Sellers definitely assume a lot of risk by accepting PayPal. The big problem is, as of October 20, Ebay implemented the mandatory "Safe Payments Policy" which requires a seller to offer PayPal or credit card as an option. If someone decides to report your listing for not accepting PayPal, Ebay could cancel it. If someone bids on your listing and then later backs out because you refuse to accept PayPal, Ebay will back them up. Since the timeshare is in the real estate category, you are still "permitted" to accept payment by check but you still must accept PayPal if the buyer wants to pay that way. It is getting more challenging every day to sell on Ebay!
Here is the policy:
Accepted Payments Policy
eBay wants to help ensure that the marketplace offers buyers safer online payment choices.
Enforcement grace period for sellers: Starting October 20, 2008 only permitted payment methods will be displayed in the payment details section of listings. Sellers will need to remove all references to non-permitted payment methods from item descriptions. We know that this is a busy time of year for sellers, so to allow sufficient time to change templates, we will wait until January 15, 2009 before we begin taking action against sellers soliciting non-permitted payment methods within the item description of listings.
Permitted on eBay.com:
Sellers must offer to accept one or more of the following payment choices:
* PayPal
* Credit or debit card processed through an Internet merchant account
* ProPay
Sellers may in addition offer to accept:
* Payment upon pickup
For specific categories, sellers may also offer to accept:
* Bank-to-bank transfers (also known as bank wire transfers and bank cash transfers)
* Checks
* Money orders
* Any of the following online payment services: Allpay.net, cash2india, CertaPay, Checkfree.com, hyperwallet.com, Moneybookers.com, Nochex.com, Ozpay.biz, Paymate.com.au, XOOM
These payment choices may be offered only for items in the following categories:
* Motors > Cars & Trucks
* Motors > Motorcycles
* Motors > Powersports
* Motors > Boats
* Motors > Other Vehicles & Trailers
* Business & Industrial > Agriculture & Forestry > Tractors & Farm Machinery
* Business & Industrial > Construction > Heavy Equipment, Trailers
* Business & Industrial > Food Service & Retail > Concession Trailers & Carts
* Business & Industrial > Healthcare, Lab & Life Science > Imaging & Aesthetics Equipment
* Business & Industrial > Industrial Supply, MRO > Fork Lifts & Other Lifts
* Business & Industrial > Manufacturing & Metalworking > Manufacturing Equipment
* Business & Industrial > Manufacturing & Metalworking > Metalworking Equipment
* Business & Industrial > Office, Printing & Shipping > Commercial Printing Presses
* Real Estate
* Adult Only
Not permitted on eBay.com
Sellers may not solicit:
* Buyers to mail cash.
* Buyers to send cash or money orders through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or MoneyGram.
* Buyers to mail checks or money orders (except for items in categories specifically permitted above)
* Payment through bank-to-bank transfers (except for items in categories specifically permitted above)
* Payment through "topping off" of a seller's pre-paid credit or debit card.
* Payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy.
* Payment through payment methods not listed in this policy.
Misleading & Discouraging Payments
Sellers must clearly state the payment methods that they accept and may not include generalized statements soliciting buyers to contact them for additional payment methods.
Sellers who state in their listing that they accept certain payment methods must not selectively offer those payment methods to buyers or discourage buyers from using those payment methods.
This means that sellers must always accept payment from buyers through the payment methods they have selected in their Payment Details section of their listing, including PayPal, and must not act in any way to discourage buyers from paying by these methods.
This policy is not only limited to communications made in listings, but also includes all correspondence between a seller and buyer that relates to an eBay transaction.
Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions including:
* Listing cancellation
* Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
* Limits on account privileges
* Loss of PowerSeller status
* Account suspension