eBay continues to flog dead horse by challenging no PayPal only ruling

Stan Beer
Saturday, 14 June 2008 06:45

Opinion and Analysis

In fact, the ACCC has allowed eBay to implement the first part of its PayPal program. From 21 May 2008, all sellers on eBay were required to offer PayPal as one of their accepted payment methods.

That being the case, how can eBay maintain that "the ACCC’s current view delays the opportunity to provide consumers a more secure way to shop on eBay.com.au with confidence." Even if we were to accept that PayPal is the only secure method to shop online (and we don't), since all eBay sellers are now forced to offer PayPal as an option for buyers how is the opportunity for a more secure way to shop lessened?

Does eBay think Australian shoppers are knuckle-heads that need to be forced to use PayPal for their own good? Not likely! Perhaps eBay thinks all Australians are knuckle-heads that can be forced into using a payments system that will put extra money into eBay's pockets with each transaction? More likely!

Quite honestly, eBay appears to be its own worst enemy in this fiasco. eBay has already admitted that it could never implement a PayPal only program in the US - antitrust regulators would never stand for it. Yet now that it has been told by Australia's own regulator that its PayPal only plans are unacceptable, it intends to fight on.

eBay only has to read its own blogs and listen to the vast array of powerful forces aligned against it in Australia (including the Reserve Bank!) to realise how unpopular and futile its PayPal only plan is. Yet eBay intends to risk destroying whatever goodwill it has left among the Australian online shopping community and fight on.

No-one doubts that eBay has the biggest and best online auction site in Australia by far. What a pity the company has allowed greed to sully what is otherwise a great brand.