eBay ban the use of Western Union on ebay.co.uk

[chaoticjelly]

Just logged into my account:

Message from eBay

"The use of instant money transfer services, such as Western Union and Money Gram, as a payment method is now banned on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie

The ban is being introduced with the support of the Metropolitan Police and Western Union and is part of our ongoing campaign to prevent online fraud"

Dear god!!!!!!! what's it going to be next..? PayPal only!!! I cant believe that eBay has its users in mind, more like they want more of the slice of pie that is Western Union fees!!!

Now I cant advertise that I accept Western Union or BidPay because if I do I risk - having my listings cancelled, forfeit of powerseller status, forfeit of ebay fees on cancelled listings, limits on account priveledges, account suspension

Bollocks to this!!!!

I dont use Western Union a lot, but isnt it when people bloody as you to pay using it? Like these here Nigerians?

I dont see how BANNING all sellers from using Western Union makes eBay a less fraudulent place?? I mean you can see from their feedback etc... some people can only pay using Western Union....

Totally out of order im really mad about this!!

[chaoticjelly]

Reading on.. here's pretty much the reason in the first paragraph of the new rules as to why they have made this "ban"

-----------------------------

Safe Payments Policy

eBay wants to ensure that a selection of safe and convenient payment methods are offered within the marketplace for buyers. eBay strongly encourages sellers to offer payments through PayPal – PayPal is convenient to use and offers buyers and sellers protection against fraud, chargebacks and theft of financial data.

[Vroomfunkel]

Yeah, I think they are probably gearing up to make Paypal the only online payment service that you can offer.

Which screws over buyers and sellers alike, but makes more profit for eBay. And since they pretty much have the monopoly on online auctions, they can screw everyone over as much as they like and everyone will just bend over and take it.

Roll on Google Wallet .... and Google auctions. Might turn out to be the only real competitor.

Vroomfunkel

[jajaja]

Ebay never had monopoly on online auctions, they are just very well knowned, most because of great marketing and a early start.
It wouldnt suprise me if it went Paypal only, but I take a wild guess and guess that ~90% of all the people who have an Ebay account (atleast in US/UK) also have a Paypal account. This doesnt mean that its the only option to pay tho. You can just send a question to the seller and ask if he accepts other payment methods, should work.

But it cant be done worldwide. Like on ebay.fr and ebay.de very few accepts Paypal. Normal payment method is bank transfer or personal check. I dont think Ebay will "force" all sellers there to get a Paypal account.

For me it doesnt matter if Ebay goes Paypal only.

[Dark_Sol]

The can suck my balls for that! Motherf*ckers.
I cannot use paypal from here and i always pay via bidpay.. If they make paypal only on ebay.com then i'm done.. ! :angry:

[Vroomfunkel]

Jajaja ... read what is said before you reply!

I said they pretty much have a monopoly on online auctions. Not entirely, no - but there is practically nowhere else that comes anywhere near in terms of the exposure / variety of items.

Until there is, eBay effectively have a monopoly and can act as such - i.e. screw everyone over and not have to worry about them going off to use a competitor site. Because they have no competitors. Other auction sites, yes. Competitors, no.

Also no-one has said anything about eBay making Paypal the only payment option - just the only online payment option. They are certainly making it as awkward and inconvenient as possible for people to offer any other online payment service than Paypal - and I wouldn't be suprised if they eventually went the whole hog and made it the only online payment service that you are allowed to offer.

Vroomfunkel

[PS1Expert]

I for one am glad that ebay is doing this. I used bidpay before and got screwed. I have no recourse. I hope they ban the use of money orders in general. Yes, I hate the paypal fees, but paypal really is the easiest to use. I refuse to bid on auctions that don't take paypal now. Because so many ppl are getting scammed with western union it's making ebay look bad. That's my two cents.

[jajaja]

vroomfunkel: Ye, I know what you mean, but i dont think there is something called almost monoply.

[Vroomfunkel]

vroomfunkel: Ye, I know what you mean, but i dont think there is something called almost monoply.

When there is no viable alternative, and a company can behave just as they would if they did have a monopoly, I don't see why you shouldn't talk about it in those terms.

[Vroomfunkel]

I for one am glad that ebay is doing this. I used bidpay before and got screwed. I have no recourse. I hope they ban the use of money orders in general. Yes, I hate the paypal fees, but paypal really is the easiest to use. I refuse to bid on auctions that don't take paypal now. Because so many ppl are getting scammed with western union it's making ebay look bad. That's my two cents.

