eBay buyers who pay for items using PayPal will go through a different process for filing protection claims once eBay's new Item Not Received process launches in January. Rather than filing claims with eBay and with PayPal, buyers will only have to file one claim with PayPal. As a result, PayPal is changing its Buyer Complaint Policy to be more in line with the terms of the eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program.

According to PayPal spokesperson Sara Bettencourt, the changes are being made to streamline the process for buyers.

According to PayPal's announcement, PayPal's policies will be updated in the following ways:

• Buyers will have 45 days after a PayPal payment to file a claim (an increase from the current 30 days);
  - Buyers will be eligible for up to three claim payouts per calendar year (instead of the current limitation of two payouts per year). This claim award limit applies to all types of PayPal claims;
  - In order to accommodate significantly-not-as-described claims that are eligible under eBay's Standard Protection Program, PayPal will start evaluating all significantly-not-as-described complaints through its buyer complaint process for eBay items only. (Currently, PayPal only processes significantly-not-as-described claims for PayPal Buyer Protection-covered items.)

eBay's standard purchase protection program provides buyers coverage of up to $200 (less $25 to cover processing costs) in cases of non-shipment or significant misrepresentation (http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-fraud-claim-requirements.html).

Under the PayPal Buyer Complaint Policy (https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_buyer_complaint-outside), buyers receive recovery only if there are funds in the sellers' account, and recovery of the claim is not guaranteed. The policy only applies to physical items that sellers failed to ship.

Note that the PayPal Buyer Complaint Policy referenced above is different from the PayPal Buyer Protection Plan (https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_pbp-outside), which only applies in certain circumstances but offers a maximum payout of $1,000.

Under the new processing procedure going into effect in January, if a buyer's claim is not covered by the PayPal Buyer Complaint Policy or the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy, PayPal will then refer the claim to the eBay Standard Purchase Program; the buyer need not file a claim with eBay.

http://www2.ebay.com:80/aw/marketing.shtml#2004-12-14092516