Well unless you have been living under an eBay rock or you didn't read my last newsletter, then you would know that there is alot going on at eBay at the moment.
I reported to you last month about some of the changes that had already come in, like the feedback changes, plus on others that eBay had announced that they were going to bring in, like the Paypal only policy.
Here's a run down of where things stand at the moment;
- 11/04/08 - eBay apply to the ACCC for immunity from third line forcing laws, stating that it will improve site safety for both buyers and sellers, if Paypal was the only payment method allowed on eBay (except for cash on pick up and in certain categories like Real Estate and Motors). eBay was granted temporary immunity by the ACCC until they make their final decision.
- The ACCC then called for submissions for or against eBay's application for immunity. There were over 600 submissions lodged with the ACCC, the majority of them against what eBay call "the project". The submissions came from eBay buyers and sellers, but also from corporate and consumer entities, like the Reserve Bank of Australia, Paymate, B-Pay, The Commonwealth Bank and Allegedly Google.
- 12/06/08 - The ACCC handed down their draft stating their opposition to eBay's "project" and asked them to not implement any changes until a final decision on the Immunity had been handed down.
- 15/06/08 - eBay announced that the date of 17/06/08 for the start of Paypal and cash on pick up only, would be delayed until 15/07/08. At this stage they are still publicly appear to be going ahead with "the project". EBay has warned sellers to remove any reference to other payment methods from within their listings and have been offering Paypal credits to some sellers if they convert their listings to Paypal (and COPU) only immediately. The credits range from $50 for medium sized sellers to $400 for larger Power Sellers. The mega sellers could have even been offered more, none of them are talking, so one can only have it as a guess what their offer was.
- ACCC had offered eBay a change to have a meeting with concerned parties prior to 03/07/08, which is the date that the ACCC will hand down their final decision. eBay accepted this offer and an open meeting will be held in Sydney on 30/06/08. All parties may receive legal advise on their arguments, but no lawyers can present any information at the meeting.
At this stage there is not alot more we sellers can do. If you can not attend the meeting on the 30th June in Sydney, then the only thing you can do is email the ACCC with your support of their preliminary draft or if you want the project to go ahead, in support of eBay.
If the ACCC find against eBay, eBay will have 30 days in which to comply with the ruling. This means that they will have to roll back the enforced Paypal on all listings and put a holt to their Paypal (and COPU) only plans for the 15/07/08.
eBay has made indications that they will appeal if they lose their bid for immunity. They may still go ahead and enforced Paypal only on the 15/07/08 as they have planned. An appeals process could take years, and they may decide to forge ahead regardless, even if they cop a few fees along the way.
As a seller we need to be ready for both outcomes. You should have a postage system in place the complies with Paypal Seller Protection, i.e registered post only, no regular or express post, or otherwise working in a form of self insurance against the odd bad buyer.
I will keep you posted on how thing turn out, but you can check it out for yourself by checking out the eBay announcement boards and the forum boards.
