Stir about new policy on the auction

By mid-June the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is going to make a ruling before eBay starts its policy of forcing all items to be paid by using PayPal.

Interestingly, according to reports eBay is planning to launch similar policy in the USA. Some people think that in spite of eBay's statements that "a PayPal-only policy is imperative in Australia but not on other sites" the movement of the auction represents " a test case to learn how to deal with a government regulators before moving on to other countries".

A survey from eBay outlining scenarios was recently released to clarify some questions concerning the rewards customers will receive in case they follow all the regulations introduced by eBay on using only payment tools approved by the auction and the alternative methods available.

Thus according to the eBay survey "paper forms of payment such as personal checks, cashier's checks and money orders would no longer be allowed". Only these are to be admitted:

• PayPal
• Certain other electronic payment methods currently allowed on eBay, such as Xoom and Propay
• Credit Card or Debit Card payments made directly to the seller's Merchant Account (Sellers would need to acquire a Merchant Account from a bank or other provider)
• In person payment for local pickup items

566 submissions were sent to the ACCC which is determined to ascertain if eBay Australia's new policy violates trade principles and competition laws.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is supposed to step in the issue.