eBay sellers already anxious about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their health and their livelihood got something new to worry about on Tuesday when they opened an email from eBay with the subject line, “New managed payments option during unprecedented times.”
eBay is forging ahead with its rollout of Managed Payments in which it is taking over payments management from PayPal, despite the disruption the coronavirus outbreak is causing.
Sellers who may be anxious about the news may be left struggling to get answers: eBay is currently offering no phone support as it transitions its now work-from-home customer service reps in Texas and Utah.
One seller’s response to the news: “The pragmatic thing to do would be hold off on all major changes until we ride out present conditions, but I guess eBay feels full steam ahead!”
eBay began rolling out Managed Payments to a limited number of sellers in 2018 before it was fully baked (for example, it didn’t allow buyers to use PayPal, something it now offers). Among the issues eBay has yet to deal with: “Charity and donations are not yet supported when eBay manages payments, but we are continuing to work on adding these,” it wrote in its FAQs section of the email.
eBay also left sellers uncertain about the cost of the new payments processing program. In the FAQs section of today’s email, eBay told sellers: “Information on fees and how they are calculated will be made available as part of the pre-registration process. Most sellers can expect to see savings compared to their current payments processing fees.”
And eBay has yet to announce any change to its per-listing fee policy, a cause of concern for sellers that you can read more about in this February 29th EcommerceBytes Blog post.
Sellers will also have to deal with the impact of the change on their business loans. In its FAQs, eBay advised sellers who have PayPal Working Capital loans to “Reach out to PayPal to discuss your options.”
Sellers forwarded the following email to EcommerceBytes this afternoon – we don’t know if it went to all US sellers or a subset – and please leave a comment on the EcommerceBytes Blog:
Starting next month, we will offer the option to pre-register
We recognize COVID-19 and associated current events are creating unprecedented challenges for eBay’s sellers across the country, and your health and that of your business is our top priority. We’re monitoring the situation closely for our eBay community – our buyers, sellers and employees.
In these extraordinary times, we want to support your business planning. As you may be aware, eBay continues to progressively enable sellers on managed payments in 2020, and has processed over $2B in payments already. Starting next month, we will be offering you an opportunity to pre-register your business for managed payments. Pre-registration allows you extra time to prepare your business, and for us to secure your enablement date as early as possible. Once you pre-register, nothing will change in your selling routine. Starting Late July, your account will be activated for managed payments, and we will notify you as your activation date approaches.
You can pre-register in a few simple steps, including verifying your business information and providing a bank account. The information you provide will allow us to send your payouts and comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and know-your-customer obligations, which helps keep eBay a trusted marketplace. You will be able to track your pre-registration progress on the Payments tab in Seller Hub.
Managed payments supports an enhanced buying and selling experience on eBay, and provides sellers with one place to sell and get paid, with payouts sent directly to their bank account, and offers buyers more ways to pay.
If you have any questions or need payments support at sign up or for ongoing business needs, read more about managed payments below, and check out managed payments on Seller Center. More information will be sent in our emails next month. There is no other action required at this time.
For more information about eBay’s response to the Covid-19, please refer to these messages:
https://pages.ebay.com/update/2020/covid19/index.html
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/bg-p/Announcements
Frequently Asked Questions:
OVERVIEW
What are the benefits of having eBay manage your payments?
eBay will manage payments for most sellers in 2020.
With eBay managing your payments, buyers can pay with credit, debit and gift cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and PayPal Credit. Instead of having to manage a relationship with both eBay and PayPal when selling on eBay, sellers can streamline their operations and access everything they need to sell and get paid, on eBay: a single source for fees, customized reports, refunds, simplified protections, tax documentation, dedicated support, and payout scheduling options. Payouts are deposited to your bank account. To learn more about managed payments, visit ebay.com/payments.
What is currently not supported when eBay manages payments?
Charity and donations are not yet supported when eBay manages payments, but we are continuing to work on adding these. For now, when your account is enabled for managed payments, we will automatically revise your listings with charity or donations to remove this option.
