Paymate complains to ACCC... about eBay's forced PayPal option

By Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 11 July 2008 17:55

Opinion and Analysis

eBay’s woes continue with formerly heavily promoted Australian online payments entity Paymate deciding to lodge its own formal complaint to the ACCC concerning “eBay’s restrictive trade practices”, while eBay users react to this latest development.

Earlier today, Internet payments company Paymate struck back against the Australian arm of global auction giant eBay, “continuing its campaign against eBay’s restrictive trade practices” by lodging a formal complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The ACCC is the government organisation that received a notice from eBay asking the ACCC to allow eBay to force buyers and sellers to use PayPal, cash on delivery, or Visa and Mastercard through PayPal’s payment system.

After a massive outcry, eBay withdrew its notice to the ACCC, but the battle against eBay has rumbled on regardless.

Paymate is an Internet payments company and describes itself as a “secure, accurate and reliable Internet payment service available to individuals, businesses and other organisations.”

Indeed, prior to eBay’s 2002 purchased of PayPal for US $1.5 billion, Paymate was eBay Australia’s preferred Internet payment method, but Paymate faced being struck off eBay altogether had its notice to the ACCC been granted.

Even though eBay’s notice to the ACCC was first issued a draft notice of effective denial, which led to eBay withdrawing its ACCC submission, concern continues unabated that eBay still intends to force sellers to require PayPal as an accepted method of payment.

This has been followed up on eBay listings by eBay ensuring the PayPal logo is markedly larger than other payment methods, thus giving the impression that PayPal is the preferred method of payment, even if this is expressly against the wishes of any particular seller.
 
Paymate’s press release regarding its submission to the ACCC, issued on the 11th of June, notes that: “Effective on and from 21 May 2008, eBay amended its User Agreement and altered the functionality of the eBay Site such that all sellers (including both new and existing sellers) will be required to offer PayPal as one of their accepted payment methods.

“Paymate was invited by the ACCC, as a direct competitor to PayPal, to make a submission on eBay's conduct.”

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