eBay

pbj235711 · ‎03-03-2021

I have two credit cards and a debit card set up as funding sources for my Paypal account. If I use Paypal to pay for purchases on most sites, I get a dialogue that allows me to choose which of my sources I want to use to pay for the item. But on eBay, I never get this choice - it always uses my default source (the bank debit card). I've raised this with Paypal, but they told me that individual merchants can filter out non-preferred payment methods so that the buyer does not have the choice. They suggested I buy the item from a different merchant. I find it hard to believe that this is the reason, because i NEVER get the choice on eBay, and I have made a lot of purchases with many merchants. Do other eBay users get the option to choose a Paypal funding source?

eburtonlab · ‎03-03-2021

Did you link your PayPal account to your eBay account and pay using PayPal in the past?

You should see the option to pay using PayPal at checkout on eBay, unless a particular seller uses a custom checkout (typically that may occur with larger business accounts or retailers), or else if you have set up some sort of express checkout on eBay as your default payment method.

Although this link is old and details may have changed, this page has some info about opting out of Express Checkout that may be helpful:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Payments-Q-A/Enable-Disable-eBay-PayPal-quot-Express-Checkout-...

pbj235711 · ‎03-04-2021

I always pay with Paypal, but I've declined to link it as an express checkout

My problem isn't that I can't select Paypal; it's that when I do choose Paypal, I don't get to choose which of my funding sources I want to use in the Paypal transaction.

eburtonlab · ‎03-04-2021

Check your PayPal account. When I select PayPal at checkout, I am offered all the funding sources I have previously set up in my PayPal account. You may have set up a preferred payment source previously.

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/How-do-I-change-my-payment-preferences-for-in-store-chec...

pbj235711 · ‎03-05-2021

Thanks for the link.

Yes, I have one of my funding methods set as the default - that is the one that is always charged when I buy on eBay.

I've tried to tell my wallet not to have a default method, but it insists.

The help article says "When you use PayPal at the register, the payment will be taken from the preferred payment method" but "With PayPal in stores, you have flexibility to choose which way you want to pay."

So is it possible that an eBay purchase is being treated as a payment "at the register" while other purchases I make count as "in stores"?

eburtonlab · ‎03-05-2021

@pbj235711

Yes, I have one of my funding methods set as the default - that is the one that is always charged when I buy on eBay.

I've tried to tell my wallet not to have a default method, but it insists.

I have a default as well, but that does not prevent me from choosing another payment method that is linked to my PayPal account. Are you sure all your other payment methods are current (not expired)?

Specifically, when I check out on eBay and select PayPal, I see my PayPal options -- the default is pre-selected, but there is a "Change" link to reveal other payment options, and using that allows me to pay via another card or a bank account.

pbj235711 · ‎03-05-2021

"Are you sure all your other payment methods are current (not expired)?"

Yes, I have two others. I know that Paypal thinks they're valid, because on other web sites, it lets me choose between the three. But eBay never does.

pbj235711 · ‎03-06-2021

OK, I've found a workaround.

In my Paypal account, I changed my preferred funding source to "Paypal balance". But my Paypal balance is always zero, so eBay now prompts me with a Paypal pop-up asking me to select one of my other funding sources. I suspect that if I did keep anything in my Paypal balance, eBay would just use it automatically again, without asking me.

So, no reason that eBay couldn't have done this all along. I've since found several reports of this behaviour by other people, with no solution.

eburtonlab · ‎03-06-2021

Glad to hear you found a workaround. That may prove very helpful to others in the same situation.

The behavior may depend on the exact type of PayPal account you have; I have not needed to change my PayPal settings in many years, and it is certain that some default behaviors have changed since then.

I seem to recall that years ago when I kept a balance in my PayPal account, it was the default source whenever I made an eBay purchase, and the balance was always used. At the time I was unable to find a way around that, so I simply stopped keeping a balance there. Many other things have changed since then, too, though.