Automatic Default Payment

[newhope3]

Anyone know how to remove the automatic default payment from their credit card information? I was making an offer on an item and it would not let me put in the offer unless I agreed to this. Stupid me clicked on it thinking I could remove it later but it won't let me. I've deleted my credit card information and when I put it back the default is still attached to my credit card. It's so unnerving to see a payment just to through automatically like that. It's not allowing me to control when/if I will pay. I often chat with sellers and we make agreements to payments/discounts etc. but my payment went right through without my permission but I guess it's my fault because I really did give permission. eBay did not even give an option to say "no" to the default automatic payment. I did not realize what I got myself into. Ugh! I did a Live Chat with eBay but I got ZERO help. You would think because they pretty much trapped me into this method of payment that they could easily reverse it but no such luck. Googling info but none of the suggestions work. HELP PLEASE!

[newhope3]

Thank you! EXACTLY my feeling.

[bevimortime-0]

If this Auto-Default payment cannot be removed, it is bye-bye to Ebay.  I will not allow a withdrawal to be made without my permission. This is an open invitation to being hacked. Boloney on automatic default payment. 

So, if someone knows how to remove the ADP, please post.

Thank you

[buckchow83]

A completely unacceptable workaround that you can try for now is to click on the "Hi User!" thing in the upper-left, then:

Account Settings -> Personal Information -> Payment Information -> Payments
select Delete under the payment option that is the "Default for offers and auctions"

Ensuring that sellers are paid by legitimate buyers is very important, but giving buyers the right to NOT have auto-payment enabled in their accounts for security is also very important. Allowing combined shipping for multiple auction wins to continue to be possible is also highly useful for motivating purchases / encouraging sales, and being forced to automatically pay full shipping on every auction and BIN/BO transaction from the same seller is a mess.

The absolute minimum before a full rollout should be to give buyers the option to have no default and manually specify the payment method when making the first offer or first bid on a listing. The effort involved is equivalent to manual input of payment info every time at checkout (which is what I've always done to protect payment information). This still doesn't solve the combined shipping problem and sellers are basically forced to issue partial refunds which can get complicated if later a partial or full refund with or without a return is necessary for any reason.

Also, regarding forcing non-paying bidders to pay: those people are generally highly disreputable and forcing them to pay is begging for illegitimate negative feedback and returns. I don't for one second see that ending well. I haven't sold anything for a while, but if I start selling again I would NOT want those people to be forced to pay and have to deal with their disruptive and/or damaging behavior. I would much rather they not pay, the transaction be invalidated, and move on with the absolute minimum of trouble.

[newhope3]

I know exactly how you feel. This is why I reached out for help in the eBay Community. Anyway, I have an update of good news: I deleted my credit card information and waited 48 hours. Then, I went back in and added my credit card again and this time there was no  automatic default payment attached to my credit card. Although, I'm not sure if  I'm in the clear just yet. I will  know once I make another offer or bid to see what happens. I will post another update at that time. Might be a while though, I've been buying from Amazon lately. 

[buckchow83]

Apparently another problem with this whole thing is that it's no longer possible to include a message at checkout (which plenty of sellers request for various purposes). The terrible workaround is to set the default payment method when forced to, then delete the default payment method which usually requires logging in again, then go through checkout normally and include a message when the auction ends or the offer is accepted. Then do it all again. And again. And again...

[lacemaker3]

---

@newhope3 wrote:

Not really grumbling.  Would just like a choice and control over my own credit card.

---

I don't blame you for that. I agree.

Since you experienced this, you are now in the test group of buyers who have to pre-authorize a payment in order to submit an offer. So unfortunately, its going to keep happening to you, (almost) everytime you want to send an offer. (Some sellers are not participating, it's optional for the seller, but eBay defaulted it to "on" so unless the seller turned it off, their listings are in the test.)

I was in the test group for a while, but I refused to do it. I did not submit any offers while I was required to pre-authorize the payment. I would start to send an offer, reach the requirement to provide payment information, then back out. Since this is a test, eBay is monitoring what happens with offers, and what the effect on sales is. Perhaps because I refused to participate, I was eventually taken out of the test group.

When I couldn't make an offer, I would instead send the seller a message and ask them, politely, to send me an offer if they were willing to accept less than the asking price (only for listings with best offer, which indicated that they were willing). In every case, the seller sent me an offer, and I didn't mess around with countering, I accepted and paid immediately. So the sellers had nothing to complain about. I always pay ASAP for my purchases.

This business of being "defaulted" into having eBay store your credit pre-authorization information appears to be new. I think you might have been able to avoid it, and just pre-authorize the single offer that you were making at the time, if you had scrolled down or searched for a way to click-through, but now that you have done it, there may not be any way to remove it.

If you can't find any other way to delete the stored pre-authorization information from eBay, you would be able to accomplish the same thing by asking your credit card to cancel that card and send you a new one. It should have a new number on the card, but they can do that and it would still be the same account. Then the old number, that eBay tricked you into letting them keep and store, won't work anymore, but you will still have the same credit card account. That's a major inconvenience, I know, and it shouldn't be necessary, but it would work.

