eBay Forcing you to give your checking account with routing number and Social Security number

[loriv8473]

Forcing you to give your checking account with routing number and Social Security number . I am not a big seller I just sold a few things I never used that I had then eBay locked my account AFTER selling some stuff saying I had to update my account. I refused to give my private information. I called eBay and of course I was tossed around from one person to another. I asked them why PayPal doesn’t ask you that kind of private information they allow you to use your bank card like a credit card and do two small deposits with one withdrawal to verify. If you are a business they only require your EIN number.  Never do they ask you for your private information. Brittany from eBay the last woman I was talking to said well PayPal is a Financial company and a eBay is a market place. Ok so that supposed to make me feel comfortable giving Them my private information? That is supposed to tell me it’s Secure to do so? I had to ship the stuff I sold to the people because I’m not a jerk but eBay won’t give me my money. I told Britney I was deleting my account she sent me the link. Once I know the people received what they purchased ( because I’m honest)  and want to make sure they got it even though it cost me money. I WAS a victim of fraud twice. My SS# was stolen and it ended up freezing my tax returns and the second time I had my bank account drained. I was told by the police to NEVER give your SS # out other than in person and never give your routing # out unless it’s in person or a government site which have very high security and Only if you need to exp: direct deposit tax return. I have never given it out since. There is NO good reason eBay needs that. They have documentation they took the sales tax out. Personally I think anyone that got ripped off by eBay and they will not give them their money back need to get together and sue eBay. 

[pburn]

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@readabouthorses wrote:

@pburn 

All I'm asking is ... if I change my CONTACT information to my physical address then what methods of CONTACT will that address be used for. If the physical address is just for verification then don't call it CONTACT address.

So my question all along has been, contact how? 

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I don't know the answer to that. All my communications from eBay are via email. I've never had them mail me anything. Have you? Even the 1099s are available electronically. It may just be an unfortunate choice of wording, but I don't the answer. Sorry I didn't pick up on your concern about the definition of "contact" as I read your previous posts.

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@readabouthorses wrote:

And even if I change my contact address to my physical address, it still won't be the address that will show on any bank statements I would provide because bank statements are sent in the mail so would require I provide a valid MAILING address to the bank.

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I addressed that potential problem in the first paragraph of my Message #222; however, I still contend that a call or visit to your credit union could resolve this question in about ten minutes. I'm confident they would comply with recording your residential address and still mailing statements, etc., to your post office box.

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@readabouthorses wrote:

I still can't believe that no one in the whole eBay Adyen system did not see this coming? 

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Again, it's not an eBay/Adyen requirement--it's a federal law that requires them to obtain a physical address from new enrollees into the Managed Payments program. The federal law reads:

[readabouthorses]

All they have to do is change the info from Contact Address to Physical Address for one section and Mailing Address for another section. Then they would have all the info they need and still have no problem with a PO Box address on a bank statement. Good grief ... I'm an 80 year old woman and that was easy for me to figure out.

I do wonder why PayPal is OK with the PO Box as the contact address. What makes eBay need it and PayPal doesn't?

[hobbiesin3d]

yes, they are forcing you to give info they do not need. they do have a feature if you try to cancel out of giving your bank password and login to enter routing number and account.

they are ballsy to think we should trust them with login info. why on earth do they need to log into your bank for you? in the days of cloud computing where the cheapest servers are bid the most scrupulous of countries are holding our data, and there is no set level of proper security for our data, and companies loose data to hackers weekly. 

[pburn]

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@readabouthorses wrote:

All they have to do is change the info from Contact Address to Physical Address for one section and Mailing Address for another section. Then they would have all the info they need and still have no problem with a PO Box address on a bank statement.

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@readabouthorses 

That would be a good suggestion to discuss with the Managed Payments customer service reps or in a Weekly Chat that might be dedicated to Managed Payments questions. 

Again, I'd be interested in knowing whether eBay has ever mailed you anything? All this angst over "contact" versus "primary" versus "physical" versus "mailing" may be totally unfounded.

I've related everything I've been able to research about the law(s) surrounding eBay's request for a physical address. I've offered several suggestions to help you solve your problem. Unless and until you've tried those suggestions and found them to be unsuccessful, I consider my participation in the discussion to be at an end.

Sometimes, the way we're going about solving a problem is an indication of our preference to keep it a problem. It's often easier to continue to complain than to try to come up with a solution or make any kind of attempt to pursue possible remedies.

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@readabouthorses wrote:

I do wonder why PayPal is OK with the PO Box as the contact address. What makes eBay need it and PayPal doesn't?

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If a person was an "existing customer" of PayPal when the relative section(s) of the law(s) were passed, they may have been considered exempt from updating certain information. 

I don't have a post office box, so I used a physical address when I signed up for PayPal. I don't know why they accepted a post office box when you opened your account, but I do know PayPal will not accept a post office box as a primary address now. Have you gone into your PayPal account to confirm you've entered a post office box as your primary address? If so, try changing it to a different box number and see what happens . . . 

