News - eBay to split with PayPal business after 13 years entwined

[HEXUS]

The online retail giant plans to split off PayPal into a separate company next year.

Read more.

[RobbieRoy]

Looks like this is also influenced by Apple's recent launch of Apple Pay, which could compete strongly with PayPal and, in addition, Alibaba has just floated on the New York Stock Exchange. So, time to get rid off before competitive forces reduce profitability.

[DemonHighwayman]

I can't see Apple Pay being as popular as PayPal, there are a lot of people out there who can't stand Apple and there horrid business practises.

[RobbieRoy]

I can't see Apple Pay being as popular as PayPal, there are a lot of people out there who can't stand Apple and there horrid business practises.

You should join that other current anti-Apple thread too!

[silent]

sounds like a way for them to make even more money. hopefully ebay will stop forcing me to use paypal with everything i sell on there.

i don;t like apple either

[Jimbo75]

I can't see Apple Pay being as popular as PayPal, there are a lot of people out there who can't stand Apple and there horrid business practises.

Don't underestimate the level of hatred and disdain for eBay and Paypal too.

[crossy]

I can't see Apple Pay being as popular as PayPal, there are a lot of people out there who can't stand Apple and there horrid business practises.

You should join that other current anti-Apple thread too!

I can't see Apple Pay matching PayPal either - but that's mainly because:
(a) PayPal is already well entrenched;
(b) that's all they do - Apple do other things (so perhaps a chance of loss of business focus);
(c) PayPal already has a "name", check with the architypical "man on the Clapham omnibus" and unless he's an iFan I guarantee the "Apple Pay" will be a new concept to him (unless postfixed with "Your Taxes Dimwits!" of course)
(d) PayPal is cross-platform, and you can bet that Apple Pay won't be. Or, if it is then it'll be iOS first and everything else a distance second.
And what "other anti-Apple thread"? Maybe if it's reasonable then I should dive in - wouldn't describe myself as necessarily "anti-Apple" but certainly some of their practices leave me cold.

Don't underestimate the level of hatred and disdain for eBay and Paypal too.

PayPal need to up their customer service game, and from what I've heard (I've not had a problem myself) then eBay could do with getting some customer service.

Despite what the CEO says, I'm still of the opinion that greedy investors forced this move ... I saw a post that sums it up nicely elsewhere ...

These folks operate a simple three step scheme ... infiltrate; agitate and then eviscerate

What would Meg think....

[smargh]

They need to spin it off in case it fails due to upcoming competitors. Then PayPal can sell itself to back to eBay for a token $1 (plus $0.33 PayPal fees).

[spacein_vader]

Interesting viewpoints, I actually see it the other way around. eBay is turning into a bit of a deadend, its reputation is poor and with the likes of Amazon marketplace for the bigger traders and things like autotrader for smaller sellers I'm not sure it has a huge future.

I fully expect PayPal to be worth a lot more than ebay in 10 years time, once it loses the baggage of being associated with 1 store in particular it'll be in a straight fight with the only other current contender: Amazon payments.

[Brewster0101]

sounds like a way for them to make even more money. hopefully ebay will stop forcing me to use paypal with everything i sell on there.

Ebay doesn't force you to use Paypal - plenty of other ways to pay for goods.


Additional payment methods Accepted payments methods:
Postal order/Banker's draft
Personal cheque
Other/See item description
Credit cards
Escrow

[Output]

I wonder if this will mean that PayPal will change their stance on buyer and seller protection for intangible goods, as they've never really supported that despite a lot of payments through them being for that.

[Saracen]

Ebay doesn't force you to use Paypal - plenty of other ways to pay for goods.


Additional payment methods Accepted payments methods:
Postal order/Banker's draft
Personal cheque
Other/See item description
Credit cards
Escrow

Unless it's changed ('cos I haven't used either for years, and I closed my PayPAL a/c some time back due to T&C changes) it used to be mandatory to offer PayPal as one of the payment options .... didn't it?

And that required sellers to have PayPal accounts, in case a buyer opted to pay that way .... as most would.

[razer121]

I still sell on ebay and you still have to offer paypal...

[peterb]

I can't see Apple Pay being as popular as PayPal, there are a lot of people out there who can't stand Apple and there horrid business practises.

Pfft, its a way to pay, like Google wallet. I have a PayPal account, but I never keep money in it, and certainly don't allow access to my bank account.

PayPal is more than just an eBay payment service, it offers merchant services too, so as it grows as a financial institution it makes commercial sense to spin it off as a separate company. I'm sure EBay will do very well out of the move.

[miniyazz]

Unless it's changed ('cos I haven't used either for years, and I closed my PayPAL a/c some time back due to T&C changes) it used to be mandatory to offer PayPal as one of the payment options .... didn't it?

And that required sellers to have PayPal accounts, in case a buyer opted to pay that way .... as most would.

Yeah this whole fiasco was one of the reasons I stopped using eBay to sell stuff.

You MUST offer Paypal and you MUST absorb those extra costs yourself (easily £10-15 on pricier items) and you MUST NOT incentivise other methods of payment (e.g. I used to offer a £5-10 discount for cash in hand because it saved both of us money).

Not to mention eBay's unacceptable "the buyer is always right" policy. Commonly sellers become victims to scams where the buyer buys something, then 2 days later (or however long) files a non-receipt claim. Frequently international buyers where there is no chance of it being delivered so quickly. Even in cases where the seller has used recorded delivery etc eBay just refunds the buyer and takes the money out of the Paypal account completely disregarding the seller.
Then there are arguably even worse occurrences where people have sold valuable instruments etc. One particular case I remember where an antique violin was sold. The buyer claimed it wasn't antique and was no value. eBay asked them to film themselves destroying it so they promptly destroyed some cheap violin they'd found somewhere and eBay refunded their money.
I wonder how eBay has any sellers left. Despicable business practises.

[collateral]

Used to sell and buy more frequently on eBay. Not anymore. For buying, I think Amazon has gotten more competitive over the past 3-4 years and eBay is chock-full of cheap Chinese goods (this is all that I really buy from ebay when I need it), plus it seems many sellers have to pass on costs for selling through ebay.
Selling is risky IMO with ebay's policy and the punitive fees for small goods. I think the last time I sold something 20-30% of the payment went to fees and postage.
Maybe this demerger will allow alternative payment providers to come in and bring in lower fees. I think ebay has more to lose than paypal from this.