So what? You can get scammed paying with a cheque too. If you're not happy with that risk, no-one is forcing you to pay with Paypal - just don't bid on the goods that don't let you. But why be a dog in the manger, and refuse to let other people use a service just because you don't want to?

It's not as if you can't scammed through Paypal ... thousands of people do. But hey, eBay make money off that, so it's fine.

Vroomfunkel

[Dark_Sol]

I for one am glad that ebay is doing this. I used bidpay before and got screwed. I have no recourse. I hope they ban the use of money orders in general. Yes, I hate the paypal fees, but paypal really is the easiest to use. I refuse to bid on auctions that don't take paypal now. Because so many ppl are getting scammed with western union it's making ebay look bad. That's my two cents.

Can you tell me HOW exactly people can be scammed by western union???? How is this possible?? @_@

[Vroomfunkel]

Same way you scam anyone! LOL

1. Tell them to send you Western Union payment.
2. Don't send goods.
3. Profit!

Or -

1. Send someone a Western Union payment paid for with a stolen credit card.
2. Persuade the seller to send your goods before the payment clears into their account.
3. Free goods!

First case scenario, you can get scammed like this with any payment system. Second scenario, naive or foolish sellers lose out, but anyone who sends goods out before a payment clears has themselves to blame a little.

*shrug*

Vroomfunkel

[jajaja]

Well.. you do have ebid and QXL in UK for example. I know what you mean, but I wouldnt use the word monopoly with ebay in any way, thats all. Dont want to start a big discussion :)

[Dark_Sol]

Same way you scam anyone! LOL

1. Tell them to send you Western Union payment.
2. Don't send goods.
3. Profit!

Or -

1. Send someone a Western Union payment paid for with a stolen credit card.
2. Persuade the seller to send your goods before the payment clears into their account.
3. Free goods!

First case scenario, you can get scammed like this with any payment system. Second scenario, naive or foolish sellers lose out, but anyone who sends goods out before a payment clears has themselves to blame a little.

*shrug*

Vroomfunkel
LOL
They i don't understand why bidpay are biggest scums than paypal :D

[Kitsune Sniper]

I'm a bit confused about Americans here. Don't get me wrong...

It's just that down here (Mexico) there are two big auction sites, and they allow payment by transfering money from bank to bank; meanwhile, in the US this is like... unheard of for some reason.

Why? I mean, this SHOULD be allowed and encouraged, because transfering from bank to bank would usually mean that there's a record of the money exchanging hands... right?

[jajaja]

Ye, its strange that transfer from 1 bank account to another is hardly used in USA. Its fully possible tho. From the 200+ buys I've done from the USA only 1 time I've used directly transfer to a bank account. Worked like a charm :)

[PS1Expert]

Ye, its strange that transfer from 1 bank account to another is hardly used in USA. Its fully possible tho. From the 200+ buys I've done from the USA only 1 time I've used directly transfer to a bank account. Worked like a charm :)

I'm pretty sure there is a hefty charge to have a bank transfer in the US, especially to an overseas account. Why do most Germans use brank transfers and not paypal is the question.

[jajaja]

Ye, might be. I can transfer to like 30 countries and it doesnt cost me anything in fee. Happy with that :)

[Kitsune Sniper]

Ah, see, down here, bank transfers are FREE. I think that there's a law or something. I didn't even consider the fact that U.S. banks would charge for money transfers from bank to bank... International ones, well, yeah, I can see that.

[Vroomfunkel]

In Europe there is this wonderful system where every bank account has an "IBAN" (International Bank Account Number) and every bank has a a "BIC" (Bank Identification Code). To make a transfer to anyone in Europe, all you need is to get them to give you their IBAN and BIC, and you can make the transfer.

In many European countries, there is no charge to make a transfer like this. Because there isn't really any more to it than a normal transfer.

But here in the UK, the banks all charge about £8 ($15) for this service, which stinks! I mean I don't specifically object to there being a fee, because there may be a nominal amount of extra admin needed - but basically all they need to do is enter those two numbers, and the amount and it is done. So I object to being charged £8 for that.

Still, at least bank transfers within the UK are free. Still, out of the hundreds of ebay sales I have made not more than three or four people have paid by bank transfer.

