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Tue Dec 30 2008 22:06:12

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

By: Ina Steiner

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Amazon.com abruptly announced this afternoon it would no longer accept Bill Me Later (BML) as a payment method effective tomorrow. Amazon had owned a stake in BML - 10 percent, according to one analyst - until eBay's recent acquisition of BML.

eBay completed the acquisition of BML last month, and it seems likely Amazon wanted to get through the holiday shopping season before pulling the plug on the service that lets consumers finance their online purchases without the need for a credit card.

A Bill Me Later spokesperson told me today it would welcome the chance to work with Amazon.com in the future, so it seems certain it was Amazon's decision to stop offering the service. It's likely Amazon didn't want eBay having access to any more of its transaction data and customer information.

Amazon has already rolled out its own online payment service (and does not accept eBay's PayPal service on its site), and it's conceivable it could develop its own consumer financing service as well. It integrated the service on its site and had it running on Amazon.com from July through December, giving it enough data of its own to know the impact on conversion rates.

The question I really wanted to know is what percentage of Amazon transactions used BML during the holiday shopping season, and in which categories and at what price points (one would think consumers would be inclined to finance more expensive items). Amazon has not yet gotten back to me, and would be unlikely to make that level of data publicly available.

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Readers Comments

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

by: Ebay's toast

Wed Dec 31 15:10:59 2008

Here's another one for you. Ebay will fully ALLOW buyers to send a check or MO for their purchase to BML but REFUSES to let buyers send a check or MO directly to sellers.

Hypocrisy is never ending on that site....

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

by: kitty

Wed Dec 31 18:41:30 2008

Alright, I went to Bill Me Later's website, it says:
''No Wallet. No Wait. No Worries.''
''Bill Me Later lets users pay without using a credit card.''

So with no record of a checking account, banking account or any credit card, credit is issued?

Isn't this the stupidest idea ever heard of during a time where most people are losing their jobs or forced to do salary ''give-backs''
Where does the money come from when all this unsecured debit goes uncollected?

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

by: out-of-the-attic-2u

Wed Dec 31 19:13:03 2008

I don't blame Amazon in the least. They are their own legacy why should they ride on the tail of a dynasty that is in control of cyberspace. Just my opinion

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

by: Robert

Wed Dec 31 19:23:19 2008

kitty says:

Where does the money come from when all this unsecured debit goes uncollected?

Robert says:

More than likely PayPal will take the money out of the seller's account if and when the buyers debt goes uncollected. That would be my guess since ebay & paypal handle most all their business affairs in a similar unscrupulous manner.

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

by: kitty

Wed Dec 31 22:04:47 2008

Robert says:

More than likely PayPal will take the money out of the seller's account if and when the buyers debt goes uncollected. That would be my guess since ebay & paypal handle most all their business affairs in a similar unscrupulous manner.

Wow!
This Kitty says, that bites....

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

by: Ebay's toast

Thu Jan 1 07:43:53 2009

They've made some STUPID buys in the past but this one takes the cake. Gawd...if a buyer needs "credit" then they have this thing called a credit card.

If they can't get one then maybe then they probably have had credit and abused it. So...along comes eBay to load up deadbeats with more credit?!?!?!

Sellers will get BURNT bad when this is finally implemented on eBay. Glad I'm no longer selling....uhhh at least on eBay.

eBay's Bill Me Later Loses Amazon Business

by: eBayzos

Fri Jan 2 09:31:45 2009

I don't think anyone was surprised that Amazon discontinued the use of BML on their site, but the way they did it speaks volumes about the relationship between Azon and eBay. By giving a day's notice that BML would no longer be accepted, Bezos essentially gave a one-finger salute to eBay.

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