to bulk edit this area from inside eBay? To the best of my knowledge, there is not.

Will I receive the warning message when I bulk relist through Selling Manager? In the past, when revising for similar changes, such as the banning of cash payments, I know this was not the case.

Assuming both of my points above are correct, is there a way to revise these items other than hunting and pecking through every one of my listings individually?

Thanks,Cliff

[Jon]

I thought Dinesh run trust and safety?