eBay

valueaddedresource · ‎10-30-2023

Just a heads up that eBay has published an update to the Payments Terms of Service that will be effective for US sellers November 15, 2023.

https://pages.ebay.com/payment/2.0/terms.html

Not a lot of changes in this one but the important parts for US sellers are:

Seller Protection
Language was added to include claims for unauthorized transactions with Spendable Funds to seller protection.

Old version:

If you have met your eligibility requirements for, and fulfilled all your applicable obligations, under the Seller Protection policy, you will not be held liable for any amounts to be returned to buyers due to eBay Buyer Protection Program claims and Disputes.

New version:

If you have met your eligibility requirements for, and fulfilled all your applicable obligations, under the Seller Protection policy, you will not be held liable for any amounts to be returned to buyers due to eBay Buyer Protection Program claims, Disputes or unauthorized transactions with eBay spendable funds.

And confirmation that eBay is earning interest on payments, as @a_c_green suspected a few months ago.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Disclaimer-about-Not-Earning-Interest-on-Held-Funds-Has-Been/m...

There's a new section added in the ToS that says:

Funds received by us on your behalf represent an unsecured claim for payment against us, but do not constitute deposits; nor are these amounts eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance. eCI may combine your funds with the funds of other eCI customers in pooled custodial accounts and invest the funds in accordance with state money transmitter laws.

You do not have any ownership interest in these investments and any interest earned from these investments will be retained by us. To the extent you may have any beneficial ownership in the interest or proceeds of these investments, your acceptance of these terms constitutes an assignment of any right, title or interest therein to us.

The update also says they can put new sellers on a slower payout schedule (in addition to the existing ~14 day new/infrequent seller hold) - presumably to maximize the amount of time they can collect that interest.

We anticipate that Managed Payments transaction proceeds will generally be settled to your Linked Financial Account approximately two to seven business days after the buyer's transaction, although actual settlement times may vary for individual transactions based on circumstances such as your bank’s processing times.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, when you onboard to Managed Payments, we may initially place you on a different payout schedule (no less frequently than monthly) and will communicate the applicable payout schedule to you in My eBay or Seller Hub.

dbfolks166mt · ‎10-30-2023

It does not surprise me about the interest announcement I have been posting that eBay and/or Adyen has been doing this since eBay went to MP and took over the financial processing from PayPal. There is nothing wrong with them doing this it is a solid and smart business practice just glad they are finally owning up to it.

valueaddedresource · ‎10-30-2023

@dbfolks166mt wrote:
It does not surprise me about the interest announcement I have been posting that eBay and/or Adyen has been doing this since eBay went to MP and took over the financial processing from PayPal. There is nothing wrong with them doing this it is a solid and smart business practice just glad they are finally owning up to it.

@dbfolks166mt agree, other marketplaces do it as well and I personally don't have much of an issue with it - more concerned about the transparency and the fact that they had simply removed those segments of the help and policy pages that said they didn't earn interest months ago without providing any clear or direct information about what exactly that unannounced change meant.

So I'm happy they have finally put it in writing and at least now it is clear for when that question comes up here or elsewhere in the future.

That being said, the part about them being able to put new sellers on a slower payout schedule does raise some concerns for me, again mostly around transparency.

New/infrequent sellers are often not aware of the possible ~14 day hold period that may apply and we all already know that causes issues that we see pop up here in the community often.

My interpretation of this addition to the payments tos is that now they may also slow the payout process for new sellers' funds so that once they have been released from that hold and are made "available", the seller may still not be able to actually have access to those funds for up to a month (depending on when the hold release falls within the payout schedule).

That could potentially create a situation where eBay may be earning interest on those funds for 40+ days and the seller doesn't actually have access to that money during that time.

I'm reserving full judgement on that until we see how it actually plays out and hoping we don't see that worst case scenario become a regular occurance, but if eBay does not allow new sellers to choose the daily or even weekly payout schedule, I'm afraid it could get ugly.

ckimodog · ‎10-30-2023

@dbfolks166mt

A good friend of mine is a bank manager of many years. We got to talking about the "interest" feature and I told her that eBay stated they don't hold money to make interest. She laughed at me....loudly. lol. I personally never believed it either, but when you have others shouting you down and telling you you're wrong, I would just assume not entice negative back and forth banter that happens from time to time on this forum.

Have a great day!

Happy Sales!

luckythewinner · ‎10-30-2023

The update also says they can put new sellers on a slower payout schedule (in addition to the existing ~14 day new/infrequent seller hold) - presumably to maximize the amount of time they can collect that interest.

If eBay wanted to "maximize the amount of time they can collect interest", they would put ALL sellers on a

slower payout schedule.

And because they are new and have lower listing and selling seller limits, one could argue that doing this only to new sellers would be the least effective way to "maximize the amount of time they can collect interest".

