Mayday! eBay raises white flag over forced PayPal in US

By Stan Beer
Tuesday, 13 May 2008 07:02

Opinion and Analysis

The public outcry over eBay Australia's intentions to introduce mandatory use of its PayPal online payment system has forced the US office of eBay onto the back foot. eBay, through a spokesperson on the company's official blog has stated publicly that the world's dominant online auction site will not try to introduce PayPal-only transactions on the site in the US.

The statement from eBay corporate communications spokesperson Usher Lieberman on the eBay Ink blog has raised eyebrows in both Australia and the US because of the schizophrenic nature of the company's policy. While Lieberman states emphatically that eBay will definitely not try to introduce PayPal-only in the US, the blog still proudly crows  "PayPal To Be A Required Payment Option for AU Sellers" on a link from the blog's home page to a story by Laurel Kline.

It appears that what's not good enough for US consumers is quite alright for Australian consumers, according to Lieberman's statements.

"In the US, we are not mulling, planning, or otherwise seriously considering a move to PayPal-only. There are US market-specific reasons why PayPal-only is something we simply cannot do in the US," says Lieberman.

Lieberman does not elaborate on what "market-specific reasons" prevent eBay from introducing PayPal in the US but allow it to do so in Australia. However, in an ambiguous statement the eBay spokesperson also says: "we will take what we learn in Australia with PayPal-only and apply it accordingly."

Lieberman then invokes differences in local markets saying: "We are a global company that has been successful, in part, because we allow each market to operate in a way that is both uniquely eBay and uniquely local." CONTINUED