Is there a way to turn OFF eBay's auto payment feature if you win an auction?

[thebat86]

Main questions: Can you turn off eBay's auto pay if you win an auction? 

Paypal has a pay in 4 installment plan that I would like to use on certain things I'd like to purchase, but I can't do that if eBay auto pays for me.

It seems that eBay automatically pays for an auction for you now, whether you want it to or not. You also can't bid if you don't have a payment method set up (this part I can understand). I'm also aware that it's poor form not to pay for an auction that you win. However, is that so rampant that eBay combats this by automatically paying for you?

I've looked and tried to turn it off, but I haven't figured it out.

[lady_madonna]

@thebat86 

Buyers cannot "turn off" Ebay's automatic payment feature.

[woodland_gnome]

Allowing buyers to opt out of pre-authorization of payment when they make an offer or bid would defeat the purpose of the program (which is NOT to make checkout "smoother" or whatever else the PR types are trying to spin it as this week).

eBay had been "experimenting" with requiring pre-authorization of payment for Best Offers for over a year and a half (started prior to Halloween 2021), adding more and more users into the test group required to do so (sellers can opt their listings out of it which some do who depend on attracting buyers by offering a discount for combined shipping). Too many users were making offers and then not paying when it was accepted, and too many of those were scammers who would try to get the seller to text or email them to get their number/email address to send fake payment messages to.

In Fall 2023 they made it permanent and all buyers are now required to pre-authorize automatic payment for Best Offers they make on listings for sellers who have not opted out of the program. They started trying it out on auction bids (with a smaller group of buyers that is growing) in Spring or early Summer 2023 and that is ongoing with more and more auctions and bidders becoming subject to it.

You can try to find a seller who opted his/her listings out of the pre-authorization requirement for offers/bids. Unless s/he says s/he has in the item description you'd need to actually try to make an offer and if it goes through without you having to add or confirm (with links to edit) your shipping address and payment method then s/he has opted out (or if a bid then you haven't been put into the group of buyers required to pre-authorize to bid).

[thebat86]

Thanks for your replies. I guess I'll be using eBay less and less. I can understand why they do it, and for Buy it Now and Accepting Offers, I can understand that. But it's definitely a case of those of us who don't screw buyers over are screwed over because of the bad apples out there. 

You would think eBay would distinguish between buyers who have a high feedback count and rating from the newbies and those who have low feedback and ratings. But I guess that's too difficult an algorithm for their developers to write. So just take the easy route and punish good buyers instead of the scammers, shill bidders, and folks who don't pay for their auctions. I've been there as a seller, (don't sell anymore because the fees favor those who have digital store fronts), but I've been victim to those that bid on multiples of the same item only to buy the one that came out the cheapest.

Oh well, thanks again, looks like I'll be using eBay less and less. Sad really since I've been on eBay almost since the beginning.