eBay's discontinuation of accepting American Express as a form of payment

[dippy-dawg]

This is my first time making a post so bear with me.  When I received the email stating that as of August 17, 2024, eBay will no longer accept American Express as a form of payment.  My heart sank as this is the only card that I have.  However, I did find a way around this problem and it required eBay's accepting PayPal as a method of payment. PayPal accepts all cards.  Follow these steps. 

1)  Delete your American Express from your eBay account

2) Set up a PayPal account and add your American Express to the "wallet" This is the scetion where you add your card info.

3) Go back to your eBay account and select PayPal as your prefered method of payment.  The easy way to do this is by making a purchase, select PayPal when you are checking out and follow the steps to link your PP account with eBay. 

From this point forward, eBay will automatically process your payment through PayPal. 

I hope that you find this info useful.  If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Dippy-Dawg

[12345jamesstamps]

Tell me...most people have banking with a bank. And it's free to get a debit card with their bank to buy.

I mean...in order to pay your American Express card you need a bank with an account.

And I would assume if you have an American Express credit card you can afford to get a free debit card with your bank account. 

[dippy-dawg]

I failed to mention one minor detail.  What I have is the pre-paid American Express Serve card.  I have had this card for years.  I chose this card for several reasons.  The first being is that there is no service fee to add money.  Unlike every other pre-paid card on the market.  There is no monthly service fee just to have the card.  Again, unlike every other pre-paid card on the market.  The card is part of the Money Pass ATM network.  Meaning that there are thousands of financial institutions across the country where I can withdraw cash for free.  Remember about a year or so ago when eBay sold off PayPal and started doing all of the processing and depositing of payments in house and they said you needed to have a checking account.  Well, this card has direct deposit capabilities.  This allows me to get my eBay deposits flawlessly and udually within 6 to 8 hours after receiving the email from eBay stating that a payout has been made. 

[tippiejax]

Paypal is not a monetarily good decision for sellers. Paypal charges the seller fees and is low staffed. I once had a Paypal account (as a seller and buyer), but I closed my account and do not accept it as a form of payment. Why? I accidentally over paid them for a credit balance. They held my money hostage for THREE WEEKS, stating that the overpayment had to “clear” (yes, that’s how archaic), said they could only MAIL me a check. I had DOUBLE paid off my balance. It was MY money and had cleared at my bank. They were rude, even when I escalated. Paypal does not protect sellers and take fees from us for no service in return. Even Ebay divested from Paypal. Go to sitejabber and type in Paypal.  AMEX charges Ebay very high fees as well. It is important that buyers are aware of costs on another level: the seller and the platform’s (Ebay’s) side. 
thanks!

[tippiejax]

Yes!! This is how people should pay! Great point. 

[tippiejax]

Please see my detailed response to your initial post. Fees and poor customer service (for sellers) makes Paypal less desirable. 

[dy60609]

PP charges eBay sellers no fees.

eBay sellers have not been able to accept PP as a form of payment for years.

[kensgiftshop]

How long have you been getting paid through that card?

I have a feeling it won't last long.

[janet9988]

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@tippiejax wrote:

Paypal is not a monetarily good decision for sellers. Paypal charges the seller fees and is low staffed. I once had a Paypal account (as a seller and buyer), but I closed my account and do not accept it as a form of payment. Why? I accidentally over paid them for a credit balance. They held my money hostage for THREE WEEKS, stating that the overpayment had to “clear” (yes, that’s how archaic), said they could only MAIL me a check. I had DOUBLE paid off my balance. It was MY money and had cleared at my bank. They were rude, even when I escalated. Paypal does not protect sellers and take fees from us for no service in return. Even Ebay divested from Paypal. Go to sitejabber and type in Paypal.  AMEX charges Ebay very high fees as well. It is important that buyers are aware of costs on another level: the seller and the platform’s (Ebay’s) side. 
thanks!

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Sellers on ebay do not get charged fees by Paypal.

 Ebay allows buyers to use Paypal as a payment source. Sellers can not exclude any  type of payment that is allowed on ebay.

So for buyers who want to use AMEX can do so through Paypal just as the OP suggests.

[judgesmails]

Paypal still charged my bank account instead of my preferred American Express card. I reached out to PayPal and they said maybe amex declined the charge. They did not decline. PayPal also said I had an agreement with ebay that I would use my bank account through PayPal exclusively. 

Ebay even told me when I tried to use my AmEx card for purchase to link through my PayPal  to complete purchase. I already had my AmEx linked as back up to my bank account on PayPal. I just needed to select it as a proffered payment. They should have said, link your amex card as preferred payment on PayPal and we will still charge your bank account.

Unreal! I wouldn't have made  $500+ purchase on my 0$ balance amex card if I knew ebay and PayPal were going to screw me.

[eburtonlab]

@judgesmails 

Paypal still charged my bank account instead of my preferred American Express card.

Did you choose AmEx as the payment source from your PayPal wallet when checking out of eBay?

If you were not given the opportunity, go to your eBay Payments page and delete the PayPal entry that appears there. The next time you check out of eBay and choose PayPal, you should be sent to your PayPal Wallet page to select your payment source.

[safan80]

AE can still be used through PP on ebay. Be careful when adding your PP directly to ebay as a payment method because it will lock which even payment you selected in PP as the payment method ebay uses and everytime you want to switch payment methods you will first have remove it from ebay before PP will work correctly again. Please read @judgesmails the thread I created about this here.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Now-getting-Payment-method-required-to-bid/td-p/34593011/page/1

[eburtonlab]

Be careful when adding your PP directly to ebay as a payment method because it will lock which even payment you selected in PP as the payment method ebay uses and everytime you want to switch payment methods you will first have remove it from ebay before PP will work correctly again.

Go to your eBay Payments page and delete the PayPal entry that appears there. The next time you check out of eBay and choose PayPal, you should be sent to your PayPal Wallet page to select your payment source.

You should only have to do that once -- unless you are using PayPal as your payment method for auctions or offers, I think.

[marcurobert-0]

Thank you!

[dippy-dawg]

Greetings,

I have the pre-paid American Express card "Serve."  There are no monthly fees, no fees to add money, and it is part of the Money Pass network which allows me to withdraw money via a network of over 75,000 ATMs for free.