Ebay and Pay Pal

EBay has been on of the biggest commerce success stories on the Internet.  My frustration with EBay is Pay Pal and spam. 

You buy something on EBay and you have the unfortunate experience that they own Pay Pal and use it to pay their customer transactions.  The user interface sucks.  You can never sign in under your supposed name and id.  I am at a loss to who is the bigger spam artist, EBay or PayPal.  I get something from them a few times a week although I supposedly opted out of that permission marketing. 

Truly, if any site uses PayPal, I bag the transaction.  I refuse to use their services.  EBay owns PayPal so in that case, you have no choice.  I like EBay.  I had a few items that I wanted to get rid of.  I hired one of the companies that come to your home, take a picture of your item and sell it for you on EBay.  They take a cut which is fine.  I got rid of the item and I never expected to see a dime so it was a total bonus. 

But, the few times that we have used EBay to purchase items for ourselves it has been a nightmare getting the transaction to go through.  Last night Jessica, our oldest daughter,  won an auction for something she was buying for her friend.  It took all of us over an hour to figure out how to execute the purchase.  We all wanted to toss the computer through the window. 

I don’t get it?  EBay is one of the largest commerce sites on the web and they haven’t figure out how to make the purchase easy.  They have you by the balls because nothing else out there is like EBay, so you have to suffer through the transaction process.  Did anyone over there ever think that perhaps they would have more customers if they actually fixed their user interface and stopped spamming people?  Aha.  Perhaps someone who owns stock in that company should mention it. 

Comments (Archived):

  1. Stacy

    I’ve actually never had a problem with ebay or paypal. I don’t like the fees they charge, but the interface has been smooth and easy for me to use. I never have a problem logging in or figuring out how to send money. I rarely get emails from them either. Maybe once a month, sometimes more (but only by one or two emails), but usually even less than once a month. The problem is all the phishers and harvesters and spammers that pretend they are ebay or paypal.

    When I sell on ebay, I offer paypal as an option, but I also will take checks or money orders (or cash, but I won’t be responsible for it if it gets lost/stolen). I’ll just wait to send the item until I have recieved payment.

  2. Meg Whitman

    Gotham,
    I’m guessing your problem is that you aren’t using the same email name on ebay and paypal, if you do, once you win an item you should be able to click the paypal link and go straight into your paypal page that allows you to pay.

    Meg

  3. Dabido

    Gotham:

    I had a similar problem with Ebay transactions and cussed the interface until I realized MY firewall was disallowing access (for some reason). I uninstalled that firewall and went to a new software and haven’t had any trouble since. You can test this by turning off your firewall momentarily–logging in to ebay and then try to access your paypal account. If you get through with no problems, you’ll know the firewall is interferring.

    Incidentally, I did about $1,500.00 on Ebay last month and all transactions were very smooth–zipped right through the process to Paypal.

    Also, of course Meg Whitman (Meg Whitman?!)is also correct that your Ebay and Paypal accounts should have the same email account to complete the transaction.

    Oh, and by the way: Meg, if you’re still out there, the Paypal and listing fees are getting pretty steep. I guess I’ll have to pay your listing charges but I do not have to use Paypal. Sheesh–there’s a loan-shark down the street that has better fees.

  4. ZF

    Meg is unfortunately very good at figuring out very precisely how high a price her traffic will bear. She’s watching very carefully the percentage of eBay users who are dissatisfied. If it’s above her target she will back off just a little bit, but as soon as it ever goes below that number she will right away push up eBay’s prices. Get used to it, she’ll never budge on this. A significant portion of eBay users are always going to be unhappy with the fees because that is in fact her goal.

  5. mwdoughty

    I use eBay and PayPal to buy things all the time. I use eBay to sell stuff, too. I’ve never had any real problem with either one. It you’re having these problems, try the suggestions above; they’ll probably fix it. eBay is a fantastic service. How else could you sell stuff and get the kind of exposure that you get through eBay? It’s way, way better than garage sales. They charge you, but that insures that they’ll stay in business.

  6. Howard Owens

    I’ve been an Ebay/Paypal customer for several years now and I’ve conducted at least 100 transactions, with most being as a buyer.

    I’ve never had any of the problems you describe.

    This past year, I did almost all of my Christmas shopping on Ebay and paid for every purchase via Paypal. In fact, if a seller won’t accept Paypal, I won’t bid on the item. Ditto for my wife, who, unfortunately for my bank account, discovered Ebay last year. And since she isn’t the most computer savvy person around, it says something about how easy the Ebay/Paypal process is that she can figure it out without any help from me.

