Sellers are increasingly exposed to the new way eBay handles chargebacks under its Payments system compared to how they were handled under PayPal, and some are finding it unsatisfactory. (But don't call it a "chargeback" problem - eBay has done away with that term.)
The issue came up during eBay's
weekly chat session on Wednesday when a seller said the system for rebutting chargebacks under eBay Managed Payments is different and not as robust as PayPal's was in the event of a fraudulent transaction.
It's a costly issue, since eBay, like PayPal,
charges sellers $20 if the financial institution sides with the buyer in a chargeback dispute.
Buyers always had the option of filing a chargeback through PayPal, but some say scammers find it easier to do so through eBay Payments. Sellers discussed the issue in
this thread on the eBay boards, where one seller noted sellers had the opportunity to
appeal a chargeback through PayPal, but not through eBay Payments.
And at least PayPal did some screening before they automatically refunded the buyer, a seller said. "You could also contact PayPal and appeal your case. You cannot contact the CC company or the bank since that information is not available to you and eBay will not provide it. Under MP a chargeback is virtually an automatic refund to the buyer, no communication, no appeal, no recourse."
On Friday, a seller filed a report on
Ecommerce EKG in which they described eBay's handling of chargebacks as an "exploitable eBay loophole that needs to be closed."
The seller explained they had sold an item that arrived on time and as described. They noted that despite the fact they accept returns, the buyer opened a chargeback instead of messaging them or at least opening a claim first on eBay.
The buyer's bank backed the chargeback and there was no way to appeal it through eBay, the seller said - he was out the part he had sold, the money for the item - and the fees.
But according to
eBay policy, "When a dispute is opened, you'll receive a notification from eBay. You must respond to the dispute within 5 calendar days of receiving the notification."
We'd like to hear from sellers how eBay handles chargebacks under Managed Payments compared to how they were handled when PayPal processed their payments on eBay. And is there something eBay could learn from how PayPal had handled chargebacks?
There's another thing worth noting about chargebacks on eBay: during the
weekly chat, there was some confusion about the terminology when an eBay moderator said he was not supposed to call them "chargebacks" - they're called "payment disputes" now.
When asked, he said eBay was not trying to change the industry term of chargeback, but said from eBay's perspective, there were two types of post-transaction issues: Requests and Payment Disputes.
"A request would be something under the eMBG - so Returns or Item not Received requests. If those aren't resolved we can be asked to step in and assist.
"A Payment Dispute is a dispute raised by a buyer directly with the financial issuer (bank, credit card, PayPal, etc.). They can also be called "chargebacks", but we call them Payment Disputes."
(eMBG stands for eBay Money Back Guarantee.)
It would seem from the reply that eBay is also now using a different term for "claims" - calling them "requests" instead.
Does eBay Payments Have a Chargeback Problem?
by: LasVagueness 
by: iheartjacksparrow 
by: toolguy