eBay and PayPal will protect buyers for 100 percent of an item's purchase price for eligible transactions paid with PayPal. eBay made the announcement at its seventh eBay Live conference kicking off in Chicago today.

In addition, eBay said it will improve seller protection for eligible transactions when they get paid with PayPal. The changes go into effect in the Fall.

Along with new payment protections, eBay also introduced incentives and rewards for PowerSellers who "consistently provide the very best customer experiences, as measured by eBay's Detailed Seller Rating (DSR)."

Sellers with DSRs of at least 4.9 across all four categories will receive 20 percent off their Final Value Fees, which are the commission eBay charges sellers for sold items. Sixteen percent of PowerSellers immediately qualify for the discount, which will appear on July invoices.

In addition, deeper UPS shipping discounts were announced for PowerSellers, on top of savings introduced last year. PowerSellers will now receive an extra 23 percent off already reduced Daily Pickup rates for ground shipping by UPS.

eBay said 97 percent of eBay.com listings offer PayPal and over 90 percent of active eBay users in the United States have PayPal accounts. PayPal Buyer Protection covers eligible transactions on eBay.com for items that aren’t received and for items that are significantly not as described.

"We're combining the power of eBay and PayPal to give all buyers and sellers more confidence and trust," said Lorrie Norrington, eBay's president, Marketplace Operations. "Buyers who pay with PayPal on eBay will be covered, with no limits, on most transactions. Any seller who gets paid with PayPal will be covered on most transactions, too, and can ship to 190 countries worldwide where PayPal is accepted."

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http://blog.auctionbytes.com/cgi-bin/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2008/6/1213892797.html