  7. Sean P

    If PayPal is as difficult to use to pay as you describe, I guess I should consider myself lucky.

    About three and a half years ago I tried to open a PayPal account using a credit card that my wife had just cancelled w/o telling me. Naturally, PayPal wouldn’t accept it. The problem was when I decided to go on and put my correct info in a month later, I was told I already had an account! And, of course, I didn’t bother to write down the password for my abortive effort to sign up. And every time I click help, I get an email that I can’t open up. And every time I email asking for personal assistance, I get an email that I can’t open up.

    Like you, I like ebay, but I’m forced to only bid on items where $$ orders are accepted. It wasn’t a big deal 3 years ago, but more and more of the auctions only accept PayPal. And forget about ever selling anything on ebay without it. But if all this hassle just to open up the stinking account is only the tip of the iceberg, no thanks.

    ps: I heard from Jeff Jarvis that someone on ebay is responding to Paypal complaints here. How about responding to mine?

  8. patrick

    I had a PayPal experience unlike any described here. (Ebay was not involved). I ordered an item where PayPal was the preferred method of payment. Since I had some quality reservations about the item, I took out PayPal’s moneyback guarantee. Sure enough, my suspicions were waranted….the item sucked. As it turned out, do did PayPAl and their guarantee. They said it was a 30 day guarantee and since I did not collect within that time period, all bets were off.
    Well, the item didn’t arrive until a week AFTER the guarantee expired!
    I provided them with proof and they refused to budge. I was stuck with a hundred dollars worth of fourth-rate videos with no recourse.
    So much for PayPal. Under NO circumstances will I ever use them again!

  9. Liz L.

    Right on, Gotham Gal.

    My experience has been similar. I find things I like on eBay, but paying with PayPal is so confusing and such a hassle that I end up hating the experience.

  10. TalkLeft

    I sell and buy things on ebay and have never had a problem except once with a listing that wouldn’t appear but every time I tried to get it to go through, I incurred another listing fee. Ebay was fast and courteous about rescinding the charges.

    Ebay’s user rating is a great system so you can avoid buying from or selling to someone who is likely to stiff you.

    I think Paypal works like a dream–both for buying things, collecting contributions, making payments to others and withdrawing money to my checking account.

    I’m with Meg here (and very impressed she commented personally)–if you contact them, I’m sure they can help you through it.

    Caution about ebay: It’s very addicting. If only there were enough hours in the day…..

  11. Ian james

    As a Brit and a fairly frequent user of both PayPal and Ebay, I must say that its the one area that I find works well. Considering the vast sums this company is making, what I would like to see is a greater adherence to actual item headings, and some form of moderation to counter the disgraceful rise in scammers and account hi-jackers posting obvious fake auctions.

    It would be joy to search for an item and not return a list of “crud” unrelated items. Still this seems to be the norm everywhere now. No matter how refined one makes a search these days on what ever search engine, the trash usually exceeds the gold.

  12. Yehudit

    “I’m guessing your problem is that you aren’t using the same email name on ebay and paypal, if you do, once you win an item you should be able to click the paypal link and go straight into your paypal page that allows you to pay.”

    That’s what I do. It works fine. I also pay for all my purchases via Amex on Paypal, because Amex is very good at taking the customer’s side on disputing a charge, and they make it easy – you don’t have to write it up or fill out a form, you just call Customer Service. So that way I am covered if the purchase has a problem. But so far I have chosen my purchases carefully (including 2 Mac computers, a mini-disc recorder, a laser printer, and various other relatively high-ticket items) and have never had a problem.

  13. McGroarty

    “Meg is unfortunately very good at figuring out very precisely how high a price her traffic will bear. She’s watching very carefully the percentage of eBay users who are dissatisfied. If it’s above her target she will back off just a little bit, but as soon as it ever goes below that number she will right away push up eBay’s prices.”

    I know. My grocery does the same thing with milk, and Dell does it with PCs. It’s bloody unconscionable.

    I wish PayPal would focus on something other than money, have a look at how things are done in North Korea or the old Soviet Union.

  14. grouch

    I have never gotten so far as PayPal and never will. My limited experience with Ebay led to such exasperation that I would never bother again…having a last minute bid on items that are so mundane that multiple duplicates are listed and receive no bids leads me to believe that something about this operation is not kosher. Whatever it is it has seen the last of me.

