Why does eBay require default payment method to make an offer?

[dsl64_0]

I recently noticed that eBay is now requiring a default payment method when making an offer and charges as soon as the offer is accepted. I have already had two experience where I bid in multiple items from the same vendor who agreed to combine shipping. Unfortunately, eBay charged me automatically and the seller did not have an opportunity to send an incident for the two items with the combined shipping. I’m both cases, they issued a refund that, with tax, differed slightly from the agreed-upon total. How is this helping?

[buyselljack2016]

It is deterring the occurrence of "non-payment".

Unfortunate side effect is as shown in your instance where a buyer wants to make multiple offers.

A work around for those buyers in the "test" program is to message the seller to exempt "you" from the "preauthorize" requirement that eBay has added to most sellers accounts.

[downunder-61]

Sellers are sick and tired of offers and winners of auctions not paying paid as it costs them time and money.

The drawback is of course, as you say, some buyers purchase multiple. If you come across a seller that has this function enabled, do not continue with your offer, but message the seller and explain the situation and ask if they can turn this feature of for you - it is up to them but most will.

If the seller is unsure how to do this direct them using this link:

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

[mudshark61369]

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

It is deterring the occurrence of "non-payment".

Unfortunate side effect is as shown in your instance where a buyer wants to make multiple offers.

A work around for those buyers in the "test" program is to message the seller to exempt "you" from the "preauthorize" requirement that eBay has added to most sellers accounts.

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@buyselljack2016,

The "TEST" that added certain buyers to the immediate payment option, ended in early 2022, when eBay added the option to seller's buyer payment requirements and defaulted them into it, without an announcement. Now they have added the same feature to Auctions as well without notice. Click on the link provided by @downunder-61 .  You will see that the two options are checked, whereas the other fields w/ options are not. 

Not only does it frustrate buyers who hope to get a combined shipping invoice, for multiple offers, and now includes auction wins, but it also prevents sellers from refunding the tax paid by buyers in states that tax shipping as well the item itself. The seller doesn't know how much the buyer paid in tax for the shipping cost, so they do not know how much to refund the buyer for it. That is probably what happened to the OP who didn't get the refund total that was agreed on.

[erzengelb]

Wait til you get a seller who won't refund because of this.

Last month I contacted a seller to specifically ensure he combined shipping on multiple purchases, and he said yes. After accepting offers on six items, he proceeded to ship them in a single box, but did not refund any of the extraneous shipping charges (and before someone chimes in "why didn't you request a new total?" that's literally the issue here, buyers can no longer request a new total on accepted Best Offers, because it's now an immediate purchase). Unfortunately, I didn't notice he hadn't refunded the difference until days after I had opened the items, and when I contacted him, he immediately took a "that's not my problem" posture, and refused to refund what he overcharged for shipping. As a result, I ended up paying more than double the actual shipping cost, and he received 6 negative feedbacks for refusing to honor his own combined shipping policy, which I verified prior to the point of sale.

Luckily, everyone else I've dealt has happily refunded extraneous shipping costs in this scenario since they changed how best offers work, but Mr Benchwarming-Basketball-Player-At-A-No-Name-Community-College-In-Podunk-Michigan has broken me from making offers on multiple purchases unless the seller offers free shipping. 

eBay's new Best Offer policy is already biting themselves in the rumpus. It's going to impact overall sales sitewide unless they figure out a way to ensure that extraneous shipping charges are adjusted, or allow buyers to request a new total after multiple offers are accepted.

[evry1nositswindy]

As a seller, I am happy about this.  Unpaid offers/auctions are a real problem.  Buyers have no idea how much of a problem this is.

  I can see why some buyers are upset though.  I have never had a buyer want to make offers on multiple items, so I don't see this as a big problem.  If this were to happen, I would just make one listing with the items they were interested in at the agreed upon price.

[ed8108]

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@dsl64_0 wrote:

I recently noticed that eBay is now requiring a default payment method when making an offer and charges as soon as the offer is accepted. How is this helping?

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You need to understand & accept that this is not designed to promote buyer purchasing but an attempt by ebay to cut down on NPB's

I suspect that ebay is fully aware some buyers will refrain from making multiple purchases in future.

Cheers