Marketplace
I recently had an bad experience buying a pair of sunglasses on eBay. Here is the rundown
- Buy pair of sunglasses for total of USD$184 from a US seller on eBay
- Go to checkout, currency conversion price quoted as ~AUD$244 (exact spot rate conversion)
- On checkout, select paypal, get quoted AUD$253, no option to change currency my card is charged
- Say no to that, select credit card instead of paypal. When I click pay, price displayed is USD$184, with the AU$ conversion in small next to it
- Check my bank statement. I was charged AUD$253, my card billed in $AU
To me this is deceptive conduct. When I click pay, the price is in bold in $US. I would have no issue if my card was charged in $US, and only a minor annoyance if my card was charged in $AU at the quoted rate, however for eBay to charge in $AUD with an unquoted exchange rate plucked from thin air without asking feels very illegal to me. I can barely fathom how many people have been hit by this.
I have contacted eBay support, and despite explaining this they can't see the problem and are completely unrepentant. As far as I see it they are gouging 3.5% off every forex transaction that is paid by credit card without the consumer being given a chance to decline.
Before I report this to the relevant regulators, can OzBargain have a stab at explaining to me why I might be in the wrong here, as eBay customer support has tried and failed. Also, who should I report this to. My head says Fair Trading, possibly ACCC. Have I got that right?
And before anyone says, yes, the bigger issue is that I paid $250ish for a pair of sunglasses, but that is my sin, not eBays.
Are you sure that Ebay isn't charging USD$184 to your credit card, which then is converted to AUD$253 by your credit card due to forex fees?
If you get something like 28 degrees credit card then this sort of thing shouldn't happen.