Ebay & Paypal

[Ali Hipperson]

Osi and everyone else.

The simplest way around these new changes are to do what in fact Osi has already done - i.e. set-up and use a 'stand-alone' account preferably at a different Bank(with no connections to any of your other accounts) for your eBay transactions. When you want to add/withdraw money from that account do it manually at your bank branch over the counter. That way all that is ever at risk are those funds in that 'isolated' account - and depending on that country's banking regulations (which are still fairly good here in the UK) even if your account was compromised by Cyber-Attacks, you will still have some protection from the bank and possibly PayPal in this event. If you keep a 'float' of say $300-500 in the account then you have mitigated any risk capped any possible losses accordingly - on top of protecting other accounts you may hold at any other banking institution.

It seems to me that this change is mainly about eBay making a grab for the % that PayPal is already charging.

Although I have never sold on eBay, all I increasingly hear is a growing dissatisfaction from sellers on there. It's quite possible (as what always happens in free markets) that another similar operator (like ETSY etc) will step in and sweep up all the disgruntled eBay sellers by offering more reasonable terms.

If/when this happens eBay will have been the author of there own demise just because of their own unnecessary greed - it's happened before and it will happen again!

[Nick Regan]

I sell a lot on ebay and had to switch to "eBay managed payments for business some months ago, I did not want to as eBay have a habit of refunding any customer who decides for whatever reason they want to return a unit before the unit arrives back meaning sometimes the customer has the unit and the money.

If they had access to my bank account I lost all control of my finances. I therefore did as Ali has suggested here, and opened a separate account used only for eBay transactions and as soon as It has anything in it I transfer it out of the account, this then gives me 12 hrs notice from the bank if eBay try's to take money out without me knowing.

The fees can be astronomical but the main reason I use ebay is that I can sell to anywhere in the world without worrying about international postage, import duties etc ( eBay Global Selling Scheme) and, strangely enough, international sales are increasing for some unfathomable reason since Brexit. Especially in Italy? Extra import Charges included!

Anyway the biggest problem I had was selling an Item and then having to wait for between four and six days for payment, when I complained about this I was told some guff about the different financial institution types between PayPal and eBay allowing instant payments from PayPal but not eBay. I did however find out that the software ebay uses for paying out is some type of "leaning" software not unlike PayPal uses and as it is used more and more the payments speed up. I now seem to get paid next working day as opposed to 4 to 6 days.

I still use PayPal for any purchases

Don't get me wrong I hate eBay with vengeance but until our own website is up running and secured it serves a purpose, albite an expensive one.

Nick

[Osi Osgood]

Ali, you totally got it! Keep a small balance, then transfer money you make into a totally different account. Just make sure you figure out how much eBay will take in charges, so that, when eBay later takes it's monthly charges, you won't go under 0 and then get penalties from your bank. That way, your savings account isn't in jeopardy in any way, shape or form. Don't trust in that FDIC protection, make sure of your own account, it is in your own best self interest.

[Mitchell Dvoskin]

It is my understanding that with Managed Payments eBay deducts it fees directly from each sale, so there is no longer any monthly eBay bill.

Beware, many banks will cover small overdraws, charging you an overdraw fee and interest on the money. Many of these banks do not give you an opt-out option. This means that if eBay decides to reverse a transaction and there is not enough money to cover the reversal, and your bank decides to honor the transfer, you not only lose the payment but you also have overdraw fees. You need to check with your bank how they handle this situation.

[Nick Regan]

I sell a lot on ebay and had to switch to "eBay managed payments for business some months ago, I did not want to as eBay have a habit of refunding any customer who decides for whatever reason they want to return a unit before the unit arrives back meaning sometimes the customer has the unit and the money.

If they had access to my bank account I lost all control of my finances. I therefore did as Ali has suggested here, and opened a separate account used only for eBay transactions and as soon as It has anything in it I transfer it out of the account, this then gives me 12 hrs notice from the bank if eBay try's to take money out without me knowing.

The fees can be astronomical but the main reason I use ebay is that I can sell to anywhere in the world without worrying about international postage, import duties etc ( eBay Global Selling Scheme) and, strangely enough, international sales are increasing for some unfathomable reason since Brexit. Especially in Italy? Extra import Charges included!

Anyway the biggest problem I had was selling an Item and then having to wait for between four and six days for payment, when I complained about this I was told some guff about the different financial institution types between PayPal and eBay allowing instant payments from PayPal but not eBay. I did however find out that the software ebay uses for paying out is some type of "leaning" software not unlike PayPal uses and as it is used more and more the payments speed up. I now seem to get paid next working day as opposed to 4 to 6 days.

I still use PayPal for any purchases

Don't get me wrong I hate eBay with vengeance but until our own website is up running and secured it serves a purpose, albite an expensive one.

Nick

I should point out here that I have an arrangement with my bank that if a payment out comes in that there are not enough funds to cover they text me and I then have 12 hours to sort it out before it is returned to sender and charges applied, so yes if you do not have this facility then a small float would be essential.

[Osi Osgood]

I like that arrangement! I'll talk to my bank about that!

[Ali Hipperson]

My bank does the same, so most others could/should provide this service even if you have to request it.

Osi/Nick - as an Investigator for over 35yrs I have been devising strategies to 'control' risk for decades indeed before the term was widely known/used.

Of course nowadays with all the 'management speak' it's called 'mitigating risk' - just fancy, nonsense language to make people sound important and 'clever' to the general masses and of course to charge extra 'bucks' 😉

[Ed Gordon]

For anyone in the USA:

Protect Yourself By Account Review

You should only authorize ACH withdrawals from your account through a written form or via the secure webpage of a company with whom you are familiar or have an established relationship. Consumer protection laws such as the Electronic Fund Transfer Act give you 60 days to dispute a fraudulent ACH withdrawal and recover the money. You should check your bank statement every month and make sure you've authorized any electronic payments. If you see a withdrawal you did not authorize, immediately contact your bank with the details.

Business Bank Accounts

Commercial bank accounts are not covered under the 60-day rule to report fraud. The owner of a business bank account has only 24 hours to detect and report a fraudulent ACH withdrawal. With a business account either the transactions must be reviewed daily or some sort of ACH filter can be used to electronically monitor transactions for possible fraud. Banks offer different types of ACH filtering tools to their commercial customers.

Link: https://pocketsense.com/safe-give-ac...eone-6908.html