eBay wants to ensure that the marketplace offers buyers safe, appropriate and convenient payment choices for the marketplace. eBay requires all sellers listing on eBay.co.uk to offer payments through PayPal (with some exceptions set out below). PayPal is not only convenient to use, but it also offers buyers and sellers protection assistance against fraud, chargebacks and theft of financial data.

Sellers with their own merchant credit card processing account, and those who use a third-party credit card processor, may also offer their buyers the option of paying directly with a credit card online (including through third party checkout) or by phone.

Offline payment methods generally do not offer the same level of protection or convenience as online payments. Nonetheless, they may be appropriate for certain types of transactions and sellers may use listings to offer acceptance of cash (other than by mail or courier) and most valid financial instruments, including personal cheques, bankers drafts or postal orders.

Policy

eBay requires all sellers listing on eBay.co.uk and eBay.ie to accept PayPal in their listings with the exception of listings in the categories of cars, motorcycles, aircraft, boats, caravans, trailers, trucks (commercials), services and property categories. Sellers listing on eBay.ie are currently exempt from this requirement, but must offer PayPal in their listings if they wish them to appear in search on eBay.co.uk or eBay.ie. In most cases, other additional payments options, which are currently permitted onsite, may also be provided.

Sellers who list in certain categories or transactions may additionally be required to offer PayPal as the only payment method offered on a listing, and this will be messaged accordingly within the listing flows. 

Permitted
Sellers may offer to accept:

• PayPal (all sellers must offer PayPal in their listings)

• Credit cards (including MasterCard, Visa, Amex), debit cards, and bank electronic payments

• Payment upon pickup

Not permitted
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. We have banned the use of Instant Money Transfers as a payment method on the eBay.co.uk site to protect members, because in the past some sellers have exploited Instant Money Transfers in order to defraud buyers.

• 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.

Please see the Some Examples section below for permitted and non-permitted online payment services.

Payment Holds for eBay Items

eBay and PayPal are working together to make it safer than ever to buy on eBay. One of the ways that PayPal is ensuring this is by identifying transactions that pose the greatest risk of bad sales and holding the payments from sellers for a period of time to help ensure that the transactions go smoothly. Get more details on Payment Holds for eBay items.

Misleading & Discouraging Payments

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. For example, you may not insist that a buyer pay a surcharge, if paying through a certain payment method.

Breaches of any part 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