That would worry me.

Was that in the listing, or only in the Invoice?

It was on the listing, but I overlooked it.  I looked to see if he accepted PayPal and when I saw he did, I didn't read further.

Please, no personal credit/debit cards are accepted through PayPal. PayPal payment is welcome, but only through the PayPal Send Money Option, or direct bank account transfers to my PayPal account. The merchandise will be shipped immediately upon receipt of payment.

To be fair, he even said it twice ... so I can't blame him for not making it clear.

TheHistorian wrote:Double check ebay's rules - I'm not sure he's allowed to conditionally accept Paypal.

I'll do that, thanks.  This had not occurred to me.

Items #2 and #5 excerpted from eBay's PayPal User Agreement:

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

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

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

It would seem he can't require what he is asking me to do.  So, what do y'all think?  I think it is beginning to stink, should I file a complaint?  

Thanks for the advice.

Without knowing more (for instance, the seller's feedback), I wouldn't immediately suspect something nefarious...

I am a *very* small scale seller, and Paypal's credit card fees are significantly higher than bank transfers... were I more organized, I would probably also put a similar request in my auctions.

(But, it would be a polite 'request' - not a condition)

Some PayPal accounts don't accept credit card payments. This is because the user of the account has never had their account variefied. They've never registered their own credit card with PayPal, and PayPal cannot confirm where they live, their phone number etc.

In general... If a major bank does not trust the user of their account, you probably shouldn't do either. It's very simple to verify your account. All you need is a real address and phone number.

I'd reply and say, "I have offered you payment through PayPal. Please accept this payment. If you are unable to offer a full service through PayPal, and/or unwilling to accept the payment offered, then I cannot conclude this purchase. We should raise a dispute with eBay and conclude it that way, or you can mutually withdraw from this transaction."

FormCritic wrote:You're protected by PayPal either way.

No you're not.
You're protected if he doesn't ship or if it doesn't arrive, but if it's not as described, or gets soaked by the mailman, or mullered in transit, you're fucked. It's then down to PayPal's goodwill and a dubious assessment by a bunch of retards as to how much something is now worth vs. how much you paid for it. Basicly you're f'cked if you give up your credit card protection.
The best tip I ever received when I started on eBay was, 'Don't buy anything without a credit card unless you're willing to lose it.' That rings true for all e-commerse.

Xaxaxe wrote:This is not a seller choice; it's an eBay requirement. No matter what you think about it, they've been very clear about it: accepting PayPal means accepting PayPal. The seller cannot add terms or conditions. End of.

This seller can (and should) be reported for violations.

No. The limitation is set by PayPal.
PayPal only allow certain people with basic PayPal accounts to accet cash. Even if he wants to, he cannot accept credit card payments until he has a varified PayPal account.
eBay ONLY stipulate that you have and accept paymants through PayPal. They do not require that you have a fully varified account, or a business account. The only require you to have a basic account.
So, sellers can have any PayPal account, and PayPal set the limitations. Be that no echeques, or no credit cards or whatever.

So the guy is only accepting payment types that PayPal and eBay are allowing him to. It's PayPal and eBay who write the rules and limit his account here.

All that said, for obvious reasons, I would not trade with anyone who has not got a PayPal account that accepts credit cards. Because this means that neither ebay nor PayPal have fully varified him yet. Just tell the guy that you cannot pay until he has a fully varified PayPal account and you're happy to open a dispute with eBay or withdraw mutually from the sale. Let him make the call.

You are presuming the guy CAN accept credit cards and just doesn't want to. It is just as likely that he CANNOT accept credit cards and is just relaying that information badly. This CAN and CANNOT is something eBay and PayPal decide on and then leave it up to the seller to explain to the buyer.

He may be passing on information because he's sick of having to bounce back credit card payments. When I had a basic PayPal account, I could not accept credit card payments, and I had to reject them when I was given the option to accept or reject the payment (which is something you don't get in other accounts as everything is accepted auctomatically). So I had to keep bouncing back these payments saying my account does not accept credit cards. I got sick of it and stopped selling things on eBay because I was losing sales and having to file claims for my fees back. This guy might be in the same boat, and is putting wanrnings on his auctions so he doesn't have to bounce back so many payments.

When PayPal don't let you accept credit cards there is nothing you can do about it. Unless you've been in that situation, it's quite possible not to even know that PayPal do this. The only possible reason the guy could have to refuse credit cards if he has an account that accepts credit cards, is because he does not intend to ship, or he intends to lie in his description and ship you crap. But even then he'd just get shut down quickly. He can't avoid PayPal fees because once your account accepts credit cards you get charged PayPal fees on all payment types.

It is far more likely that his PayPal account doesn't accept credit cards and he'd trying to warn his buyers. If eBay did not permit you to have a PayPal account that didn't accept credit cards, they either wouldn't have any such accounts, or they would only allow business account holders to sell things on eBay.

Xaxaxe wrote:He's in violation. Open and shut.

Only if eBay and PayPal are allowing him to accept credit cards on his account. And if that were the case, therre can be no motive not to accept credit cards because he has all the protection in the world and has to pay fees on everything. I think it's far more likely that the guy has a credit cardless account and is just communicating poorly.