Before you bid or purchase an item on eBay, make sure that the seller's payment options will work for you. eBay recommends PayPal: it’s safer and easier than cheques or postal orders and protects your purchase for the full price of the item (including postage & packaging). Note: This is available only on eBay.co.uk.

When deciding which payment method to use, you should always consider:

• Is it traceable and is there proof of payment?

• Is the method fast and convenient?

• How secure is it?

• Is there any protection in case something goes wrong?

Paying with PayPal is the fastest and easiest way to pay for an item on eBay. PayPal is built in to eBay, which allows us to track the funds if your seller claims he or she didn’t receive the payment. All you need to do is click the “Pay Now” button in your item page, My eBay or eBay emails. Note: If you don’t have a PayPal account, you'll have to set one up.

PayPal uses the highest level of commercially available encryption and keeps its firewall-protected servers from directly connecting to the internet to protect your data.

Before making your payment, always remember to:

If you have additional questions about payment options, you can contact the seller directly. You can find the seller's email address by clicking on the user ID on the listing or by looking in the End of Listing email you received when the listing closed.

More information on each method of payment is provided below:

• PayPal

• Credit Card

• Personal or Banker's Drafts

• Postal Order

• Escrow

• Bank Transfer

• Instant Cash Wire Transfer (not premitted by eBay)

• Cash (not permitted by eBay)

Payment methods not permitted on eBay

Sellers may not ask or require you to:

• pay by instant cash wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram 

• pay by cash

• pay using a method other than PayPal

Please refer to the Accepted Payments policy for details on permitted and non-permitted payment methods. Payment services that are not permitted on eBay may, in fact, be outstanding services for consumers in other contexts. eBay’s evaluation relates only to whether a particular service is appropriate for the eBay Marketplace. If a seller asks you to pay with a payment method that is not permitted on eBay, report the seller.

Payment problems

If you have paid for an item but have not received it or the item is significantly not as described, you can use the Item Not Received or Significantly Not as Described Process to help resolve the issue.

Note: Eligibility for buyer protection services is determined by the payment method that you use and the eBay country site where the item was purchased. You can review how your purchase is protected on the item page.

You can only open a dispute through the specific eBay country site where you purchased the item. If you try to open a dispute on an eBay country site other than the site where you purchased the item, you will be asked to continue your dispute on the appropriate eBay site.