I refused to accept Managed Payments and left Ebay.

[kyleespapa]

23 Years ago, a friend showed me this new website called Ebay.  I was immediately hooked.  I began buying and selling within weeks. 

Back then, selling was a hassle because getting paid was a hassle.  Then came Paypal.

In my opinion, Paypal was the magic sauce that made Ebay work.  

I sold on and off for the last 23 years.  I retired, and planned on using Ebay as a source of income in my retirement.

Over the recent years, my opinion of Ebay began to decline big time.  

A couple of years ago, they instituted their GOOD TILL CANCELLED for Buy It Now listings.  I sold collectables and that policy KILLED my sales.  I tried to get the policy changed, but Ebay didn't care.  They were MANAGING my sales, and it killed me.

A couple of months ago, I was notified I was being forced into Managed Payments.  I read about the program, and didn't see any benefit for ME.  

I spoke with several dedicated Managed Payments reps, and again, there was no benefit for me as a seller.  I clearly told every rep that the day Ebay forced MP on me was the day I would leave Ebay.

I begged to postpone to a later time.  Covid19 is rampant, and now isn't the time to add insult to injury.  They didn't care.

That day was Sept. 1. 

So, as I sit here, a trusted friend I've had for 23 years is gone.  I removed all my listings, I'm no longer selling on Ebay.

Now, I understand Ebay could care less about me.  That's become obvious over the last several years.

If 10, or 100, or 1000 sellers leave, Ebay won't care.  BUT, if 10,000 or 100,000 leave, at some point, Ebay HAS to care.

I made my statement by leaving, and telling Ebay why I left.  If you feel as I do, make your own statement.  If Ebay is going to force sellers to choose MP, it should be better then Paypal.    

[magic*moonbeams]

I agree with you 100% but for waiting is like being in the 1990s... I think they 1990s were faster. 🙂 You can do instant transfers from one site to your bank account or one account to another,  the money should also be able to be instant transferred from sales..   

[magic*moonbeams]

This site and their way of business is antiquated.   Yes they are still the biggest fish in the sea, but that will change.  Just need another site with respectful rules for both sides (both buyer and seller) and once someone does that, bye bye.  Somebody with the time and enthusiasm to replace this site will make a TON of money 🙂

[ghost-star]

MANAGED PAYMENTS ISN'T TOO BAD, BUT THERE IS ONE HUGE PROBLEM WITH IT: THEY WILL PULL FUNDS FROM YOUR LINKED CHECKING ACCOUNT WITHOUT NOTICE.

There are many issues with Managed Payments (MP), but most of them will be corrected or improved once the system matures. Currently, MP does not have the same financial institution status as Paypal had, which is why some Paypal features are lacking in MP (e.g. the ability to keep funds in our eBay account for as long as we like and transferring funds to our bank account when we want and how much we want).  Also, partly due to the pandemic but also partly due to MP still experiencing growing pains, the customer support for MP is horrendous, with a lot of the reps parsing out incorrect and contradictory information, which personally has led me to lose several hundred dollars over the past four months of being enrolled in MP. 

All of that can be accounted to an immature system that will gradually improve. However, here is the worst part about Managed Payments: they reach into your bank account and take funds out WITHOUT NOTICE. Now, technically, Paypal had the ability to pull funds out of your bank account as well, but they never used it, at least not with me. I was with Paypal for 15+ years, and my account was negative several times, and never did Paypal reach into my bank account to pull money. And if they had, I'd bet they would have sent out an email notifying me of the action. 

However, last month, eBay's Managed Payment pulled out money directly from my bank account WITHOUT NOTICE either before or after the transfer of funds. MP had issued their daily payout, so my eBay balance was at zero. Then I refunded a buyer, so my balance was negative. Within a couple days, eBay evened out that negative balance by reaching into my checking account. This is fine with me, except they issued no warning. This means when I balance my checking account from now on, I always have to be wary of pending eBay returns and devise a system that prepares for POSSIBLE future returns. This is a huge problem for me since some of my items are very expensive, and a return of an item worth a couple thousand dollars would be devastating for my monthly account balancing. 

I actually like Managed Payments. It makes it much easier for me to deal with buyers who try to game the system. When the system was divided between eBay and Paypal, I had to make sure to play by the rules of both sides and would sometimes have to deal with a single buyer opening multiple cases (I once had a buyer open an eBay case, escalate that eBay case, then open a Paypal case, escalate that Paypal case, then open a second Paypal case on the same dispute ticket, then escalate that second case, then finally file a chargeback with their credit card). Now, with MP I no longer have to worry about it every going past an escalation case on eBay. 

But Managed Payments reaching into my checking account without notice is a horrifying fact that I just cannot make peace with. 

[mam98031]

"MP does not have the same financial institution status as Paypal had, which is why some Paypal features are lacking in MP (e.g. the ability to keep funds in our eBay account for as long as we like and transferring funds to our bank account when we want and how much we want)."  

