So eBay finally blinked, citing not the roars of derision from its customers, but our own ACCC as the reason.

I’ve only used eBay about three times, and once using PayPal because it was a software title I just had to have (a vintage copy of Spaceship Warlock) and PayPal was the only payment method available. I felt distinctly unsafe giving an organisation that does not have to play by financial institution rules - and who have repeatedly allowed customers’ accounts to be cleaned out - any access to one of my accounts. I closed the PayPal account the moment the transaction was completed.

You see, the biggest problem with PayPal is that it’s a pull mechanism, rather than push, and after you give initial approval, PayPal have continuous access to be able to withdraw from your account with or without your prior authorisation.

No. Just no.

I’ll stick with push transactions like bank transfers, cheques, or even credit cards where the organisation does have to comply with finance sector regs, and in the event of a disputed transaction, will reverse the transaction on your say so then start investigating.

I trust PayPal as far as I can throw it. If eBay had gotten away with the anti-competitive PayPal-only restriction then I just would never use it (as opposed to hardly ever...)

On a lighter note, yes, even though the game is some 18 years old (and cheesy as the day it was born) I still fire up Spaceship Warlock once in a while. Classic gaming is one of the reasons we still have old iron hanging around the place.

Tags: ebay, paypal, sucks