PayPal Policy Updates

[pierrelebel]

PayPal is a business that serves a new and exciting market. As that market changes, our business evolves. This page is dedicated to informing users in advance of important changes to the PayPal service, its User Agreement or other policies.

Effective Date: October 31, 2008
Amendment to the PayPal User Agreement. This Amendment to the PayPal User Agreement is being issued to correct a mistake in the prior Amendment to the PayPal User Agreement.

A. CORRECTION: The Amendment to the PayPal User Agreement below announcing the newly revised PayPal’s seller protection effective September 30, 2008, is incorrect. The error is that PayPal will not be introducing the newly revised seller protection until further notice. The current seller protection policy in section 11 of the PayPal User Agreement will remain in effect until further notice.

B. CORRECTION: The Amendment to the PayPal User Agreement below announcing the newly revised protection for buyers effective September 30, 2008, is incorrect. The error is that it states that the newly revised protection for buyers will apply to Claims filed beginning 09/30/08. The purpose of this correction is to inform you that the newly revised protection for buyers will apply to transactions made beginning October 31, 2008. Please see the Amendment to the PayPal User Agreement below for the terms and conditions of the newly revised protection for buyers. .

[pierrelebel]

Effective Date: September 3, 2008


Beginning September 3, 2008 the PayPal User Agreement is being amended as follows:

1. Section 4.3 will be amended to read:

4.3 Use of PayPal on eBay. Sellers who offer PayPal as a payment method in their eBay listings must follow these requirements:

Accept PayPal if the eBay listing includes PayPal as a payment method.

Accept all PayPal funding sources from a buyer, including but not limited to eCheck and credit cards.

Have a Premier or Business account or be willing to upgrade to a Premier or Business account upon receipt of a payment.

Accept international PayPal transactions if the eBay listing offers shipping outside the US.

Sellers may not charge a surcharge for accepting PayPal as a payment method.

2. Section 13.1 (in Exhibit "A" to section 13) is amended so that the Buyer Protection Programs do not cover Classified Ads on eBay.

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[pierrelebel]

re: seller protection....

.... fine print ...

"Your primary residence, as listed in your PayPal Account, must be in the United States." .

[fenian]

So....if we live in Canada and list on eBay dot com....we have no Paypal protection ? Does this mean that for sellers living in Canada, we have to be registered on and list on eBay dot ca if we want any form of Paypal protection ? When I joined ('96), dot com was the only game in town, and I've stayed registered there because much of what I sell goes south of the border. ......Or am I misinterpreting something here ? >>>> Michael

[pierrelebel]

Log on to your PayPal account and check the Policy change link (left panel) for more information.

It appears the proposed (now delayed) new extended Seller Protection policy protected US sellers only. The new proposed policy is now shelved until further notice. .

[ampurtle]

It probably has more to do with the 3.5 mil they will be paying as a result of most recent class action suite stemming from Paypal protection.

[cottonwoodindustries]

We have no paypal protection, period. If you LIVE IN CANADA!!
When I talked to paypal, he said NO TRACKING, NO COVERAGE, period. I said to him we are SOL,. and he said YES!!!
He understands the problem of cost and no available tracking for international sales, but still says NO BAD, no tracking and confirmation of delivery NO COVERAGE!

[momoftwingles2]

Is this the reason why so many Canadian sellers have just had their funds pulled and given back to buyers even though they signed up for the EXTRA PROTECTION?

Hopefully something will come along for Canadians.

Susan
momoftwingles2

[ampurtle]

I use tracking for high value shipments, any other prolems are covered by Canada Post, which is why you want the invoice value on the CP label B-)

The up side is that Canada Post doesn't treat you like a piece of crap to suck money out of....

As it turns out, even if you are a buyer and enter into a PayPal dispute requiring you to return product with tracking, they may just screw you over anyway as happened to me to the tune of 300.00. In fact I'll probably get stuck with yet another $35.oo out of pocket because the seller has vanished and is not picking up the returned package.

So far I'm out $500.oo as a result of no fault on my part, and compliance with PayPal instructions that them self may have been misleading and self satisfying.

Eventually I'll grow tired of getting it from both sides and spend a few thousand on the lawyer to beat them over the head with their user agreement and specific instructions just to make sure they get the point, are forced to provide the refund and waste a couple thousand on their own lawyers. George Bush will need a job soon, and he would make an excellent addition to the PayPal staff.:O

[dipmicro]

are forced to provide the refund and waste a couple thousand on their own lawyers

Yes that will happen if you can prove your point, while most likely their lawyers will throw a 10kg of paperwork each day at your lawyer, who will eventually crack and advise you do settle.

Small Claim costs $75 filing fee and do this yourself. Small Claim is informal session without legal mambo jumbo where parties are encouraged to represent themselves. Add all your estimated time expenses to your claim (as if you went all the way - it will take 2-3 sessions). Very likely they will offer settlement during the first session when they find out you are serious.

[ampurtle]

That's a myth, it doesn't work that way for a company like PayPal, of course its obviously the impression they want potential litigants to be left with.

Small claims doesn't apply to a company in Switzerland.

The point is ensuring they get the message as painfully as possible, the money is irrelevant, because I'm not dealing with your average Paypal employee, but rather the office of executive investigations because this matter has been escalated by me.

I'll probably escalate one more level before I involve the lawyers because it's somewhat theraputic to throw their incompetance back in their faces by pointing out their flagrant disregard for their own agreements and protection policies.