  15. TallDude

    I have been using eBay and PayPal for two years now and have never had the problem that you reported. Make your eBay name and PayPal name the same and it becomes seemless. The problem I have had, however, is False Sales and eBay and PayPal policies that conflict and do NOT allow the Reporting of FRAUD when it occurs. So far, FRAUD has cost me over $400.00 and eBay NOR PayPal have Reimbursed me for any of it REGARDLESS of what their “Policies” say they will do!!! They “WORK” against their own users in a “RICO” style.

  16. Lee Goodwin

    I would like to pay my listings by Money order.
    but i can not find out where to send the money
    order to. ????????????????? LEE Goodwin

  17. Gwendolyn De Fortuna

    I was lassoed into being the site administrator/designer for a little boutiquey seller with one product (a book) she wanted to sell online. Granted, I am not an eBay user personally, and so not very familiar with PayPal. When it came time to set up the purchasing process, my immediate impression was “labrynthine.” It took far too long for me, a fairly intelligent human, to understand all the terms, to find the relevant tasks to perform, to troubleshoot or customize. I was not at all impressed with their documentation, their help “system” (random FAQs that don’t address what may by now be known problems), or their navigation/user interface for Merchants/Sellers. Suffice it to say, when there was a change I needed to make (the primary payee email address needed to change), I really believe it was the lack of clarity caused me to make a mistake that nearly cost us three months of sales. Our customers, once contacted, were disillusioned about PayPal even more than they already were. And now, while patching things up, the account parameters I have set (payment page template, a new email account as primary), are simply not taking affect. What more can I do? The site certainly doesn’t offer me any solutions. Thanks for the forum. — GDF

    “Don’t Monopolize Me”

  18. Gwendolyn De Fortuna

    I was lassoed into being the site administrator/designer for a little boutiquey seller with one product (a book) she wanted to sell online. Granted, I am not an eBay user personally, and so not very familiar with PayPal. When it came time to set up the purchasing process, my immediate impression was “labrynthine.” It took far too long for me, a fairly intelligent human, to understand all the terms, to find the relevant tasks to perform, to troubleshoot or customize. I was not at all impressed with their documentation, their help “system” (random FAQs that don’t address what may by now be known problems), or their navigation/user interface for Merchants/Sellers. Suffice it to say, when there was a change I needed to make (the primary payee email address needed to change), I really believe it was the lack of clarity caused me to make a mistake that nearly cost us three months of sales. Our customers, once contacted, were disillusioned about PayPal even more than they already were. And now, while patching things up, the account parameters I have set (payment page template, a new email account as primary), are simply not taking affect. What more can I do? The site certainly doesn’t offer me any solutions. Thanks for the forum. — GDF

    “Don’t Monopolize Me”

  19. Janet Davis

    After many successful listings on Ebay, I now find that when I get to the bit where you add a picture, there is no software there to allow me to upload. On the bottom left hand corner there is a yellow box with exclamation mark saying error. Any ideas how I can get this picture software to start appearing again? I’m not going to waste time and money putting stuff up for sale without a picture so I’m just stuck now…. thanks

  20. Gaurav

    hi gotham gal,

    I was wondering if I could get my story to the notice of the half/ebay.com authorities. I have been using ebay and paypal for the past 3 years and havent had a problem till now. Now I am facing a problem which if unsolved will RUIN me. I was a half.com bookseller with a $60,000 (yes that is right , Sixty thousand dollars ) outstanding payment from half.com. They suspended my account on 31st Aug for linkage with another suspended account and inspite of numerous emails to them, they refuse to respond. My feedback rating is 91.3% with a net positive feedback rating of 630. I have told them numerous times that I am ready to email them a list of the tracking numbers of all the books that have been sent but still they refuse to reply. Amazon.com has a much better customer service. Nobody seems to care at ebay.com.
    I am really in a spot here. Hopefully some top notch executive of half.com reads this and comes to my rescue. They cannot let their sellers ruin.

    I am sorry if I have used this forum to address my grievance but a desperate and despondent man has to latch on to every tiny bit of hope that comes across his way.

