eBay army mobilises to oppose PayPal 08 May 2008 4:44PM Jason Bryce The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has received more than 200 submissions opposing eBay Australia's proposal to force its buyers and sellers to use PayPal. The issue has attracted attention around the world as many eBay users allege that Australia is the proving ground for a plan that will be rolled out across all eBay jurisdictions. eBay Australia confirmed two weeks ago that other eBay divisions were watching the outcome of the proposed ban on alternative payment providers. The overwhelming majority of submissions are from disgruntled eBay sellers like Raymond Foo. "Shouldn't we at least have the right to use very similar competitors like Paymate or QPay?" asks Mr Foo in his submission. Real estate agent Chris Murphy from Gold Coast Rentals wrote that they have had no complaints from eBay transactions and have unsuccessfully asked eBay for an exemption from the new rule. "At this stage I am unsure of our ability of accepting PayPal; at present our clients on eBay pay directly into our trust account or pay via a special merchant facility that pays direct into our trust account," wrote Murphy. "As you guys would be well aware, trust accounts protect the consumer; however after a number of attempts asking eBay to exempt us from the new rules I have been ignored." Long time eBay users Craig and Shelley Spalding get straight to the point in their submission, which is typical of many. "I ask you the ACCC to make all effort possible to stop eBay Australia from implementing this change as many, many small and large sellers will be forced to close due to the fee increase from mandatory PayPal fees. I also beg the ACCC to see that this move is NOT a security move as stated by eBay Australia but simply a move to monopolise the payment system with their own company and stop any competition, thus raising the company's income from fees." Many submissions express incredulity at eBay's unwillingness to concede it has significant market power and Nielsen Online's inability to determine the size and nature of the market in which eBay operates. eBay proposes to force all sellers to offer PayPal by the 21st May and ban all other competitors after the 17th June.