An alternate presumption might be that they are simply trying to manage risk because I suspect new sellers tend to be riskier than established sellers.

evelyb30 · ‎10-30-2023

@ckimodog wrote:
@dbfolks166mt
A good friend of mine is a bank manager of many years. We got to talking about the "interest" feature and I told her that eBay stated they don't hold money to make interest. She laughed at me....loudly. lol. I personally never believed it either, but when you have others shouting you down and telling you you're wrong, I would just assume not entice negative back and forth banter that happens from time to time on this forum.

Have a great day!

Happy Sales!

My response to the denials has always been "bwahahaha. good one." ALL of these companies make money off the float somehow, and everyone knows it. They find legal loopholes a la "the definition of 'is'" and do it anyway.

She who dies with the most toys still dies; when's the estate sale?

tobaccocardyahoo · ‎10-30-2023

Until not very long ago, there was no interest on the float.

Interest rates approached zero in the US and were negative in most of Europe.

No one needed to lie, or rewrite their terms and conditions.

dbfolks166mt · ‎10-30-2023

@dbfolks166mt

A good friend of mine is a bank manager of many years. We got to talking about the "interest" feature and I told her that eBay stated they don't hold money to make interest. She laughed at me....loudly. lol. I personally never believed it either, but when you have others shouting you down and telling you you're wrong, I would just assume not entice negative back and forth banter that happens from time to time on this forum.

Have a great day!

Happy Sales!

I always likened eBay's claim that they were not earning interest on held funds to some of those I have heard from big business senior management: Equifax during the data breach, Theranos, Arthur Anderson, Boeing over the 737 Max, Facebook during the Cambridge Analytical scandal, Volkswagen over the software emissions scandal.....

But of course there are those lies that we totally expect or suspect. 😁

"Read my lips no new taxes"

"I am not a crook"

"I did not have sex with that woman"

"The Contras are the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers"

"I was injured and disoriented after the accident"

bossesale77 · ‎10-30-2023

IMHO the slower payout schedule for new/infrequent sellers is step one in doing away with daily, and possibly weekly, payouts for all sellers. eBay wants sellers to use their on-demand payout service/pay the fees that come along with it and longer minimum payouts might entice more sellers to purchase stuff with their pending funds. An added bonus, longer minimum payouts increase the likelihood that sellers will have enough pending funds available to cover INR and return holds.

dbfolks166mt · ‎10-30-2023

Until not very long ago, there was no interest on the float. And you know this how?

Interest rates approached zero in the US and were negative in most of Europe. For the common consumer yes and you cannot have a negative interest rate that would imply you are paying the bank to hold your money. Corporations invest in short term as well as long term assets and/or securities, bonds, stocks, T-Bills etc. They operate in a different financial environment.

No one needed to lie, or rewrite their terms and conditions. Well both happened.

valueaddedresource · ‎10-30-2023

@dbfolks166mt wrote:
@dbfolks166mt
A good friend of mine is a bank manager of many years. We got to talking about the "interest" feature and I told her that eBay stated they don't hold money to make interest. She laughed at me....loudly. lol. I personally never believed it either, but when you have others shouting you down and telling you you're wrong, I would just assume not entice negative back and forth banter that happens from time to time on this forum.

Have a great day!

Happy Sales!

I always likened eBay's claim that they were not earning interest on held funds to some of those I have heard from big business senior management: Equifax during the data breach, Theranos, Arthur Anderson, Boeing over the 737 Max, Facebook during the Cambridge Analytical scandal, Volkswagen over the software emissions scandal.....
But of course there are those lies that we totally expect or suspect. 😁

"Read my lips no new taxes"
"I am not a crook"
"I did not have sex with that woman"
"The Contras are the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers"
"I was injured and disoriented after the accident"

@dbfolks166mt funny you mention that - eBay just hired a couple of heavy hitting law firms to defend them against the recently filed EPA lawsuit...including the one that represented Volkswagen in that emissions scandal. 👀

slippinjimmy · ‎10-30-2023

I'll have to update my standard reply to the question about interest earned eBay on held/pending funds.

Origin reply: "no they don't"

New reply: "yes they do....so what?"

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep

dbfolks166mt · ‎10-30-2023

@dbfolks166mt funny you mention that - eBay just hired a couple of heavy hitting law firms to defend them against the recently filed EPA lawsuit...including the one that represented Volkswagen in that emissions scandal.

There going to need them and if I recall correctly things didn't work out so well for Volkswagen.

dbfolks166mt · ‎10-30-2023

I'll have to update my standard reply to the question about interest earned eBay on held/pending funds.

Origin reply: "no they don't"

New reply: "yes they do....so what?"

Or how about new reply" "every since the switch over to managed payments yes they have/do just like PayPal did when they were the financial processor". It's sound business practice.