Ebay has a horrible gift card policy!

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Matthew Tate, Nov 25, 2014.

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  1. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    why do you have to have a paypal account to use an ebay gift card? i thought i was doing business with ebay not paypal
     
  2. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Pretty much the same company. Every single time I buy something on eBay with Paypal, it bugs me to link the two accounts. But that's not half as annoying as the constant pushing of the utterly evil "Bill Me Later" (i.e. put it on a credit card, which is what I use PayPal specifically to avoid.)
     
  3. formu_la

    formu_la I'm not a robot

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    What annoys me most is 10% fee. Greedy bastards.
     
    imarcq likes this.
  4. Paul Chang

    Paul Chang Forum Old Boy, Former Senior Member Has-Been

    I wonder if things will change for the better after eBay spins off PayPal next year.
     
  5. Farmer Mike

    Farmer Mike Forum Resident

    It'll probably get worse. Instead of being told "We're sorry you thought that this company we own, would do right by our mutual customers.", it will change to, "Sorry, since that is a separate business entity that we don't admit we still control, you're out of luck and your funds."
    This New York Times feature is a good example of how these weasels roll,
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/your-money/stuck-in-a-dispute-between-paypal-and-itself.html?_r=0
     
    bleachershane likes this.
  6. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    Paypal is an integral part of Ebay. Actually it makes sense to use Paypal for all transactions if you want to trade with minimum risk.
     
    bleachershane and pghmusiclover like this.
  7. onionmaster

    onionmaster Tropical new waver from the future

    Before Paypal people were getting ripped off on the internet left and right, with Paypal if you get ripped off you can easily claim the money back.

    Yeah they take a small cut of your eBay sales, but so what. So does eBay.
     
  8. The Spaceman

    The Spaceman Forum Resident

    Absolutely. It's a shame though eBay don't go toward an Amazon model where they have policies and such that negate the need for Paypal for lower risk. I buy on Amazon using gift cards and I don't have to worry about getting screwed on there nearly as much as I do on eBay. I've gotten screwed on eBay before. Never on Amazon.

    Before Paypal it was a seller's paradise in that everything favored them. That's very bad for a market and buyers. PayPal leveled the playing field a big but it still isn't perfect.
     
  9. formu_la

    formu_la I'm not a robot

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    If you sell something, you have zero protection now.
     
    bobfrombob likes this.
  10. Paypal is one of the few services that seems to work without hassle on the Internet. eBay is another matter entirely...
     
  11. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    Not true. You have several specific forms of protection, which are very specifically laid out (as well as the rules you need to follow to receive them) in the agreements you signed when you signed up to use Paypal, and which they then informed you of changes by email and gave you a chance to review and opt out of the service any time they have changed. You do not have other protections you may have assumed should be in force, but if the agreement doesn't cover those they don't exist. It pays to know what the agreements do and do not cover and what to do to receive what protections Paypal does offer.
     
  12. formu_la

    formu_la I'm not a robot

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    You sound like a PayPal lawyer. Tell your tales to somebody else. I know...
     
    Farmer Mike likes this.
  13. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Minimum risk for eBay. Not necessarily minimum risk for you. Risk that eBay and PayPal should be absorbing is getting transferred to buyers and sellers.
     
    formu_la likes this.
  14. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    When you put a classified ad in the newspaper to sell your car, is the newspaper liable? All my problems with eBay have to do with them taking on anything more than they are supposed to be, which is an advertising medium.
     
    Gumboo likes this.
  15. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Read the NY Times article that Farmer Mike posted upthread. There's more stories and cases like that.

    eBay is much more than just an advertising medium. Much more.
     
  16. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    I'm not denying that. I'm just saying it shouldn't be, any more than you expect the Gorts to mediate the Classifeds here.
     
  17. The Spaceman

    The Spaceman Forum Resident

    Why shouldn't it be? eBay would be in shambles if it were run like the Classifieds here are. It is much larger and has very sketchy sellers. The minute the Classifieds here starts having sellers as sketchy as ones on eBay, I'd guarantee the Gorts would get involved. We had more than enough sellers and buyers screwing with the eBay system to justify eBay mediation and change of policies.
     
  18. Bertly

    Bertly Senior Member

    I gave someone a $75 Ebay gift certificate in 2008, and they still haven't been able to use it.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2014
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