PayPal Policy Update By Michelle Megna
September 6, 2006
PayPal, eBay's online payment service, just announced several policy changes, with most falling in favor of sellers and buyers with a few exceptions, notably the revoking of its "Money Back Guarantee" program effective next Thursday.
The "Money Back" plan allowed subscribers to resell merchandise to PayPal if they were unsatisfied with the item, with the guarantee covering transactions for less than $1,000. This will be rescinded on Sept. 14.
The PayPal Buyer Protection program and the PayPal Plus Credit Card and Buyer Credit Policy will also be amended Sept. 14. The company is removing the limit on the number of payouts PayPal awards to a buyer per year under the terms of the protection programs. The company's buyer protection program helps shoppers get their money back from eBay sellers who fail to deliver or who grossly misrepresent their merchandise.
For those who deal with overseas transactions, PayPal announced that it is updating its Buyer Complaint Process for claims made under eBay's Standard Purchase Protection Program for payments made in Euros. The maximum payment will now be 230 Euros, up from 200 Euros. The eBay processing cost remains 25 Euros.
Finally, PayPal is amending its PayPal Plus Card Rewards program. Effective Sept. 20, PayPal Plus cardholders will earn one reward point for every dollar spent on purchases. Reward points may be redeemed for PayPal Reward Vouchers, or for free shipping on PayPal purchases. Reward Coupons will no longer be sent automatically.
Instead, cardholders will choose when to redeem their earned points. Reward points that were earned (and not redeemed) under the current program will be rolled over and can be used under the new program. New cardholders who are approved for PayPal Plus credit card will be automatically placed in the new program For more information, log on to PayPal and click on "Policy Updates" in the left column.
Winners Create eBay Data Analysis Tools In other eBay news, DataUnison, a company that provides eBay developers and power sellers with research APIs, brand reports, product reports, keyword affiliate reports and trade-in programs, announced the winners of its Annual Research API Developer's Contest. Developers from across the globe had 45 days to create their application using the DataUnison API, which returns detailed analysis on items being sold on eBay over the past 90 days.
First place for Innovative Application was awarded to "Deal of the Moment," which helps buyers set their proxy bids properly to win auctions, without the need to guess and without the worry of overbidding. Whereas the majority of current tools and applications are designed for sellers, Deal of the Moment focuses on helping eBay buyers win auctions. The company received $1,000.
Second place in the Innovative category went to eSeller Street, which shows the sales performance of individual sellers and allows them to compare themselves to other sellers within their category. The aim is to give an established seller an idea of how they are doing compared to others and to help new sellers learn how to market an item based on the strategy of successful merchants. Eseller Street, which earned $500 in prize money, will launch in October.
In the Research Tool category, a German company placed first, receiving $1,000, with Baywotch, an application launching in November that allows German sellers to research the best day and time to sell, the most successful starting price and the most profitable listing promotions to use. Their trend-tracking tools help sellers understand the overall performance of the marketplace in order to better manage their inventory. And the developers used the bathing-suit beauties show "Baywatch" font at their site, so it proves they are not without a sense of humor.
Michelle Megna is managing editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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