eBay revealed its schedule for phasing out its Billpoint online payment service last week. eBay will begin to remove Billpoint functions in mid-January, and the service will cease completely on April 30, 2003. eBay purchased Billpoint's competitor, PayPal, in October and is in the process of integrating the payment service into its auction site.

In mid-January, eBay will remove Billpoint as a payment option for all new auction-style, fixed-price and Stores inventory listings on eBay. The Billpoint payment option will no longer be available for any new, re-listed, or pending listings created after mid-January. At that time, sellers who list in eBay Store Inventory should select "Other On-line payment services" to indicate that they accept PayPal. After mid-February PayPal will be listed as an option for Stores, and PayPal will be further integrated into My eBay.

In mid-February 2003, Billpoint will be removed as a payment option for Fast Deposit on eBay Motors, and PayPal will be listed as a new option. At that time, Billpoint will cease to support the Billpoint Invoice function for both eBay and off-eBay transactions. Sellers will no longer be able to request payments through Billpoint. Billpoint sellers should issue all refunds prior to April 15, 2003.

On April 30, 2003, the Billpoint site will be shut down. Access to the Billpoint Account Summary will no longer be available. Billpoint users should download their Billpoint payment history prior to April 30 if they wish to keep a record of their transactions. Billpoint customer inquiries after April 30 should be sent to customercare@billpoint.com, and it will be re-directed to another eBay help desk.

eBay said PayPal accounts will not be automatically created for Billpoint users. AuctionBytes recently reviewed the types of online payment services available to online auction sellers (http://www.auctionbytes.com/pages/abu/y202/m11/abu0083/s02). Billpoint users looking for a replacement online payment service can find a chart of options at http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/payment.