PP is the unicorn here, not MP.  The way MP functions is very similar to how the money processing programs work on most other similar sites like Amazon, Etsy, Poshmark, Offerup, Mercari, etc.  Some don't transfer money for a couple of weeks.  PP is the only money processor as flexible.  PP is a money processor like the other are, they have just grown over the years to become more of a wallet than just a money processor.

"Managed Payments: they reach into your bank account and take funds out WITHOUT NOTICE."  Are you sure you didn't get an email that informed you of the money needing to be covered first and giving you a choice of covering it with your bank account or your back up funding source?  That is what they normally do.  Did you just miss the email [check spam] or are you saying they never submitted it to you?

[chapeau-noir]

---

@yragntman wrote:

I have been selling on Ebay since 1999 but unfortunately Managed Payments is not something I want to deal with - - turning over my bank account info to Ebay = not 

- shipping items out before I get paid = not

- trusting Ebay to forward the funds = not

Ebay has had security breaches in the past.  In 2014, they waited over a month to notify customers that their account data was exposed.  Now, they want to be the middleman on all payments - buyer sends money to Ebay, Ebay holds it and tells seller to ship, Ebay then sends money to seller bank account.  What could go wrong?

Does not work for me.

---

The two major security breeches I've been in have both been Paypal. 

[kyleespapa]

Well, guess what?  I paid my last seller fee on Oct 2, $56.00.  I have listed anything since Sept 3. 

2 weeks ago, I checked my Ebay account and found a $21.00 charge.  I spent an hour trying to figure out what it was, to no avail.  So, I called Ebay.

The account rep spent 45 minutes and couldn't find any reason for the charge and removed it.  

In my opinion, Ebay is a corrupt company and will do anything to add charges to sellers accounts.  Their invoice system is very difficult to understand and designed to be confusing.   I left Ebay In Sept and here it is, Nov 19, 2020.   I feel better, have moved on and selling elsewhere.  Good riddance to Ebay.   

[lisalhw1]

I totally understand this!  I have been with eBay since 2000.  First as a buyer, then a seller of things we no longer needed.  I have always been a personal seller, selling my own (or family member’s items) to make a little extra.  Initially, it was to pay for health insurance for my family as my husband worked in a field that didn’t provide it.   Over the years it was simply to add that extra financial  cushion or pay for Christmas or birthday gifts.  And, now selling some left over items from my parent’s now closed store to help pay for my dad’s funeral expenses.  

Jump to November, 2020 - I just received my “demand” to shift to MP and I have spent the last 2 days trying to determine if I was really going to be one of those sellers who ‘pay less in fees’.  I’ve talked to other seller friends who have been using MP for some time, I’ve talked to eBay and read everything I can find in the subject to help me make an informed decision.  Sadly,  I can categorically report that I will definitely pay more ... and be financially inconvenienced and monetarily disabled  by the change. I’ve read post after post about all the issues that have arisen for people forced into that managed payment format - questionable charges; not knowing what the fees would be for each sale until payment arrived and finding they were a lot more than expected; and very late payments into bank accounts.  

I must admit, I do like the idea of having FVF being taken out before payout, but that would be the only benefit.  The biggest issue for me has to do with shipping.  In the past, I’ve been able to pay for each order's shipping directly from the funds received from the purchase.   Now, I will have to front the money for shipping items I have yet to be paid for.  I am not a business seller, with a lot of cash on hand to ship upfront.  I am a personal seller who is selling things to raise money to pay bills.   Selling some things because I need the money.  Things I might not sell if I already had the money.  And, with 8 out of 10 seller friends telling me that they are still waiting for payments from items they had sold (and were delivered) in October to credit to their banks, I cannot justify allowing a corporation like eBay to hang into my sales payout so they earn extra interest on it ... 

In this pandemic, with my husband’s industry still at a standstill and no other money coming in-  this is something I cannot do.  Keeping each transaction separate and paying for shipping right out of the payment from the buyer is what kept me using eBay.  I don’t sell enough to have extra money on hand to ship up front.  And, because of this, I sadly must leave eBay.  After 20 years.  Not looking forward to closing down all my listings before the end of the month, but I guess all good things must come to an end.  

[ron0715]

Same here!

[angwjea]

☹️

[dolliemaker]