    Thanks for providing this platform.
    Gaurav

  21. Gaurav

    hi gotham gal,

    I was wondering if I could get my story to the notice of the half/ebay.com authorities. I have been using ebay and paypal for the past 3 years and havent had a problem till now. Now I am facing a problem which if unsolved will RUIN me. I was a half.com bookseller with a $60,000 (yes that is right , Sixty thousand dollars ) outstanding payment from half.com. They suspended my account on 31st Aug for linkage with another suspended account and inspite of numerous emails to them, they refuse to respond. My feedback rating is 91.3% with a net positive feedback rating of 630. I have told them numerous times that I am ready to email them a list of the tracking numbers of all the books that have been sent but still they refuse to reply. Amazon.com has a much better customer service. Nobody seems to care at ebay.com.
    I am really in a spot here. Hopefully some top notch executive of half.com reads this and comes to my rescue. They cannot let their sellers ruin.

    I am sorry if I have used this forum to address my grievance but a desperate and despondent man has to latch on to every tiny bit of hope that comes across his way.

    Thanks for providing this platform.
    Gaurav

  22. John

    Gotham Gal, I share in all your personal frustrations with paypal and ebay. Just do a google search on the frustration generated from disgruntled users on these two companies. Paypal reputation has steadily gone down since eBay purchased the corporation a few years ago.

    I was suspended from ebay for no apparent reason. I was sent computer-generated emails that explain in no specific terms on why it was suspended. When I sent email asking why, I was sent back more computer generated responses. When I use their online support they couldn’t help me. I called various phone numbers I found on the internet and after a long 20 minutes wait I received no REAL answer.

    As for Paypal, their practices of holding people’s money is a criminal act. I am hoping there is a class action lawsuit place against paypal.

    Watch out folks, eBay purchased 25% of craigslist. Look for fees on that sight soon.

    I am going to check out overstock.com and see if that is a substitute to eBay.

  23. John

    I just experienced a “forms of payment” problem with PayPal. PayPal is constantly trying to get their customers to “verify” their accounts. I fell for this trickery by cooperating with PayPal into “verifying” my account for sellers. I responded because I thought it would enhance my credibility as a buyer on eBay. At no time was I aware PayPal would then abandon using my credit card as the primary form of payment. Instead, after I verified my account, PayPal, without authorization, drafted my checking account for a large eBay purchase instead of using my designated credit card. When I brought this to the attention of PayPal customer service, and asked for a reversal, they said everything is automatic and nothing can be reversed. I asked to speak to a CSR manager and that manager argued with me and hung up before I could finish. Is this customer service? My bank is sending me a form for me to state PayPal never had my specific authorization to draft my checking account.

  24. pedro

    eBay suck Big Time. I made the fatal error of buying a fake Von Dutch bag while on Holiday in Thailand and decided to sell it on eBay, Guess what, no warning, nothing, just account suspended. When I begged to get my account reinstated I felt like I had committed the crime of the century. They wanted names, addresses, bank statements, receipts, telephone numbers, everything! Yeah, like I’m going to keep a receipt for a cheapo bag made in Thailand. eBay suck!

  25. matt

    I agree and I also opted out, and i’m not just saying that because you look hot. (my wife would smack me if she could see this)

  26. Dobeman

    I just had my ebay auction ended within 24 hours of its natural ending because I apparently violated one of their PayPal policies. I specified that I accepted PayPal, but in my description, I said that I wouldn’t accept CC payments through PayPal (because that would require that I upgrade to the paid PayPal service). So, eBay ended my auction because they want force sellers to upgrade when a buyer pays via CC.

    They gave no advance notice of cancelling the auction either. They just did it and sent me an e-mail saying they did it.

    To me, this is not smart. Not only did they ensure I would never use them, but for the 8 people who were watching my auction (and still bidding), they just disenfranchised them too.

    Dumb business move.

