Last year, in 2020, eBay initiated the rollout of their new MP (managed payments) program through which 20% of sales are now processed as of early 2021. The program has recently been expanded to Germany, the U.K., Australia, and Canada, with France, Italy, and Spain coming in 2021 and the rest of the world following over the next year or so. In this calendar year (2021), eBay expects to process the majority of sales through its own merchant processing system as it slowly nudges and eventually forces buyers and sellers alike to participate in the new program.
There is no doubt that this has thrown a wrench in many of our customers’ business plans, especially those who rely on “stealth” tactics to keep their businesses alive. The advent of MP has made it much more difficult for sellers to create multiple unlinked accounts to sell on as backups. This has made the services of Reputation Preservation even more necessary in today’s environment. Sellers now need to be extra cautious with the accounts that they do still have to keep them from getting bad-mouthed or suspended due to poor selling metrics.
We have seen some very creative methods of maintaining multiple accounts pop up in the wake of the disastrous MP programs. Unfortunately, some sellers have turned to variations of identity theft to pass eBay’s tests- which we do not condone. Some interesting alternatives that we have seen include models such as becoming a distributor to employees who then sell products on eBay through their own accounts as well as taking on partners to control certain aspects of the business. Whatever solutions you come up with to keep your businesses stable, Reputation Preservation is here for you to do everything we can to keep your accounts at above standard or top-rated metrics and help your businesses succeed.