We noted in our editorial this morning (available to email subscribers) that this is the 3-year anniversary of eBay's split with PayPal, meaning eBay would be able to start testing its own payments system on a small scale.
Hours later, eBay sent an email to sellers inviting them to participate in a beta trial that begins in September. And while it didn't provide information about the cost of using eBay Payments, it said there would be special pricing for those who opted in early. (Eventually it will become mandatory for all users.)
eBay had previously announced it would become a "payments intermediary," meaning that while buyers will continue to use various payment methods - including PayPal - they will pay eBay rather than paying sellers. eBay will then disburse payments to sellers. Read more in this
January blog post.
Today, eBay positioned it as a "simpler" way to get paid: "Consolidated pricing: all your fees in one place on one bill, plus special pricing for early opt-in."
Sellers have expressed many concerns about eBay's forthcoming approach to payments. A key concern is how long it will take to receive their funds. eBay said there would be daily payouts, but it said "All cleared funds will generally be paid in a daily batch and directly to your bank account, regardless of how your buyer chooses to pay."
The words "cleared" and "generally" may give rise to concern.
One seller said they worried about what would happen to micro payments, which PayPal offers and makes it affordable to sell items at extremely low prices.
In its email today, eBay provided sellers with FAQs and invited them to take a survey to provide feedback. Here's what eBay sent to sellers:
Tell us what you want to learn about managing payments on eBay.
This will be a multi-year journey, and you've been invited to participate in the initial launch this fall. We want to keep you informed of our plans to manage payments. Before you sign up for managed payments, you may have questions. Here are answers to questions that may be on your mind
1) What are the key benefits?
- One place to sell and get paid: manage all your selling and payments needs from within your eBay account.
- Simpler bills: all your fees in one place on your eBay bill.
- Consolidated pricing: all your fees in one place on one bill, plus special pricing for early opt-in*.
- Daily payouts: direct to your bank account. No need to transfer funds between accounts.
- New ways for buyers to pay: such as mobile payments with Apple Pay.
- Better protection: claim and chargeback seller protections provided by eBay, with one place to manage disputes.
- More control: accept your exclusive invitation now to get a head start on adapting your business to selling and getting paid on eBay.
2) What will eBay's fees be?
In September 2018, you will receive an invitation to participate in our limited initial launch. To access the offer, you'll be prompted to sign in to your account for more information and specifics like fees and additional frequently asked questions.
3) How will I access my funds?
All cleared funds will generally be paid in a daily batch and directly to your bank account, regardless of how your buyer chooses to pay. From your bank account, you can access your funds directly, with no need to transfer funds between accounts. In addition, we're working with our financial partners to enable even more options for speedy access to your earnings.
4) What will I have to do to sign-up?
Your invitation in September will take you to a sign up page for a quick and easy enrollment process. After you enter a few personal details like preferred bank account for payouts and your social security number to verify your identity, we'll manage the rest. We will automatically update your existing account and listings and transfer your existing listings to the new payments model. For new listings, we'll ask you to use Seller Hub's listing page and any existing listings APIs you use.
We're still continuing to work on additional details. If you have other questions, please let us know what you'd like to know about managing payments.
What's most important to you as eBay begins managing payments? Select all that apply.
- How quickly I can access my funds.
- New forms of payment for my buyers.
- How returns and refunds will be managed.
- What protections eBay will extend to me.
- What the discounted pricing will be.
- Other
Please let us know if you have any other feedback. (Text box)
Please don't include any personal information, such as your name, address, phone or user ID in the fields above.
By using this feature and submitting feedback, suggestions or enhancements, you assign to eBay all right, title and interest to all associated proprietary rights worldwide, including without limitation, all patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, moral right, rights of publicity, or other intellectual property rights.
eBay Unveils Payments Beta on Anniversary of PayPal Split
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