I am not a big priced seller.  I sell doll shoes for $5-$9 a pair and I only charge $3.85 to ship.  I, also was just notified that I am being forced into "Managed Payments".  What a nightmare this has been for me.  I have been selling my  personal doll collection and supplies left from making dolls.  I have been on ebay since 1999, have over 5000 feedback ALL POSITIVE and they do this to me??  I am 74 years old, struggle as it is at times with the  computerized world we now live in but this takes the cake.  When I call, reps tell me how great it is and how "User Friendly".  Right now, I am typing this at 11:30 PM instead of sleeping.  It's pretty bad when ebay causes sellers to loose sleep, but this is how upset I am.  To make it even worse, I got a "Payout" for 3 items I sold but I could not find where they took out for the shipping label money.  After 3 calls a Rep at ebay told me the money to pay for the shipping labels is coming out of my paypal account!!  What? I thought Ebay took care of the whole sale?  No one could tell me why paypal is handling the label money.  I looked at my paypal account and sure enough, there was the charges for the 3 labels.  So there "User Friendly" managed Payments worked like this for me.  I sell an item, Pay 12.35% to Ebay on the item price, SALES TAX the buyer pays, and on my shipping label.  I can't find where the items is paid for or not and am told it says "Processing" which means the buyer paid.  That's not what the word "processing " means to me. What's wrong with using an easy word like "Paid"?  When I finally figure that out after clicking on page after page trying to find that "Processing" info, I wait for what is left of my sale to be sent to my bank, then watch my bank account to make sure it gets there, then checking off each item, then go to Paypal check that the correct amount is in paypal for the label I bought at Ebay, then go to my bank account and make sure the correct amount is taken out of my account for each one of the labels.  AND NOW  everybody has my checking account info and putting in and taking out at their will. Doesn't feel very comfortable for me.  Paypal could have very easily bounced my checking account.  I will be leaving ebay too,  but you and all of us are correct in saying Ebay doesn't care who leaves.  They don't care that we have worked hard for our good reputation as sellers, they don't care how long we have been loyal, they don't care how long we have been giving them a portion of the money for our items we are selling.  Do you think they care or will even read any of this?  NO, they will not...What ebay says goes and that's the end of the story.  The other thing that is hurting us sellers forced into "Managed Payments"...for example my situation...other sellers are selling the same doll shoes as me for the same price or less and with FREE shipping.  They can still do that because their fees are lower than mine!  How is that fair? I can't compete with the other sellers prices when my fees are higher than the other sellers! I, also as many sellers, used ebay as a help in my financial everyday living as I try to survive on my small income, but when I come out in the hole on shipping and end up with $2 for a $7 pair of shoes, I'm done wasting my time and energy just to support a very rich company.  Well, no one at ebay will read this or do anything about it, but  I at least got it off my chest.  Thank you to you other sellers who listened to me vent.

[kyleespapa]

Obviously you have no clue about protests and how they work.  I clearly state that I understand Ebay could care less about what I do, but if enough people stand up and don't roll over, Ebay will have to take note.   I don't think you actually READ my post, just deemed it a TISSYFIT,  and added your 2 cents.  And you also don't understand the point of my posts.  I understand that other selling venues use similar payment systems, however, my issue is Ebay, and in my opinion, that Ebay is a corrupt, money grubbing company.   And as for being a QUITTER, guess you've got me there.  I put my money where my mouth is and refused to roll over and get run over by Ebay.  You go ahead and go along, and 6 months, or a year from now when Ebay does something that affects YOU, don't say you weren't warned.   Good luck, you're gonna need it.  

[kyleespapa]

I was sad to read your post.  The current management of Ebay is clueless about what Ebay was.  There are dozens or hundreds of sites that sell new stuff.   Amazon, big box store sites, etc.  For someone looking for unique, one of a kind items, Ebay was the go to place.  That made Ebay unique.  

That's changing because Ebay has decided that they don't need small sellers like us.  They don't understand that you and I, you with your Doll Shoes, and me with my custom made items, are the reason people visit Ebay.  When we're gone, and all you see are mega sellers, Ebay will go the way of Kodak and Blockbuster video.   

I'm hoping that the current management of Ebay gets booted, and new management has an understanding of eBay's place in the market and reinstates it to it's past glory.  Highly unlikely, but always hopeful. 

Check out Etsy, you might do well there.    Happy Thanksgiving.  

[moparfan2010]

I agree with everything you said.  I too saw ebay many, many years ago...it was fun to see what was for sale, then seeing an item I really wanted, I joined ebay and started a buying frenzy that had the local postmaster knowing me by sight!! LOL  Then came the day I wanted to list an item for sale...boom...success there as well.  Then I started selling the stuff I really didn't want or need anymore.  Still this was fun and I got some money to buy other stuff, etc.  It was great, I never had to do a thing, the sale money went into my paypal account and if I wanted something, I just used paypal (funds already there and available) so why not...perfect set up to keep you buying and selling!!  So why now did ebay put up a brick wall for availability of funds?  I know there are those of you who will say, just follow the rules with managed payments and it works fine and if it does for you, great, I truly am happy for you...but again for us smaller sellers (perhaps the ones ebay is trying to shake out?)

it clearly does not work.  We don't have the funding to survive the changeover.  So back a few steps and just look on ebay now to see what is for sale...regressing 20+ years...

One final thought, is it possible that ebay instituted the "good until cancelled" feature for the buy it now option to retain more items listed for sale as more and more sellers decide to follow other selling paths, and fewer items are being listed?  Something to think about perhaps.

Good Luck to You from a fellow former seller.

[moparfan2010]

Would be happy to know your new site, but don't want you to get in trouble here.

[moparfan2010]

You are very correct in what you say, but in the end, in today's world this ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$$) is what makes the decisions.

Thank You for your insightful input, I sincerely mean that.