Stan Beer
Tuesday, 13 May 2008 08:02
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
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
