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Sun Feb 2 2020 12:03:52

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

By: Ina Steiner

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PayPal is updating its legal agreements and notified users in an email this weekend. One thing that jumped out at us was the following amendment to the PayPal Account User Agreement, effective March 12, 2020:

"We are requiring that merchants publish customer service information, including at least one email address or customer service URL, and a telephone number, which must be readily accessible for review by merchants' customers."

It's not clear how that fits with eBay's "Contact information sharing policy," which states:

"Publishing or displaying contact information in a listing without the permission of eBay, or except as required by law, is not allowed."

On Twitter, a user expressed a similar concern this morning, tweeting a question to PayPal: "Am I reading the user agreement update correctly; merchants will be Required to provide a telephone number? That's not gonna work out for me. Or is it email OR a phone number?"

PayPal Support tweeted the following in response:

"Hi there, thank you for contacting PayPal. Please send us a Direct Message with the email address associated with your PayPal account and the detailed description of the issue so that we can better assist you. Thank you!"

That's just one of the changes PayPal is rolling out, we suggest readers take a careful look at the entire update. PayPal provided instructions on how to access the Policy Updates page in its letter, which follows below:

Upcoming changes to our PayPal legal agreements
We're making some changes to our legal agreements that will apply to you.

There is no action needed from you today, but if you would like to learn more, you can find details about these changes, when they apply and what you can do if you want to decline the changes on our Policy Updates page. You can also view these changes by visiting PayPal.com, clicking 'Legal' at the bottom of the page and then selecting "Policy Updates".

If you have questions about any of these changes or your account, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Thank you for being a PayPal customer.
Sincerely,
PayPal

(Note that, as always, beware of clicking links in an email, since scammers may attempt to spoof the email and get you to sign-in on a fake site.)

Please review the entire Policy Update from PayPal and let us know if anything jumps out at you, and we'll try to get clarification from PayPal about the contact information requirement as it pertains to eBay sellers.

Comments (18) | Permalink

Readers Comments

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: toolguy

Sun Feb 2 12:42:11 2020

My eBay listings have had our phone number in them for 15 years.

We put it right where eBay told us to put it, under the shipping tab.

I get 1 or 2 phone calls a year. . . .

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: buffalochick

Sun Feb 2 13:20:15 2020

My google voice number is in all of my listings. If ebay enforced their policies, it would be complicated. But they don't. So my google voice number is in all of my listings...

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: comments

Sun Feb 2 16:34:36 2020

Isn't ebay the merchant of record? If so ebay contact information should satisfy this requirement?

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Lightning

Mon Feb 3 01:21:50 2020

Sounds to me like it would help if PayPal defined the word ''Merchant''. It's possible they don't consider a marketplace seller a merchant.

I sell on eBay, but eBay is the Merchant of Record, so I should be all set. If I had my own website and used PayPal as my payment processor, I would then be the Merchant, and maybe THAT is what they are referring to. I could see them asking that the information is provided, since the customer is dealing directly with me.

Maybe they already require that when you add PP to your on-site payment options. If I don't have contact info showing, the buyer is going to call PayPal. And that would be a hassle for PP.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Marie

Mon Feb 3 02:05:03 2020

Ebay is only the MOR [merchant of record] when you are in Managed payments.

In PP, PP is the MOR.

I'm a little confused by these upcoming changes. PP has to be the MOR to process the credit card payments, field the chargebacks, etc.

Definition: The Merchant of Record is an entity that is authorized and held liable by the financial institution to process the end consumer's credit and debit card transactions.

https://fastspring.com/blog/what-is-a-merchant-of
-record-and-why-you-should-care/

The merchant of record may be the payment facilitator — also known as the master merchant — or it may be a sub-merchant. ... In that case, PayPal is both the PayFac and the merchant of record. Of course, PayPal also acquires transactions for larger merchants, including airlines and websites like Overstock.com.

https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2017/payfacs-
versus-merchants-of-record-who-will-win/

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Whatever

Mon Feb 3 06:59:05 2020

my email and phone number are clearly noted on my website - no biggie - been that way forever. Maybe get 1 phone call per month from a buyer. Happy to speak to them.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: SomeRandy

Mon Feb 3 08:41:57 2020

You can have your phone number published on eBay via answers/contact, this is eBay policy and is allowed.

Also, buyers wouldn't get that information until they buy from you anyway so it's not "public" like this article is suggesting, eBay is only concerned about keeping sales on eBay, and not off eBay where people are cheating eBay out of their FVF.

The title is a little misleading.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Bidonmine

Mon Feb 3 08:57:43 2020

PayPal is now separate for Ebay, so, what PayPal wants is of no concern to Ebay.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: pace306

Mon Feb 3 09:48:30 2020

"and not off eBay where people are cheating eBay out of their FVF. "

That idea (cheating eBay) is like the Loch Ness Monster, the Easter Bunny etc. Charging sellers (FVF) on shipping and other various "stealing methods" - are not the point here - but are important none the less.

In any case - eBay and the City of San Jose (LMAO talking about THEFT) claim that they are the merchant of record (for everything) since the taxes that are or are not charged originate there.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: LasVagueness

Mon Feb 3 10:54:43 2020

@Marie Thank you, as always.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Marie

Mon Feb 3 13:39:34 2020

@lasVagueness

You are welcome.

I did forget to note that being the MOR does NOT = being the seller. The two are not necessarily the same unless the seller is the one that processes their own CC payments and the such.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: papergoy

Mon Feb 3 14:57:39 2020

Somewhere on my eBay page is my address as required by New York State law- as I recall if you sell online in New York, you have to provide your contact information somewhere. Not wishing to run afoul of the law I updated it when it passed umpteen years ago. So I'm in compliance one way or the other.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Marie

Mon Feb 3 15:06:43 2020

On Ebay, both the buyer and the seller have access to the other persons physical address, email address and phone number for a period of time. View Sales Record.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Tubular Sales

Tue Feb 4 03:49:03 2020

Thanks for that information Marie. I have been looking for a customer's email address to send him a invoice. Never knew it was that easy.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: eBay Shill Buster

Tue Feb 4 12:15:10 2020

Get on with it PayPal, open a competitive marketplace once your agreement with eBay is over, they are over.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Flying Childers

Tue Feb 4 21:37:18 2020

Wasn't sure where to post this, but it looks like a serious offer for Ebay. Wonder if anyone knows more about this.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7966763/New-York
-Stock-Exchange-owner-bids-buy-eBay.html

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: eBay Shill Buster

Tue Feb 4 22:02:27 2020

Yes, we know about it, Wenig and Temkin are behind this, it is another one of their criminal moves for sure.

Does a New PayPal Policy Conflict with eBay Policy?

by: Bill

Wed Feb 5 00:02:46 2020

Flying Childers:

Yes it does

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