If they bank with the same bank as me, it is instantaneous! Better than Paypal!! (no fees!)

Vroomfunkel

[Darth Sensei]

Well.. you do have ebid and QXL in UK for example. I know what you mean, but I wouldnt use the word monopoly with ebay in any way, thats all. Dont want to start a big discussion :)

I disagree. Just because there are other options (theoretically) since none of these options is at all a competitor amounts to a monopoly in my opinion.

Therefore, Windows OS to me is a monopoly.

[japancollector]

in the netherland we send money by bank.Its free and witch internetbanking. And its as easy as sending money by paypal.Sending money witchin europa is also free just need the ibamn/bic code

I dont like if someone in the netherlands pay me witch paypal.Because of the fee and the 1 euro to send it to my bankaccount.waste of money.I only accept paypal by international orders

i pay by paypal or sometimes send dollar in regristed envelope.Cannot use bidpay because of mastercard.I think its strange bidpay use mastercard advertisme on there site while they dont accept it

A time ago i have buyed a game from usa.This auction also dont surported paypal.You can send an cheq.I have ask the bank about this.They say to made a cheq it will cost 50 euro .to send it witch insurends 80 euro.The item was 16 dollar i won so it wasnt worth it.But the bank say sending money to usa bankaccount is free

a long time ago i did win snatchers for msx on france ebay.It was almost as new .This person wanted to pay by international money postal order or something like that.I did pay this way and costed 16 euro what was a lot of money in that time because we had in that time guldens

it took about a year to recieve the package @_@ .I had losed all hope already .Because france is only 2 a 4 hours driving from here

in the past cost also money to transfer money to another eu account.Remeber i di buy a wonderswan colour from hong kong and transfer money to germany bankaccount.This costed also money then.There was then no euro.I think it has something to do witch this.I think because of this it still cost money in uk

[Satac]

i
in the past cost also money to transfer money to another eu account.Remeber i di buy a wonderswan colour from hong kong and transfer money to germany bankaccount.This costed also money then.There was then no euro.I think it has something to do witch this.I think because of this it still cost money in uk

It's the law - bank transfers in the €uro zone have to be free. So there's no reason for us europeans to use paypal - I use paypal only for transactions in the US and UK.

Banning Western Union is the right step. This system is used in the most frauds and I never heard of anyone using this on ebay anyway.

[jajaja]

Well.. you do have ebid and QXL in UK for example. I know what you mean, but I wouldnt use the word monopoly with ebay in any way, thats all. Dont want to start a big discussion :)

I disagree. Just because there are other options (theoretically) since none of these options is at all a competitor amounts to a monopoly in my opinion.

Therefore, Windows OS to me is a monopoly.

I respect your opinion, but monopoly (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=monopoly) means that someone have exclusive rights to a product or service. Windows OS have never been monopoly because there have always been another OS. For example, Unix came like 20 years before Windows. Same with Ebay, they have never been the only online auction. Therefor I wouldnt use the word monopoly.

[jajaja]

It's the law - bank transfers in the €uro zone have to be free. So there's no reason for us europeans to use paypal - I use paypal only for transactions in the US and UK.

One thing I hate about bank transfer to Germany is that so many banks over there arent connected to the SWIFT network. Since my bank isnt a currencybank I've had problems doing bank transfer to Germany :\ In these cases I wish more had Paypal as option. But on the other hand, I always managed to pay if they dont have Paypal :)

[Vroomfunkel]

Banning Western Union is the right step. This system is used in the most frauds and I never heard of anyone using this on ebay anyway.

This is not the solution! The fraudsters aren't just going to go away because you disallow Western Union payments - they will just use some other scheme or set up.

The vast majority of online frauds apart from eBay involve internet banking. Should we ban internet banking to protect everyone from that? No!

People need to be educated about the risks of signing up for internet banking, or of using Western Union / money transfer - that is more likely to reduce fraud.

Vroomfunkel

[Dark_Sol]

Horrible new from bidpay.

Effective December 31, 2005, BidPay.com, Inc. will be discontinuing operations. As a result, BidPay will no longer offer payment services to the online auction industry. We regret any inconvenience to our users and thank them for their loyal patronage. Customer service will remain available at bidpayservice@bidpay.com through the month of February.

@_@
how i'm gonna pay now from HERE??
Are there any online credit card auction payment services besides bidpay???

[Griking]

Horrible new from bidpay.

