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Accepted payments policy

Policy overview

Our accepted payments policy gives buyers and sellers on eBay safe, appropriate and convenient payment options.

eBay requires all sellers listing on eBay.co.uk to offer payments through PayPal (with some limited exceptions). In most cases, other payment options may be offered as well.

PayPal is not only convenient to use, but it also offers buyers and sellers protection assistance against fraud, chargebacks and theft of financial data.

PayPal may hold some payments for a period of time to help ensure that transactions go smoothly. Learn more about payment holds for eBay items.

Sellers need to state in their listing specifically which payment methods they accept and only offer payment methods approved by eBay. eBay Checkout is the only checkout process allowed for buyers on eBay.

Make sure your listing follows these guidelines. If it doesn't, it may be removed, and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including limits of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account.

What are the guidelines?

PayPal

Allowed

 PayPal

  • All sellers on eBay.co.uk must offer to accept PayPal. The limited exceptions to this are detailed in the Restricted section below.

  • To make checkout faster, you can log in to your PayPal account on the checkout page. To skip PayPal login altogether, select the tick box that says "Remember me for faster checkout on eBay" on the PayPal login box.

  • Although sellers listing on eBay.ie are currently exempt from this requirement, they must offer PayPal in their listings if they wish them to appear in search on eBay.co.uk.

PayPal Credit

  • You can pay with PayPal Credit if your purchase is eligible for PayPal Credit and PayPal has approved your application for credit.

Credit or debit card provided via PayPal

  • Your payment is safe and secure. You can choose to pay using a debit or credit card, plus you can save your card details to your eBay account or remove it at any time in your My eBay account settings.

These payment methods may be offered in addition to PayPal:

  • Credit or debit card processed via the seller's merchant account

  • Bank-to-bank transfers (also known as bank wire transfers and bank cash transfers)

  • Payment on collection

  • Cheques

  • Postal orders

  • Online payment services: Allpay.net, cash2india, CertaPay, Checkfree.com, hyperwallet.com, Nochex.com, Ozpay.biz, XOOM

Restricted

Listings in the following categories may offer any of the payment methods above and are not required to offer PayPal as a payment option:

  • Cars, Motorcycles, Aircraft, Boats, Caravans, Trailers, Trucks (commercials), Services and Property

In some categories, or for some transactions, PayPal may be the only method permitted. If applicable, this will be advised during the listing flow.

Not Allowed

  • Sending cash through the mail

  • Sending cash or money orders through instant, point-to-point cash transfer services (that are not banks) such as Western Union or MoneyGram

  • Paying by 'topping off' a seller's prepaid credit or debit card

  • Paying using online or other payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy

  • Asking buyers to contact them for additional payment methods

  • Offering a payment method to some buyers and not to others

  • Discouraging buyers from using any payment method the seller specified in the listing (for example, by imposing a surcharge for a certain payment method)

  • Asking buyers to pay using a method not mentioned in the listing

  • Paying with Virtual or Cryptocurrencies

These rules apply to all transaction-related correspondence between a seller and buyer as well as the listings.

All sellers on eBay.co.uk must offer to accept PayPal. The limited exceptions to this are detailed in the Restricted section below.

Additional information

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.

Sellers aren't allowed to make statements like:

  • 'Contact us for payment information.'

  • 'Contact us for other payment methods.'

  • 'Contact us for your preferred payment method.'

  • 'I accept PayPal but do not accept credit card payments through PayPal'

  • 'I only accept PayPal if the bid amount is greater than £15'

  • 'I don't accept electronic cheques or e-cheques through PayPal'

There's only one exception: Sellers who offer payment on collection may include the following statement in their listings: 'Contact me for payment methods for paying on collection.'

Why does eBay have this policy?

This policy helps to create a successful shopping and selling experience by encouraging online payment methods that are safe, easy to use, and offer strong protections for members.

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