eBay Payment Terms Of Use Update July 23, 2024
eBay has posted an update to their Payments Terms of Use dated July 16, 2024 with an effective date of July 23 - giving just 1 week notice and no proactive announcement to inform buyers and sellers of new terms that govern their use of the site.
Users are encouraged to read the entire updated terms carefully, but here are a few excerpts highlighting some important changes and additions.
Identity Verification
eBay has added additional wording to include that they may verify identity and other personal information when you enroll in Managed Payments and that they may use both credit and consumer reporting as part of the verification.
Old Version:
You authorize us and our Affiliates to check information you provide to us, including by verifying the existence of your bank account and obtaining reports from, or comparing your information to, third-party sources.
Such third-party sources may include without limitation, banks, credit agencies, data brokers, and other service providers.
New Version:
You authorize us and our Affiliates to verify and evaluate information you provide to us, including by verifying the existence of your bank account, verifying your identity and other personal information, obtaining reports from third parties, or comparing information you provide to us with information provided by third parties.
Such third parties may include without limitation banks, credit and consumer reporting agencies, data brokers and service providers.
Disputes & Seller Protection
The new Payments Terms open the door for eBay to provide different levels of seller protection against chargebacks and disputes, depending on which country specific eBay site is being used.
Old Version:
If you accept the Dispute or if the buyer’s financial institution decides in favor of the buyer, the respective amount will be refunded to the buyer's original payment method and charged to us.
You must reimburse us for such charges, unless you are eligible for seller protection in which case you are not held liable for amounts refunded to the buyer.
New Version:
If you accept the Dispute or if the buyer’s financial institution decides in favor of the buyer, the respective amount will be refunded to the buyer's original payment method and charged to us.
You must reimburse us for such charges, unless you are eligible for the Seller Protection policy provided by the eBay Affiliate which provides the eBay Services to you, in which case you are not held liable for amounts refunded to the buyer.
Old Version:
If you have met your eligibility requirements for, and fulfilled all your applicable obligations, under the Seller Protection policy, you will not be held liable for any amounts to be returned to buyers due to eBay Buyer Protection Program claims, Disputes or unauthorized transactions with eBay spendable funds.
New Version:
If you have met your eligibility requirements for, and fulfilled all your applicable obligations, under the Seller Protection policy provided by the eBay Affiliate which provides the eBay Services to you, you will not be held liable for any amounts to be returned to buyers due to eBay Buyer Protection Program claims, Disputes or unauthorized transactions with eBay spendable funds.
1099-Ks Electronic By Default
1099-K and other informational returns that eBay is required to issue will now be electronic by default - if sellers still wish to receive a physical copy in the mail, they will need to manually opt out of paperless-only delivery.
New Addition:
eBay may be required to issue information return(s) to you related to payments made to you during a calendar year, such as IRS Forms 1099.
Your acceptance of these Payments Terms of Use and continued use of our Payment Services evidence your agreement to receive any information return, such as Forms 1099-K or any other Form 1099 required to be issued to you, electronically.
You may access an electronic copy of Forms 1099 by downloading the form where it is made available to you in Seller Hub. You can choose to receive paper information returns mailed to you by opting out of paperless-only delivery. The elections will be effective for current and future years unless you change your election.
You will not receive any information returns in the mail unless you’ve opted out of electronic delivery by December 31, or we are otherwise required to send a paper copy of your information return by mail.
That could make it easier for fraudsters to get away with creating eBay accounts using stolen identity information - in years past, the victims of this type of fraud only found out their identity info had been stolen and used for illegal purposes when they received a 1099-K in the mail associated with an eBay account they did not previously know existed.
Liz Morton
Klarna
All of the sections in the Payments Terms that used to name Klarna specifically have been changed to more generic terminology like "Specific Payments Methods" or "Payment Partners."
For example -
Old Version:
On certain European eBay sites, buyers may choose a Klarna Payment Method to pay the purchase price for any item you sell them. You hereby agree to and shall comply with the terms and conditions for Klarna Payment Methods (“Klarna Payment Methods Terms”), which shall form an integral part of these Payments Terms of Use.
New Version:
On certain European eBay sites, buyers may be able to choose payment methods such as direct debit, payment by invoice or installment payments (“Specific Payment Methods”) to pay for items purchased from you. The Specific Payment Methods are offered to buyers by our integrated payment partners (“Payment Partners”).
Old Version:
Klarna and the Acquirer will not be a party to and not have any obligation under these Payments Terms of Use or any other agreement between you and eBay Sarl, eBay, the buyer or any third party.
New Version
The Payment Partners and the Acquirer will not be a party to and not have any obligation under these Payments Terms of Use or any other agreement between you and eBay Sarl, eBay, the buyer or any third party.
eBay launched the acceptance of Klarna in Germany in 2022 and currently all of the help and policy pages for the .de site still show it as an accepted payment method, so it does not appear that eBay is getting rid of Klarna at this time.
However, they may be planning to bring on other similar Buy Now, Pay Later options in the future, which could be covered by the more generic "Payment Partners" wording.
How will these changes to eBay's Payments Terms of Use impact your business? Let us know in the comments below!
