Pottery Chatroom Board

Here is the link to ebay's "Accepted Payments Policy" http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html

I had to go through page after page to find it. Each time I look for it it gets more hidden.
I broke out some particulars below and added some comments and opinions of my own.

When you read the whole list of terms I think you will see that no where does it say that a seller can not accept other payments. Everything says the seller can not ASK or SAY they will take other payments. Nothing says they can not accept them or that buyers can not pay with other methods..
I think if they did that that would put ebay in a whole different catagory and would then not just be a "venue". Something to do with the auction aspect I believe, if memory serves.

ebay:
"Payment methods not allowed on eBay:

For most categories, sellers can't ask buyers to: "

ME: Starting with this. How many new sellers ( and some old ones) just see the "not allowed" in the above and do not see the "can't ask" ?

ebay:
"Our Accepted Payments policy helps ensure that buyers and sellers on eBay are offered safe, convenient payment options. "

ME: BULL! It is to ensure that ebay gets every single possible piece of YOUR hard earned dollars.

ebay:
............"Sellers need to say in their listing specifically which payment methods they accept and only offer payment methods approved by eBay. ......." ...............

ME: I believe, from reading ebays convoluted rules and terms, those payment methods approved by ebay only refers to what you can SAY, NOT HOW you can be paid.

ebay:
"Sellers aren't allowed to make statements like:

“Contact us for payment information.”
“Contact us for other payment methods.”
“Contact us for your preferred payment method.”
“Buyers may request to pay by check or money order.” "..............

ME: All they are saying is you can not state, in plain English, that you WILL take other forms of payments.
I saw an auction where one put it well but was still in accordance with ebay's (marginally legal IMO). It was something like 'if you are having problems paying with paypal please contact me.'

ebay:
................"There is only one exception: "Sellers who offer payment upon pickup may include the following statement in their listings: “Contact me for payment methods to pay on pickup.” "................

ME: This one is self explainatory.

Hmmm
Just a thought Soooo...Maybe if one marked ALL sales for pickup one could say they will take MO, cash etc. LOL
Personally I pretty much stopped buying when they made it harder to pay with M.O or check. I ran into sellers who did not have a clue they could take anything BUT paypal...needless to say and they did not get my money. It then just got too frustrating to keep trying then search continued to deteriorate, too.