Can I use PayPal Working Capital (PPWC)?
We want to make sure that your transition to eBay managed payments is as smooth as possible. If you have existing business loans, including PayPal Working Capital loans, you can still enable managed payments with eBay. Reach out to PayPal to discuss your options. Many additional options for working capital loans and business financing solutions are available to manage your existing business debt in a way that is compatible with eBay managed payments, including a loan through Square Capital. Click here for more details.
How are refunds, chargeback, and claim obligations handled?
As a managed payments seller, you will need to work only with eBay for support and service on claims, refunds, and returns. Any refunds, chargebacks, or claim obligations for transactions before you enabled eBay to manage your payments should be handled through PayPal. Fees related to refunds and returns will be made available at the time of pre-registration. Learn more at Seller Center.
Do I have to switch to managed payments?
Yes. eBay will manage payments for most sellers in 2020, and will continue to start managing payments in more markets in the near future.
How are you protecting my personal information?
We will store your personal and business information so next time you come back, that information will be pre-filled, saving you time. If you don’t complete registration within 30 days after you begin, we will delete your information and you will need to start over. You may change your information up until the time you complete registration, after which you agree that we will store your data until we are ready to activate your account for managed payments, starting in late July 2020. After you have been activated for managed payments, you can always view and edit your information in the Account tab of My eBay. We will use and share the information you submit as described in the Payments Terms of Use. Learn more about how eBay protects your personal information.
PRE-REGISTRATION EXPERIENCE
Why are you offering pre-registration?
Pre-registration allows you to prepare your business in advance and for us to secure your enablement date as early as possible. You can pre-register by clicking the link in your email, or in-product experience or at https://uservrfnonboardapp.ebay.com/preonboarding.
What happens from late July onwards?
Once you pre-register, your account will be activated for managed payments starting late July. We will notify you as your activation date approaches. Till then, you will be pre-registered but nothing will change in your routine selling. You will be able to track your pre-registration progress on the Payments tab in Seller Hub.
Once you are activated starting late July, all of your existing listings* and buyer feedback will be automatically updated and will reflect the different ways your buyers can pay.
*Any listings that violate our policies will be automatically ended.
What are you going to do with my information until then?
The information you provide will allow us to send your payouts and comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and know-your-customer obligations, which helps keep eBay a trusted marketplace.
FEES
What will my rates be?
Information on fees and how they are calculated will be made available as part of the pre-registration process. Most sellers can expect to see savings compared to their current payments processing fees. All sellers will also benefit from a consolidated billing structure and with more visibility into sales and payouts. With eBay managing your payments, you will pay payments processing fees only to eBay, and not separately to another processor. This means you will no longer pay fees directly to PayPal.
Leave a comment on the EcommerceBytes Blog.
“Managed payments supports an ENHANCED buying and selling experience on eBay”
Buy it Now. Click.
Pay Now. Click.
I’d love to hear George Carlin go off on ebay.
This whole thing has a bad “feel” to it…a lot of sellers use PayPal for many purchases beyond eBay. So basically eBay is forcing folks to use Credit Cards to pay for things. If money from eBay sales is bypassing PayPal, it now means users will have to take the added step of pulling money from their banks BACK to PayPal to keep using it.
My gut says, in the end, eBay will lose money on it due to a decline in activity, Managed Payments looks terribly inconvenient and an un-needed extra step and hassle.
I’ve had an eBay account 1998, now we have a timeline for MP. I WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN Managed Payments, PERIOD! I plan to Close both my eBay accounts, including my store, the day they become mandatory for me. I will not allow eBay to manage MY MONEY!
” Most sellers can expect to see savings compared to their current payments processing fees.”
Maybe for single item orders, but on orders of 2 or more different items, processing fees will be more thanks to their $.25 per item fee!!!
Thanks but no thanks to Managed (to screw this up) Payments!!!