Australian consumer watchdog the ACCC have been given the web’s favourite whipping horse an almighty kick in the pants, telling the auction giant that mandatory PayPal is hardly fair-dinkum.
eBay have been informed that their proposed Paypal payment system, which was to be introduced over the next few months is anti-competitive and an abuse of market power, said the ACCC.
"The ACCC is concerned that the notified conduct will allow eBay to use its market power in the supply of online marketplaces to substantially lessen competition in the market in which PayPal operate”, the ACCC said in a statement.
Under the proposed ACCC ruling against the practice, eBay would be required to offer other monetary alternatives, most of which are already standard practice on the auction site today.
Under the ACCC’s move to regulate competition online, buyers and sellers would not be forced by eBay to use just one form of payment, even as Ebay tout the proposed ‘safety’ design of their Paypal product. ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said that “the ACCC acknowledges that having PayPal as the only payment provider has the potential to deliver some benefits to users, such as increased buyer protection insurance in certain circumstances. However, the ACCC believes that consumers are in the best position to decide which payment method is most suitable for them.”
eBay, which have now received a draft notice of the intended Paypal rebuke, will be given a short amount of time to respond, before a final decision is made on the issue.
Australia is the only country in the world where Paypal is being planned as the sole and mandatory payment option. A flurry of anti-eBay material has hit the web in recent times, as former eBay members disband and create their own auction sites, such as the one we reported here.