Kidson Talks | The E-commerce Chemist

According to the latest news eBay is now allowing ‘guest’ purchases on fixed price items on the eBay marketplace. The ‘Guest’ buyers will have to pay immediately in order to secure the purchase. So what happens with buyers from countries that you don’t ship too? Will the same restrictions apply? So many questions unanswered!

eBay says:

We’re launching Guest Buying, a new feature that we believe will help encourage more first purchases by new buyers. Guest Buying will also help sellers to increase the number of new eBayers who buy Fixed Price and Shop Inventory items.

Here’s how it works:
Guest buyers use Buy It Now to purchase eligible Fixed Price and Store Inventory items.
Guest buyers must complete their payment through PayPal before the item is theirs, similar to Immediate Payment. - but do they HAVE to be registered?

Your current PayPal settings will apply – if you require buyers to pay with a confirmed address, your Guest Buyers will need to do so as well.

Are my listings eligible for Guest Buying?

Your listings will be eligible to be purchased by Guest Buyers if you meet the following criteria:
1. You must have a premier/business PayPal account in order to accept credit card payments.
2. Postage and packaging costs must be specified on your listing.
3. You must qualify for the top tier of buyer protection of £500.
4. The item price must be less than £500.
5. You must use eBay’s checkout system. Third-party checkout will not be supported at this time. - oh dear for channeladvisor and Marketworks users, will these sales slip through the system causing heartache and accounting issues? Can you BAN guest buyers? **edit** Third party checkout users should be automatically excluded from the feature.

How about feedback? It could be a nightmare, we have enough trouble with REGISTERED users…

Can Guest Buyers leave feedback?

No – at least not until they register. eBay will encourage Guest Buyers to register once they make a purchase. Once they do, they’ll be able to use all the same features registered buyers do, such as Feedback, Buyer Protection and access to Customer Support.

We shall see if this new functionality, even though it will hopefully drive up the sales this festive season, will bring fraudulent heartbreak. Do the guest buyers have to be REGISTERED with paypal or can they just enter their genuine or fraudulent card details? eBay should know not to experiment with the festive season, why was this not released earlier or in the new year? I shall report on seller troubles or success once this feature is fully operational ( although, did you notice that no time scale was mentioned on the post? We can only assume immediate effect)

I know eBay want to take down the barriers to buying on eBay and in theory this could be a good move. On the negative side it could be Christmas calamity for eBay sellers!

More info from eBay on Guest Buying.

Edited to add:

Payments must be made by credit card processed by PayPal. PayPal enables you to send payments quickly and securely online. Your credit card information will not be shared with the seller.

so fraudulent and stolen card can be used….

You can only purchase two items as a guest before you will be required to register as an eBay member.

So as a seller the maximum you will loose is £1000, but all transactions should be covered my paypal seller protection policy.
There are mixed views but a lot of scepticism about this feature on the blogoshere and in forums.