The last guy that screwed me for a whole 10.oo 2 months ago is still paying the price in Thailand and will for some time. He's had his sales reversed and refunded, he's on both ebay and paypal watch list, Nikon Japan, Thailand and Malaysia all have him on their black list and will never grant him dealer status and the consular general for buisness relations in Ottawa is still tracking him dow for a suitable caining for embarrassing his country. I know how to make a point 😉

[gifts_of_elegance]

I purchased an item for over $400. I paid with PayPal. The listing showed that I was protected up to $315. I received the item. It was broken due to poor packaging. I filed a PayPal claim. PayPal recovered 52 cents on my behalf from the seller with a promise that they will try to get the rest. I contacted my account manager to ask how I could file for the $315 that was stated on the listing. She replied that she has spoken to PayPal and that I will be receiving an email soon. I did. It said that they have awarded me $200 compensation and it should be in my account in a few days. (not $315 as stated on the listing). Two months have gone by and it still has not been credited to my account. All I got is 52 cents!

[miriam@ebay.com]

Hi all,

While I work the eBay side of the business, I want help clarify this question of seller protection for Canadian sellers. This is my understanding of the situation.

In June, the US announced that they were expanding PayPal Seller Protection to include all eBay sellers (not just PowerSellers as it was before).

The corresponding announcement on eBay.ca made very clear that Canadian sellers were not getting this expanded protection right away. Instead, we'd be getting it in 2009 when PayPal development resources became available to Canada - that announcement is here: http://www2.ebay.com/aw/ca/200806201253322.html

This is also covered in the FAQs from that announcement: http://pages.ebay.ca/sell/June2008update/faq/index.html#1

However, my understanding is that Canadian sellers will continue to have the same level of seller protection from PayPal as it had before. Specifically:

1. Canadians sellers who are not PowerSellers will continue to be covered under the old PayPal Seller Protection Policy (https://www.paypal.com/row/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/UserAgreement/ua/PolicySpp).

2. Canadian PowerSellers will continue to be protected under the expanded seller protection program covered here: http://pages.ebay.ca/services/buyandsell/powerseller/benefits.html#5

If I understand correctly, the concern here is that the amendment to the PP User Agreement (and the Customer Support agent that cottonwoodindustries spoke to) makes it sound like Canadian sellers are fresh out of luck when it comes to any seller protection.

I will make inquiry with my PayPal colleagues and see what the story is ...

Thanks,

Miriam

[nancyschina]

I have been trying to get the expanded seller protection for months ... they say they will send an email inviting me into the program, which of course I haven't received. How do I get enrolled in this expanded seller protection program??

[gifts_of_elegance]

Miriam,

While you are at it, can you also check for protection for Canadian purchasers? (Please see my previous post)

Perhaps you can tell us why I got 52 cents even though listing claims I was protected up to $315.

Thank You!

John

[jakeeangel]

I saw this post the other day and didn't think it was right. The PayPal Expanded Seller Protection for Powersellers took effect several months ago. That hasn't changed.

I'm glad you came in here to correct that aspect of the post Miriam.

PayPal Expanded seller protection for Powersellers started in March and hasn't changed. What they're referring to in the quote from the OP is for non Powersellers. This information was announced at eBay Live. It's offering the same protection for all US sellers that Powersellers in the US, UK, Canada and Hong Kong get if they accepted the expanded protection.

I sat in the audience and caught that little gem. The protection is only for US sellers. I marched over and talked to someone at the eBay Canada booth and was told basically they don't have the money to implement it right now. This is old news and doesn't apply to Powersellers. Canadians still have to do what they've done before to get SPP.

[pierrelebel]

Hi Jakeeangel

"This is old news "

From the PayPal site: Effective Date: September 3, 2008

My understanding, and it is not "old news" PayPal will not be introducing the newly revised seller protection until further notice.

On June 20, following eBay Live!, Lorrie Norrington announced:
http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200806200947512.html

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"Improved Protection from PayPal When You Buy or Sell on eBay
PayPal is one of the safest ways to pay on eBay and already used by a majority of eBay's buyers and sellers. This year, our partners at PayPal are making another significant investment in building trust on eBay.

Starting this fall, eBay and PayPal are rolling out improvements to Buyer and Seller Protection on eBay.com. This is huge!

For sellers -- ALL eBay.com sellers will receive improved seller protection benefits previously available only to PowerSellers. Specifically, this means:

There is no additional cost to receive this protection
There is no coverage limit!
There is no cap on items sold or dollar amount!
You're no longer required to ship to confirmed address to be covered ... just send the goods to the address provided by PayPal and keep proof of shipment!
Protection covers shipments to any of the 190 countries in which PayPal is accepted, so the world is more open than ever for U.S. sellers."

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My understanding from the payPal policy change announcement is that the promised expanded PayPal Seller protection program announced above will not take place at this time.

"someone at the eBay Canada booth and was told basically they don't have the money to implement it right now"

That is shameful and misleading since Canadian sellers pay the same fees as US sellers. .

[miriam@ebay.com]

Good morning all,

I can confirm that 1) all Canadian sellers are still covered under the old PayPal seller protection policy and 2) Canadian PowerSellers still have the expanded protection they signed up for early this year.

I've let PayPal know that Canadians are seeing the same User Agreement update page that Americans are, and that it's causing understandable confusion. Hopefully I will get an answer back on that one ... I will let you know as soon as I hear more.

Thanks very much for raising this issue.

Cheers,

Miriam

[pierrelebel]

"ALL eBay.com sellers will receive improved seller protection benefits "

This was a nice first step towards online payment policy (no cheque no money order) announced last month.

However, now that PayPal is NOT introducing the improved seller protection program, will eBay continue with its new online payment requirement? .

[nancyschina]

I would still like to know how I can get enrolled in the expanded seller protection benefits program ... I have been eligible since it started but have never received the "invitation email".