Effective December 31, 2005, BidPay.com, Inc. will be discontinuing operations. As a result, BidPay will no longer offer payment services to the online auction industry. We regret any inconvenience to our users and thank them for their loyal patronage. Customer service will remain available at bidpayservice@bidpay.com through the month of February.

@_@
how i'm gonna pay now from HERE??
Are there any online credit card auction payment services besides bidpay???

Well that really blows.

With this news is it safe to say that PayPal has a total monopoly on online payments yet?

[chaoticjelly]

The thing is.. I see few people advertising that they accept Western Union and Bidpay in the UK, but I was under the impression that most of the people who get "scammed" are the ones contacted by Nigerian scammers...

I feel that educating eBay users more would be better than an outright ban on WU payments...

Someone recently bought an expensive system from me on ebay, he was going to pay via paypal but I said I had hoped for a cheque etc so that there would be no fees, he told me that he could send a bank account payment online.. great!

No paypal fees, totally free for me and him, only took 4 days to appear in my account.. pretty damn efficient.

Whenever I buy auctions on ebay.de though, I send EUROS cash, which is cheaper than getting a EURO cheque, or sending an IBAN (my bank charges about £50 !!! to send an IBAN payment - halifax)

Halifax dont even give me an IBAN and BIC.. they suck that much for that kind of thing, ive spoken to them before and none of them know what it is..

Whereas NatWest provide my IBAN and BIC on every statement I get from them, and when I receive an IBAN payment I only get charged £1 to accept it.. which is great. Its also free to bank US dollar cheques up to about £20 (their exchange rate applies though)

I seriously wish people in the UK used bank to bank transfers more often though.. it is in fact much more secure than PayPal and someone on the UK ebay forums made a large post explaining all about how much better bank transfers are compared to paypal.

Ive done thousands of transactions on ebay within the UK, USA, Europe and elsewhere..

Ive had problems a total of 4-5 times with Paypal (chargebacks, goods not received etc) and a total of ZERO times with any other method of payment (personal cheque, postal orders, cash, IBAN, Western Union etc etc..)

Paypal is more safe... pah! NOT :P

[PS1Expert]

Does it matter anymore since bidpay.com (western union) is discontinuing operations?

[Elusive]

The thing is.. I see few people advertising that they accept Western Union and Bidpay in the UK, but I was under the impression that most of the people who get "scammed" are the ones contacted by Nigerian scammers...

I feel that educating eBay users more would be better than an outright ban on WU payments...

Someone recently bought an expensive system from me on ebay, he was going to pay via paypal but I said I had hoped for a cheque etc so that there would be no fees, he told me that he could send a bank account payment online.. great!

No paypal fees, totally free for me and him, only took 4 days to appear in my account.. pretty damn efficient.

Whenever I buy auctions on ebay.de though, I send EUROS cash, which is cheaper than getting a EURO cheque, or sending an IBAN (my bank charges about £50 !!! to send an IBAN payment - halifax)

Halifax dont even give me an IBAN and BIC.. they suck that much for that kind of thing, ive spoken to them before and none of them know what it is..

Whereas NatWest provide my IBAN and BIC on every statement I get from them, and when I receive an IBAN payment I only get charged £1 to accept it.. which is great. Its also free to bank US dollar cheques up to about £20 (their exchange rate applies though)

I seriously wish people in the UK used bank to bank transfers more often though.. it is in fact much more secure than PayPal and someone on the UK ebay forums made a large post explaining all about how much better bank transfers are compared to paypal.

Ive done thousands of transactions on ebay within the UK, USA, Europe and elsewhere..

Ive had problems a total of 4-5 times with Paypal (chargebacks, goods not received etc) and a total of ZERO times with any other method of payment (personal cheque, postal orders, cash, IBAN, Western Union etc etc..)

Paypal is more safe... pah! NOT :P

I'd agree with you, for the most part. However, Paypal is unique in that it offers some accountability if there's a problem somewhere along the line. With a cheque? Oops guv, lost in the post. Never recieved. My dog ate it, etc etc. Cash? Whoops, pocketed by Postman Pat. Never recieved it, and so on. With PayPal there's a definite trail of events - confirmation emails, records on the system, and so on, plus someone to phone and complain to if all else fails. No cheques to clear, no bank details to hand over, no nothing.

It's troublesome, but the most convenient method of payment for Average Joe eBayer.