[47acc_37]

Forcing a default payment method for offers is idiotic, but this is eBay where they STILL do that "we hid half the results because WE determine what is relevant to you!" on searches. And if I want to pay with a different method? I can't.

They still refuse to make sellers offer combined shipping, too. USPS doesn't have a free service so it should not be offered as such here. If I have to pay $12 combined total on first class packages, I either do not buy or I knock the seller down a few stars. This is yet another thing that's going to tick off a lot of buyers for being pointless.

The day they require immediate payments on everything & no combined shipping discounts whatsoever, is the day I stop shopping here.

[newhope3]

I'm sorry folks in this wonderful eBay Community for trying to help me. Apparently I have no idea what I'm doing. I have been replying but it does not go through. Anyway, just say this now and hoping that everyone that tried to help me and all of the folks who posted suggestions will get to read this.  I found the solution! Just delete your credit card information for about 48 hours, then go back into your account and add back your credit card information. So far so good and I just made a purchase and the default payment was not attached to my credit card. YAY! Hope this never happens to anyone else but I'm glad I'm not stuck with the default payment anymore. My next step was going to be to close my account. Thank you all again for all your help, suggestions and conversations. 

[wpwino]

I understand the reasoning behind the ADP, at least from the seller's point of view. When they accept an offer on an item, it's removed from the marketplace. If the buyer is slow to pay, or doesn't pay at all, not only has the seller missed out on other opportunities to sell the item, but they have to cancel and relist.

A solution to this dilemma would be: when an offer is submitted, inform the buyer that if a seller accepts their offer, the item can still be sold until payment is made. Make the buyer agree to that, not the ADP. Meanwhile, the item stays listed until payment is received. This means that if someone else's offer is accepted and they pay quicker, or if the item sells immediately at full price, the sale goes to that buyer. This would be an incentive for buyers to pay quickly, and if they don't, sellers will still maintain the ability to sell the item.

[ruby_c_took]

Personally, I pay with a different method within my Paypal account on different listings, and this 'default' payment method just automatically uses my Paypal default and doesn't let me choose, which isn't really acceptable to me as a buyer.  I already deleted the automatic payment source once just to add it again for another offer, after which I will remove it.  From now on I'm going to try messaging the seller and asking for an offer instead as one person suggested.

---

@lacemaker3 wrote:

 (Some sellers are not participating, it's optional for the seller, but eBay defaulted it to "on" so unless the seller turned it off, their listings are in the test.)

---

I looked in my seller account for a place to turn it off, but I can't find it.  Could you tell me where it's located?

[ruby_c_took]

Apparently I can't edit my posts.  Anyway, I found it.  For anyone else looking, it's under "Selling preferences" -> Click "Edit" next to "Managing who can buy from you" and it's the last checkbox on the bottom of the page.

[chelly101]

This same situation happened to me as a buyer right as I was about to bid on an item which was upsetting. EBay doesn’t seem to feel they need to notify anyone in advance of changing their business process. As a long time EBay user (20 years) and a buyer who pays immediately this has made me reconsider not using EBay going forward. On top of that EBay stopped recognizing my default payment method and wants me to enter another yet another credit card. The whole system is becoming so convoluted for buyers and sellers it just may not be worth using as a seller or buyer. 

[newhope3]

I totally understand what you're saying and I too considered not using eBay anymore but being a long time buyer like you shows that we do enjoy shopping on eBay so I think they've kind of got us cornered.  Amazon has been giving me more problems than I care to even explain (I'd have to write a novel). Anyway, moving on,    I posted an update on a solution that I'll share again now with you: What I did was take remove my methods of payments entirely for about 48 hours. Then I went back in and added my preferred method of payment. And now the default payment method is not attached to my credit card anymore. YAY! But the problem still exists when you want to place an offer. eBay forces you to choose the default payment method. It's so unfair to people like us who are good/honest buyers and pay immediately. So, you can just keep letting it attach the default payment method every time you make an offer and then remove your payment method, wait 48 hours and add it back again, or do what I do: I contact the seller and give them my offer. Most sellers are kind enough to accept and then send me a bill or an offer. I really do understand how you feel. Thanks for sharing  your thoughts and experiencing regarding this very unfair new eBay method of payment. Happy shopping to you and have a great 4th of July weekend.

[ruby_c_took]

I'm paying more for items now since I will often think about contacting the seller and making an offer, but it's easier to just pay the Buy it Now price.  Perhaps this outcome is one they wished for as well.

[newhope3]

I know what you mean. I've been lucky so far in that sellers have responded to my offers via message with the exception of a few that don't reply at all so I end up doing the "but it now" option and yes, I pay more as well. So I hear ya!  This Default Payment sometimes sound illegal only in that it does not give an option to bypass. It forces you to either sign up for the default payment or you can't make an offer. Sounds like hijacking to me. LOL!  But I guess it must be legal in someway or eBay would not be forcing us to get that nasty default payment attached to our credit cards. Ugh.