eBay's forums are ablaze with unhappy and confused buyers and sellers who are beginning to report problems with eBay's new Checkout feature, which is now active on all auctions. When sellers utilize the automated Checkout features, it allows buyers to complete transactions automatically at the end of an auction. Although complaints about the new feature are too numerous to list here, the main concerns of sellers seem to be that:

1) eBay is trying to limit sellers from using "outside" electronic payment systems, such as PayPal and C2it. Unless you have a merchant account with a credit card company, only BillPoint may be used for electronic payments. If you want to use a different payment method, you cannot use the automated features of Checkout.

2) Even if a seller has "opted-out" of using the automated Checkout features and has made it clear in their Terms of Sale that they will not be using eBay Checkout, there are numerous reports of buyers who are using Checkout to complete transactions anyway. Since these sellers have not entered information into the shipping, tax & insurance fields, buyers may enter the wrong amount when submitting payment. It appears that sellers who are registered with Billpoint are vulnerable to this problem.

3) There are also reports of emails that are being sent to buyers containing the seller's name, address and phone number. And for all check and money order payments, Checkout WILL display the seller's payment address. Normally the buyer is sent only the seller's email address, and the two parties communicate directly with each other.

In any given month, online sellers are forced to adapt to more changes in the way they conduct business than a brick & mortar merchant will have to face over the course of several years.

Although it has made us a resilient bunch, it also works to our detriment. No firm stance is ever taken by sellers when a policy affecting the way we do business is implemented. Alternate auction and storefront venues still sit vastly underutilized. eBay takes a "this too shall pass" attitude - and with good reason. Sure, sellers may be upset, but the reality is that since September 11th, eBay listings have grown by over 1.3 million listings.

We will continue to report on Checkout implementation problems in the AuctionBytes daily NewsFlash newsletter. We urge you to subscribe by sending a blank email to: auctionflash-subscribe@topica.com. If you have any problems, send us an email asking us to subscribe you to NewsFlash, and we will.

If you do read NewsFlash, you know that this week, the online world lost an auction site and gained an online payment service.

eHammer closed its doors on October 23rd citing an inability to get sellers to list there, even though they had better sell-through rates and higher closing prices than eBay. And auction site ePier announced a subsidiary called PayMadeEasy that offers online payment services - both through credit cards and money orders.

The other big news this week is that AuctionWatch is doing away with moderators in its "Message Center" forums. In order to post there, you'll have to register with a credit card (there is no charge, AuctionWatch just wants to discourage people from leaving nasty posts). Please mention to your friends that if they want to come to a place where they can learn, network and chat, AuctionBytes forums doors are always open - just one click away from the AuctionBytes home page.

David & Ina Steiner, AuctionBytes dsteiner@auctionbytes.com, ina@auctionbytes.com