[readabouthorses]

My PayPal started out with a PO Box, was changed to my physical address when I moved here and had a rural mailbox and then changed back to a PO Box when my mailbox got taken out by the hurricane. Maybe my PayPal account has some special tag on it because I was supposed to use a physical address when I set it up because they actually mailed you a letter in the mail with a code to enter when you set it up. PayPal Damon who was our PayPal rep here on the boards helped me get around it and helped me set it up for PO Box and using savings account. I've had this PayPal account since 2001.

As far as eBay mailing me things in the mail ... yes, I've gotten certificates, I got some pens, I got a cute rollup calculator, some stickers ... those were sent to the PO Box.

[mam98031]

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@hobbiesin3d wrote:

yes, they are forcing you to give info they do not need. they do have a feature if you try to cancel out of giving your bank password and login to enter routing number and account.

they are ballsy to think we should trust them with login info. why on earth do they need to log into your bank for you? in the days of cloud computing where the cheapest servers are bid the most scrupulous of countries are holding our data, and there is no set level of proper security for our data, and companies loose data to hackers weekly. 

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@hobbiesin3d 

There is NO REQUIREMENT to give Ebay or anyone else your login information.  Not one.  It is a CHOICE sellers can make when MP requires some additional information from a seller.  If you don't want to do this, then DON'T.  You have the right to choose.  Simply drop down to the bottom of that screen and use the alternative option.

FYI Bank routing numbers are PUBLIC information.  Anyone can obtain it without even having an account at that bank.  In fact most have it listed on their Websites.

Some want to make a whole lot out of this that just isn't here.

As to security.  You are ASSUMING they have no protection.  Ebay is 25+ years old and has NEVER lost anyone's account data or financial info due to a site wide hack.  

You have every right to make your decision to stay or go.  But dreaming up problems simply isn't necessary.  You don't need a reason other than you don't want to.  

[mam98031]

@pburn 

We have been trying for almost a full year to get reps from the MP team to come to the Weekly chat, they have never made an appearance.  I brought this up again about 2 weeks ago and the Chat team says they continue to try to get them to come but they don't.

[brakelever]

I am in the same boat.  They have $50 a buyer paid.  The will not give my the $$ until I enter a bank account .... fricking scary and feels like extortion 🤬.   So now when EBay gets hacked the hackers can drain my PayPal account and my checking🤯.... time to open a new low balance free checking account to appease EBay.  

[mam98031]

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@brakelever wrote:

I am in the same boat.  They have $50 a buyer paid.  The will not give my the $$ until I enter a bank account .... fricking scary and feels like extortion 🤬.   So now when EBay gets hacked the hackers can drain my PayPal account and my checking🤯.... time to open a new low balance free checking account to appease EBay.  

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@brakelever 

It is the only option MP has to move the money out to you.  So without that information their hands are tied.  

Why do you feel Ebay is a sure thing to get hacked?  How would hacking Ebay put your PP account in the line of fire?

I and others often recommend opening a separate checking account for having your internet sales deposited into whether it is from Ebay, Etsy, Amazon or any other site.  Bookkeeping is much easier when you don't mix it with your personal transactions.

[cwp00]

I 100% agree with you and I am done selling.  20 years and over I do not know how many items (casual seller, NOT a biz).  FB Marketplace, Offer Up, Etsy-too many other choices. 

[mam98031]

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@cwp00 wrote:

I 100% agree with you and I am done selling.  20 years and over I do not know how many items (casual seller, NOT a biz).  FB Marketplace, Offer Up, Etsy-too many other choices. 

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@cwp00 

Certainly this is your right to make this decision for yourself.  Keep in mind the grass isn't always greener on the other side.  Make sure you do your homework when deciding on a new site to sell on.  For example Etsy has the exact same money processing system as Ebay / MP.  Offer Up also has their own and I think [not sure] that the item has to be delivered and accepted by the buyer before the seller is paid.

[hobbiesin3d]

if it is not immediately obvious that you can choose, then it  is a deceptive practice. ebay menu defaults to asking you to providing bank log in permissions, which they have no reason or need to know. 

[hobbiesin3d]

my issue  is with the default requirement to provide my bank login information so they can pretend to be me.

also ebay hack 2014:

https://www.ebayinc.com/stories/news/ebay-inc-ask-ebay-users-change-passwords/

[yuzuha]

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@hobbiesin3d wrote:

if it is not immediately obvious that you can choose, then it  is a deceptive practice. ebay menu defaults to asking you to providing bank log in permissions, which they have no reason or need to know. 

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I was never even given the option to log in when I signed up-- the only choice was to enter my details manually.

[chapeau-noir]

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@cwp00 wrote:

I 100% agree with you and I am done selling.  20 years and over I do not know how many items (casual seller, NOT a biz).  FB Marketplace, Offer Up, Etsy-too many other choices. 

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Better not use Etsy - they have the same payment system (with the Adyen back-end) as does eBay.