Finding EBay Alternatives: Why 'PayPal Only' EBay Alternatives Aren't The Answer

If you are a seller who is only listing items for sale on eBay, you are almost certainly missing the boat on a lot of other sales!

eBay, while once the giant and undisputed leader among the auction sites, is losing popularity every day with buyers and sellers alike.

Most of the policy changes made during the past 1-1/2 to 2 years have been unfriendly to sellers. But, the recent policy change that doesn't allow sellers to offer to accept checks or money orders as payment from buyers is one that many buyers are quite unhappy about.

As eBay owns Paypal, this was a blatant push to pocket even more fees from sellers by forcing them to basically only accept Paypal as a payment method.

There are a couple of other obscure, almost unknown payment platforms. However, neither is feasible for the smaller seller. So, in effect, eBay has devised a way to get an even bigger piece of the pie from sellers.

Despite increasing popularity of online shopping with consumers the world over, there are still quite a few buyers who are averse to "paperless" payments and prefer to pay by check or money order.

eBay is Losing the Buyers Who Don't Want to Pay Online.

As eBay continues to force sellers away from the site due to exorbitant fees and unfriendly seller policies, buyers are leaving, too, in search of auction sites that give them more payment options.

If you are an eBay seller, this can work to your advantage!

First of all, it's never a good idea to put all of your eggs into one basket. For example, under the present eBay policies, if you are unlucky enough to encounter just a handful of problem buyers within a 30 day period who leave low Detailed Seller ratings for you, you might be suspended from selling on eBay for a month or longer.

If this should happen to you---and it has happened to many sellers---and eBay is your only source of income, you would be without income for at least 30 days. For many or most sellers, this would be a disaster.

The sad truth is that there is little or nothing you can do as an eBay seller to protect yourself from such a catastrophe.

But, you can protect yourself from losing all of your income by not relying solely on eBay!

There are a number of other auction sites available for you to join and sell your products.

Amazon, Bonanzle, Etsy and Ruby Lane are a few such sites.

Besides much lower fees, these eBay alternatives are all seller friendly, without the harsh policies and criteria found on eBay that are all but impossible for sellers to maintain.

Most, like Bonanzle, don't even charge a listing fee, so you aren't out a penny until your item sells.

Take advantage of these other sites and don't rely exclusively on eBay for selling your items!