Google party at eBay event will protest Checkout ban
Google is hosting a party at the eBay Live customer event in Boston on Thursday night for eBay sellers who are angry that eBay has forbidden merchants from offering Google Checkout as an online payment option.
The "Let Freedom Ring" Google party will be held in the Old South Meeting House in Boston, which was a key meeting place for participants in the American Revolution.
eBay and its PayPal unit added Google Checkout to its banned transaction provider list last summer, claiming that the service, which was launched in June 2006, did not have a proven track record and could not be trusted. eBay's move prompted several class action lawsuits, which have been consolidated. They allege that eBay's restricting of payment methods is anti-competitive and harms eBay merchants and sellers.
So far, more than 300 people have signed a petition asking eBay to allow merchants to offer Google Checkout to buyers on the eBay platform.
Benjamin Ling, head of Google Checkout, says there is no need for a ban on Checkout. It has been adopted by more than one quarter of the top 500 online retailers, is used by tens of thousands of stores in the U.S. and millions of customers, he says.
But eBay spokesman Hani Durzy says one year is not a long enough track record to prove that Google Checkout is trustworthy.
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service, and the Associated Press. E-mail Elinor. 
http://pheebay.com/index.php?pr=Summer_Solstice_Blue_Moon_St_Elsewhere_in_Unity
Now, eBay reaps both the positive and negative of that success. Being a juggernaut means that all who stand in your path are crushed - this has lead to a near-monopoly, at least from the eBay/marketplace perspective. While not the only player in the space, they can act as though they are with little fear of commercial reprisal.
On PayPal's side, the payment processors and providers, its a bit more competitive. However, as payments relate to eBay, they can act as the 400lb (that's roughly 28 stone) gorilla. Though they may be right in waiting for Google to develop a track record, this will look like a more aggressive act.
Is there no "ISO" style review of payment processors that can accredit Google Checkout as viable? Has PayPal published any standards to which it's held Google Checkout? Should I possibly look for answers to these questions before I post them publicly? I say 'probably" to all of the above.
Google cheeckout os plenty secure. Ebay just doesn't want to lose the EZ money PayPal beings in.
I think I will sue Sears for not accepting my Gap charge card for what I purchase at Sears.
Then I will go to Lowes and try to buy a gas BBQ grill and pay with my Home Depot card... and when they won't take it I will sue them.
- by MERMAIDMONKEYS June 19, 2008 10:09 AM PDT
- Hey jhawk95! Your logic fails. Last time I checked Sears, The Gap, Home Depot and Lowes all accepted other forms of payment besides their own cards.
- Reply to this comment
-
(7 Comments)If you haven't noticed, let me explain that eBay doesn't "sell" anything -- the sellers do. eBay is like shopping mall and the sellers are the tenants. So following your point... it would be the same as going to the shopping mall with your Visa card in hand or your checkbook only to discover that The Gap now only accepts the shopping mall's own debit card. Now I wouldnt want to sell at that mall or shop at that mall either.. . And that's exactly what sellers in Australia and worldwide are complaining about. Incidentally, PayPal is not a bank and your money is not FDIC insured there.
I'm giggling for Google and I'm cheering for Amazon! Look out eBay, because everyone is headed for the river (Amazon that is!) Investors are taking note of the changes in a BIG WAY TOO. eBay stocks have been slipping from the $30 holding point to $28 range; while Amazon has been rising from the $80 range to the $82 range.