    CS

  27. SHANLA

    WELL, FOR ME ME EBAY REALLY SUCKS, I’VE BEEN SELLING ON EBAY FOR A VERY SMALL MARGIN OF PROFIT. THE THING THAT I DONT LIKE IS I GOT A LOT OF SPAM THAT EBAY ITSELF CAN NOT CONTROL THIS. THEY ARE VERY STRICT IN THERE POLICY THAT THEY ONLY WANT TO TAKE CARE OF THERE COMPANY NOT TO TAKE CARE OF THERE CLIENTS. I JUST GOT MY ACCOUNT SUSPENDED FOR SOMEBODIES USING MY ACCOUNT. ITS BEEN AWHILE AFTER THEY RE-INSTATED IT. REMEMBER NO PHONE TO CALL JUST A LIVE CHAT WHICH THE PERSON WHOSE YOU CHATTING WITH DONT HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TO DO. THEY WILL DIRECT YOU TO THE SAFETY DEPARTMENT WHICH THIS PEOPLE DONT KNOW IF THERE WORKING OR JUST SLEEPING. IT WILL TAKE YOU ABOUT 3 WEEKS BEFORE THEY WILL RESPOND TO YOU AND AGAIN TAKE TIME TO INVESTIGATE. TO MAKE THE STORY SHORT THEY JUST RE-INSTATED MY ACCOUNT YESTERDAY AND I JUST RE-LISTED THE SAME ITEM THAT I’VE BEEN LISTING FOR A LONG TIME AND WHEN I COME TO WORK THIS MORNING I FOUND OUT THAT MY ACCOUNT IS SUSPENDED AGAIN. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH THIS COMPANY. I AM TRIED OF THIS. THEY ONLY WHAT TO TAKE YOUR MONEY. I’VE BEEN WITH THEM FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS PAYING A HUGE AMOUNT OF LISTING FEES AND THEN…… I WISH SOMEBODY CAN COMPETE WITH THIS COMPANY.

  28. Betty

    I have a real concern with PayPal and Ebay. I bought a lot 0f 40 dresses. One was never sent and 5 of the others were totally not as described or pictured (some have big tears and are unusable) I am trying to find email addresses of company officers. Can you help. Thanks

  29. Amy11

    I was suspended from ebay to but I got back on with the help of section9.i8.com. Hope this helps anyone who is looking for help.

  30. steve

    section9.i8 are scam artist, they will rip you off guaranteed.

  31. roger

    I just had my ebay auction ended within 24 hours of its natural ending because I apparently violated one of their PayPal policies. I specified that I accepted PayPal, but in my description, I said that I wouldn’t accept CC payments through PayPal (because that would require that I upgrade to the paid PayPal service). So, eBay ended my auction because they want force sellers to upgrade when a buyer pays via CC. They gave no advance notice of cancelling the auction either. They just did it and sent me an e-mail saying they did it. To me, this is not smart. Not only did they ensure I would never use them, but for the 8 people who were watching my auction (and still bidding), they just disenfranchised them too. Dumb business move. CS

  32. Gaurav

    hi gotham gal, I was wondering if I could get my story to the notice of the half/ebay.com authorities. I have been using ebay and paypal for the past 3 years and havent had a problem till now. Now I am facing a problem which if unsolved will RUIN me. I was a half.com bookseller with a $60,000 (yes that is right , Sixty thousand dollars ) outstanding payment from half.com. They suspended my account on 31st Aug for linkage with another suspended account and inspite of numerous emails to them, they refuse to respond. My feedback rating is 91.3% with a net positive feedback rating of 630. I have told them numerous times that I am ready to email them a list of the tracking numbers of all the books that have been sent but still they refuse to reply. Amazon.com has a much better customer service. Nobody seems to care at ebay.com. I am really in a spot here. Hopefully some top notch executive of half.com reads this and comes to my rescue. They cannot let their sellers ruin. I am sorry if I have used this forum to address my grievance but a desperate and despondent man has to latch on to every tiny bit of hope that comes across his way. Thanks for providing this platform. Gaurav

  33. TabithaKat

    These guys helped me to get selling again. I was unregistered there for no reason at all. They never told me other than Section 9. Anyway to make a long story short, I was going broke and had to get selling again and found

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    I had filed bankruptsy after a nasty divorce and could not just go out and open a new checking account at a regular bank much less get a new Credit Card. This was easy as 1,2,3.

    Go to:
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    and get back to selling again!

  34. Julie

    Avoid http://www.section9.i8.com I dealt with Jeff – he was so quick to answer emails and take my money but heard not a peep since. Guys like him should be strung up by the b**ls!! Never send money to anyone on the internet using Western Union – there is no way of tracing it! This guy is making money out of desperate people trying to get back on Ebay – its a big scam AVOID!!!!

  35. Julie

    Avoid http://www.section9.i8.com I dealt with Jeff – he was so quick to answer emails and take my money but heard not a peep since. Guys like him should be strung up by the b**ls!! Never send money to anyone on the internet using Western Union – there is no way of tracing it! This guy is making money out of desperate people trying to get back on Ebay – its a big scam AVOID!!!!

  36. jack furgoson

    hello, i will sell anyone an ebook on how to get back on ebay for 3.00 i accept paypal. this ebook tells you everything you need to know about geting back on and you can be on in a very short time. send me an email at [email protected] if interested thanks

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