eBay's Business Ethics or Lack Thereof

C.S. Magor — Sat, 31 May 2008 18:46:29 -0700

What's the problem? In case you didn't know, eBay owns Paypal and Paypal charges some rather excessive fees. If you are using Paypal within country, the fees are a little steep. They are charged at the point of receipt, so the merchant is hit with them and they can be expensive. The fees are not capped and are a percentage of the transaction. The more the merchant earns for a sale, the more Paypal earns. If you are making a so called, "cross borders payment," the fee effectively doubles. On top of that Paypal takes a 3% cut on the exchange rate.

If I live in Australia and receive a payment of USD 1,000 from the United States, I can expect to take a hit of around USD 40. I will receive USD 960 instead of USD 1,000. Now, if I want to deposit that USD 960 into my bank account, Paypal will give me an exchange that is 3% below the market rate. A single transaction has netted them almost USD 50; that is considerably more than the cost of an international wire.

Some people can't help but use Paypal. It is the international currency of professional bloggers and it is an effective way to accept credit card transactions without a merchant account. It allows a large number of casual folks to conduct business online. I begrudgingly use it, but would switch to Google Checkout in a heartbeat if it were offered here in Japan.

The thing is that in Australia, people do have choices; very good ones, in fact. Internet banking is huge in Australia and there are plenty of secure ways for merchants to accept transactions. Not to mention the fact that accepting credit card transactions is a whole lot cheaper. There is little wonder that only 25% of Australian eBay users use Paypal.

Jealous Husband Who Put Wife on eBay Under Investigation for Harassment

C.S. Magor — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:41:03 -0700

Paul Osborne, a 44-year-old Englishman was so devastated at the thought that his wife of 24 years might be having an affair, that he packed her things, put them on the curb. It all started with some rumors that he heard and allegedly confirmed by snooping through her email account. He gave her a second chance, but again became convinced and this time took more drastic action: he put her on eBay.

According to Paul: “In a fit of rage I put the advert on eBay. I later took it off because I realized it wasn’t the right thing to do. I was just so angry.”

We can all agree that it was the wrong thing to do, but you have to feel for the guy, who after being married for 24 years discovered emails in his wife's account between her and another man where, "They had been discussing their sex life together and making plans for the future."

For future reference John, the appropriate course of action would have been to consult a competent divorce attorney. [Daily Telegraph]