eBay split from PayPal back on the 17th of July 2015 and at the time their operating agreement stipulated that the now separate two companies would work together until at least 2020.
Initially eBay pledged that 80% of payments on the marketplace would be processed by PayPal and PayPal promised that eBay merchants would pay some of the lowest rates offered to non-eBay merchants. However the agreement also allowed for PayPal to pursue deals with eBay competitors and from next year eBay are free to explore other payment options.
There’s no certainty that eBay will start to experiment with new payment structures (the initial agreement could be renewed and extended beyond 2020) but the possibility is interesting. It would appear highly unlikely that eBay would introduce wholesale changes and move away from PayPal so any additional payment options are likely to be complementary rather than a revolution.
The more likely options eBay might choose to add are mobile payment solutions such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay. These could have a significant impact on the marketplace as over half of business is transacted on mobile devices and it would make guest purchases that much slicker. Frankly, buying on eBay for the first time has always been a bit ball ache as you have to set up an eBay account and then set up a PayPal account separately. Sign up is pretty slick and you can complete a guest purchases with a credit card, but even so a mobile wallet payment would speed things up.
Then there are the times when you simply don’t want to use PayPal – often the seller doesn’t want to offer PayPal. For high ticket items PayPal fees are significant compared to say a bank transfer. eBay doesn’t like this as a form of payment as it leaves buyers without protection but the reality is that it often suits both parties for some genuine transactions.
If you could choose to use any payment method on eBay (whether it be as a buyer or offering a payment choice as a seller), which payment options would you want to see made available first? Or are you totally happy with PayPal and would continue to use that as your first preference regardless of what ever other options were enabled?
11 Responses
I’d like to see Stripe as a payment method, I use it on my online meeting booking system, cheaper on fees than paypal and peeps can pay by card with ease!
I also use android pay personally, great for mobile payments 🙂
Ebay should only offer the most popular payment options. This maximises the chances of getting a sale, but reduces the need to manage loads of different payment accounts, with varying fees.
Paypal is fine as a payment option – but there are ways of keeping the fees down, as mentioned on Tamebay, it’s worth checking you’re on the best rate.
The problems occur with occasional chargebacks and buyer fraud, which may not happen so much with other payment options, as they might not have that instant freeze on funds when a dispute or claim is opened.
What we don’t want to see, is a confusing mess of a dozen or so options.
The other possibility is Ebay following Amazon and setting up their own payment system. More fees for Ebay, but potentially less acceptance from buyers.
Stripe just let’s you pay by card you don’t have to have an account, I find more people use it on my website for booking rather than PayPal, suits me, it’s cheaper fees wise than PayPal,
Big thumbs up for mobile payments. I use Android Pay myself.
The biggest change I’d like to see would be the removal of the Pay Now button, so that all purchases are automatically added to the basket. Around half of our buyers, purchasing multiple low value accessories, still pay for each item individually. Which of course makes PayPal very happy.
It’s disgraceful that eBay/PayPal have been allowed to get away with having things set up like that!
Given that paypal have a monopoly on eBay UK, and that sellers are REQUIRED to offer paypal, I would love to see other options available to customers, that do not force either the customer, or the seller, to use paypal.
Equally, its less likely that sellers get hit with random account limitations, which happens with paypal!
Any payment method that removes “Immediate Payment Required” from all my listings would be greatly appreciated. In Germany eBay.de buyers can pay by bank transfer which is why their shopping cart is multi currency & the rest of eBay isn’t.
Bankaccount = no fees! instead of Paypal. Especially for low priced items up to 5 usd.
I’d also like to see Stripe as a payment method, Paypal have had a monopoly far to long and it can be frustrating when they impose random limitations or unfair payment holds or deductions
Bitcoin- get with the program Could have another wallet