eBay Sellers - not via Paypal?
 

I must be way behind but I thought eBay transactions had to be paid through Paypal? I just bought an item and was directed to a credit card charge site from the eBay "Purchase History" and not to Paypal. Everything clicked through and looked legitimate, so I am not especially worried, but it did seem odd; I hadn't seen a non-Paypal purchase protocol in... years?

My understanding (not an ebay seller) is that you have to offer paypal as an option for your buyers but it doesn't have to be the only option. There are several members who sell who can give you a better idea.

With some sellers you can even pay by check.

Paypal is the primary way of course, but I know there are a few different ways to pay. Maybe this helps:

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformat.../imcc2010.html

per ebay, you are required to pay by paypal only, but if buyer and seller agree on something else, there isnt much ebay can do.

It's a misconception that sellers have to accept PayPal. They do not. However, they must accept some form of electronic payment - PayPal just happens to be the one that 99.99% of buyers/sellers use - but there are others that are acceptable to eBay.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...ts-policy.html

Again, another totally ignorant and 100% incorrect statement. Paypal can not mandate sellers to pay through Paypal. They can say that you need to take some form of online payment. There are other forms of online payment clearing houses besides paypal that can be taken instead of paypal. From ebay website-

"You'll be offered payment options when you list your item. Payment options for most listings include:
PayPal
ProPay
Skrill
Paymate
Merchant credit card
Payment upon pickup"

- the politically correct version of Dan Akyroid

Bought a t201 from a seller who had a BIN price. He took my offer I made by asking a "question" ; he ended the auction and I paid him thru Paypal - outside of eBay. Thought it strange but I'll take the card...I hope...delivery pending..I hope...

lol you can pay how ever the seller wants, most times they give you options.
Check, paypal, upckup only (cash), CC, just depends. Read the seller pay options

Maybe, but I believe the rules say you must take some form of online payment as an option. I don't think you can say, per the rules (I know some still do but it's outside of the rules) that you only take a check or money order as a seller on ebay.

For antitrust reasons [illegal tying arrangement] ebay cannot mandate that its subsidiary payment processor be used on every transaction.

they also have pick up only options for itmes the seller dosnt want to ship, so, most times cash is how they go down

From my experience, eBay removed my listings where I stated that I accept checks or money orders.

I changed all my listings to state that I only accept the forms of payment that eBay allows.

Of course, if a buyer asks whether they can pay by check or money order, I will not refuse. If I say no, they will go to another seller who will gladly accept it.

Money is money to me. As long as they pay me by Paypal, money order, check, cash, trinkets or the island of Manhattan, I am fine.

This thread reminds me of something I've been wanting to ask for a long time.

For those not in the business/startup/technology world, there is a company in the midwest that is making huge waves in the online payment world. They're called Dwolla and they're really getting popular. The basics are that they work through connecting your account to your checking account, and then you can pay and receive payments all day long. The payer pays a flat fee of 25 cents and NO other fees beyond that. Transactions under $10 are completely free.

Downsides:
1. No credit card protection.
2. There is no real buy/sell protection policy, if you believe in that sort of things.
3. Not everyone is using this right now, so there's a process for people to sign up, link up your account, etc.

Upsides:
1. The fees are obviously ridiculously low.

I think that this payment system is perfect for private party transactions where you have some degree of trust between the parties (e.g., on the b/s/t board amongst known sellers).

I would love to see something like this adopted by collectors. Dwolla's website is here, if you're interest in learning more:

https://www.dwolla.com/

Miguel

In my hundreds of dealings with Ebay sellers, I've always paid by money order and the very occasional check. Never once, have I paid with Paypal. In my experience, maybe two dozen out of every 25 dealers accept a non electronic form of payment, though it should be asked of the seller, before bidding, if he does so, as they very often will not state that to be the case, on the item page.

I got into it w/ ebay recently and was pointed to several rules. Basically, everything Leon is saying is 100% accurate and exact and Ive also had experiences similar to Howard. The mandated pp idea is 100% false.

That seems very expensive and wasteful considering $1.00 per money order, a 45 cent stamp, and the time involved buying and filling out the money order.