elgato
Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 17237
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 9:44 am Post subject: eBay.de’s compulsory PayPal policy under investigation |
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eBay is under investigation in Germany to test whether its new rule requiring new sellers to accept payments by PayPal online breaks competition law. As of Thursday, German sellers with fewer than 50 feedbacks are required to offer PayPal as a payment method: they are still permitted to offer other means of payment at the same time. The Bundeskartellamt (“federal cartel bureau”) is investigating whether the company is breaking German competition law.
A spokesman for the bureau said that complaints against eBay were piling up. German eBayers use direct bank transfer much more often than British or American buyers do, and so the imposition of this new rule has caused outrage, primarily because it’s imposing more fees on sellers. Commenters on the eBay Germany sellers’ forum were unimpressed: “well that’s enough reason for me to say goodbye”; “eBay gets less and less attractive”. Sellers who are saying in their listings that buyers must cover the PayPal fees are having those listings ended.
more.. link to news article |
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DaLizardsLair
Joined: 15 Feb 2009
Posts: 4780
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| Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:28 am Post subject: |
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Back when I spent a lot of time on the eBay message boards, I used to check out the International Trading board on a regular basis.
Anyways, at one point, there was a good discussion going about wire transfers and why US sellers wouldn't accept them.
In that thread, I found out that wire transfers are commonplace in the EU, in fact checks no longer exist in most of the member nations, and are free between member states.
In Germany, there is a law that states that any expenses incurred by the seller, in regards to accepting payment, MUST be paid for, by the BUYER.
Which could explain why the sellers in Germany are stating that they expect the buyers to cover the Paypal fees.
Oh, if you were wondering why US sellers don't care to accept wire transfers...
1. Most of the time, they are not free to accept. Banks charge up to $30 to accept them.
2. Most sellers in the US are afraid to provide the banking details to the buyer. |
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