VICTORY !

eBay users in Australia will tonight be celebrating like there is no tomorrow.

In a short, terse, and subliminally petulant announcement, eBay Australia have posted on their announcement board that they have scrapped the intended PayPal-only policy for the site.

The announcement includes the opinion that, “We have decided to withdraw the notification to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay Community“, which will likely anger some of the paying customers who were in no confusion that they didn’t want their freedom of choice restricted, nor their fees increased by being tied to an eBay revenue channel.

The announcement also states that the newly introduced Seller Protection Policy (SPP) changes will remain in force, and rubbing salt into the sores, there is a muted gloating that PayPal must now be offered as an option on all listings displayed on the site. The latter point bringing to mind reports of problems for UK sellers trying to add Australia as a shipping option to their listings, even when PayPal is selected as a payment option - this was reported extensively in the eBay UK forums last weekend.

Further Australia-UK issues are sure to appear regarding the differences in the PayPal SPP - the Australian policy requires only proof of despatch, whereas the UK requires online proof of delivery - concepts that are further apart than just half a planet’s airmiles, and sure to be exploited, under the new feedback regime, by buyers.

Ed

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