Important changes to the eBay.co.uk user agreement

Very important update from eBay, please read.

Regards
Steve H

As part of the Spring 2009 Update, announced on 16th April, we introduced a new, more efficient dispute resolution process that involves some changes to eBays User Agreement.

eBay Buyer Protection programme

The biggest change to the agreement is the inclusion of the eBay Buyer Protection policy. We intend to gradually extend eBay Buyer Protection to more and more buyers over 2009; not all buyers will be able to participate in eBay Buyer Protection straight away. Buyers will be able to get their problems resolved on eBay faster, and the new User Agreement incorporates the new policy and includes language, which describes the parameters of eBay Buyer Protection.

Under eBay Buyer Protection, eBay will, as always, encourage sellers to resolve any problem that their buyers may have. However, as part of this policy, there may be instances where a seller doesn't resolve a claim and we find in favour of the buyer, in which case eBay will pay the buyer and invoice the seller for the transaction amount. Where a seller fails to comply with the eBay Buyer Protection policy, eBay may also remove any special status associated with the account (e.g. PowerSeller status), reduce or eliminate any discounts received by the seller, decrease visibility of the seller's listings in search results, place certain requirements regarding payment options offered by the seller and potential holds on payments made through PayPal and/or restrict or suspend the seller's account.

As with earlier updates to the User Agreement, we've made other minor changes to reflect eBays current product and service offerings and industry legal standards. You'll see references to, eBay site services and tools where the old agreement simply reads, eBay site. These changes reflect the many new ways you can access eBays offerings through other websites, wireless devices, and tools.

The new User Agreement is effective immediately for new members registering on or after 27th May 2009, and on 8th July 2009, for current members. You don't need to do anything to accept the new User Agreement. If you don't wish to accept it, you can follow these instructions to close your account.

Regards,

The eBay Team

Increasing buyer confidence & seller protection

Hi everyone

Some important updates from eBay I thought you might want to see.

Regards
Steve H

Buyers feel more confident about buying on eBay and sellers are more likely to see their listings convert to sales when PayPal is offered as a payment method. Through PayPal we can provide protection for buyers and sellers should things go wrong.

Here is an overview of the upcoming changes that will make it safer and easier for you to buy and sell on eBay.ie.

We're delighted to announce a significant expansion of the protection offered to buyers and sellers when using PayPal on eBay. These improvements will come into effect from June 2009.

Increased Buyer and Seller Protection

Good news for buyers:

Starting in June eBay buyers will receive protection up to the full value of their purchases (including postage) when they pay with PayPal. Terms apply.

Good news for sellers

Also from June all sellers will be eligible for expanded seller protection against certain claims for fraudulent payments and items not received - regardless of whether they are a PowerSeller or not. Under the terms of the expanded Seller Protection coverage, you will not be required to post to confirmed addresses for eBay transactions. There won't be an annual coverage limit and Seller Protection will cover the 190 countries supported by PayPal for sales made via eBay.

We'll give you an update on this soon.

Offering PayPal as a payment method
From 1st July 2009 all sellers on eBay.ie will be required to offer PayPal as a payment option on all listings. This will give buyers the confidence that PayPal Buyer Protection is available on every item that they purchase on eBay should something go wrong.

We've seen that transactions made using PayPal result in significantly reduced instances of fraud. With every listing on the site offering a traceable, protected payment option buyers will have increased confidence to return to shop with you again.

Sellers will continue to be able to offer other payment methods alongside PayPal, as per eBays Accepted Payments Policy. Listings in the Motors Vehicles, Property and Services categories will be exempt from this policy.
Payment Holds for eBay Items
To help ensure every eBay sale results in a satisfied buyer who will return again and again, PayPal is identifying a small percentage of transactions that pose the greatest risk to buyers. From 1st July 2009, PayPal may hold some of these payments to ensure that the transaction is completed to the satisfaction of the buyer.

Thanks for your support in helping to keep eBay.ie a safe place to buy and sell.

Regards,
The eBay Team

Security update - making winning bidder IDs anonymous

In November 2006 we made bidder IDs anonymous on listings. This change has been very successful; research we conducted in 2007 showed a 90% reduction in fake second chance offers and other malicious emails.

To bring eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie in line with other global eBay sites, and to increase security for sellers, we will be going one step further and extending anonymous User IDs to winning bidders as well.

This change will be implemented this week.

As always, the following information will still be accessible:

Sellers will be able to view all bidder IDs on their listings

All members can click on the bidder ID and view the bidde's Bid History page, which will detail the categories in which they've bid over the past 30 days.

Feedback pages will show the same information as now buyers and seller IDs, with comments visible to all.

Regards,

The eBay Team