eBay Bans PayPal in Early Payments Beta

Details are coming out about the new beta test eBay is rolling out in September as it moves to take over payments management from PayPal. 

There's some good news and bad news for sellers, but so far eBay is not releasing details publicly. The biggest drawback is that buyers will not be able to use PayPal to pay sellers participating in the test - a provision that a reader told us he believed would negatively impact sales.

It's hard to see how he's not correct about the impact of the temporary ban on PayPal payments for beta participants. Buyers (many of whom are also sellers) find it convenient and have been drum beaten into using PayPal - in fact, it's the only way to be protected under the eBay Money Back Guarantee buyer protection program.

Note that when eBay makes the final transition, it will allow PayPal on the platform, but apparently not during the initial testing.

Another major caveat: once you sign up, you can't opt out of the test.

Here's some information provided by an EcommerceBytes reader who is being recruited by eBay:

- eBay will accept all credit cards and Apple Pay during the beta test period. 

- They also will only have a 30-day maximum refund period unlike the 6 months for PayPal. (We find that hard to believe, since buyers can always turn to their credit card companies directly to file a chargeback.)

- The payments will be deposited directly into sellers' accounts and eBay will not take out the processing fees from the deposits but will add them to sellers' monthly eBay invoice, "which means you will have use of all your money for a longer period of time."

- "eBay fees for the processing will be 2.7% with no fee for the transaction which is slightly better  that Paypal (right now)."

- eBay will not allow sellers to accept PayPal during the beta testing.

"I am SURE my business would suffer if PayPal was not an option on the beta test and would not participate unless PayPal was an option on the test right from the start," the reader told us. 

Another reader sent us a link to a video from a seller who shared what she learned about the new beta at an eBay Open session. Rebecca, aka Bexa Boss Lady, was still in Las Vegas when she recorded the video after having attended the session on payments.

She was the source for the important tidbit about not being able to opt out of the beta program once you're in. She also said participants would not be able to accept PayPal

If you're at all interested in what eBay is doing with regard to payments, especially if you're considering participating in the beta program, this is a must-watch video.

We sent an inquiry to eBay today asking when it might make available the video of the eBay Open session on payments. 

You can read the email eBay sent inviting sellers to apply for the beta program in this blog post from earlier this month; note the invitation doesn't provide details about the program.