EBay (EBAY)

Changes to our dispute resolution process could increase our costs and loss rate.

In April 2009, we announced plans to change the dispute resolution process (which we refer to as “resolutions”) for transactions on eBay.com and eBay.co.uk in which a buyer claims the item was not received or the item they received was different from that described in the listing. Previously, buyers with an issue on our eBay.com and eBay.co.uk platform were generally required to contact the seller directly, and, if they were unable to resolve the issue, to start the resolutions process online via PayPal’s resolution center. We are in the process of transitioning to a new, on-eBay resolutions process provided by eBay customer support, which will serve as the primary entry point for buyers on eBay.com and eBay.co.uk who are unable to resolve their disputes with eBay sellers. Among other things, the new resolutions process provides that eBay will generally reimburse the buyer for the full amount of an item’s purchase price (including original shipping costs), in cases where the item was not received or the item they received was different from that described in the listing, and the seller does not provide adequate resolution to the buyer.

We expect that our costs associated with resolutions will increase as we make these changes to our resolutions policies and process. These changes, together with any further changes that we may make to our resolutions process in the future, may be negatively received by, and lead to dissatisfaction on the part of, our sellers. These changes may also result in an increase in buyer fraud and associated transaction losses. In addition, eBay does not have the same rights of recoupment against sellers as PayPal, which may result in higher costs to operate the program.