eBay To Ban Third-Party Checkouts

eBay has announced that it is phasing out all other payment options on the site except its own. The site says that most checkouts are done through its own system already and that the change shouldn't affect users too much.

"To give eBay buyers a consistent, speedy checkout experience and to ensure support for fast-growing sales via mobile platforms, eBay announced today that third-party checkout solutions will no longer be supported on eBay after June 30, 2011," Todd Lutwak, Vice President of Seller Experience at eBay, announced.

"For those sellers who do use third-party solutions, eBay checkout is being enhanced with key functionality including advanced tax reporting, more credit card integration, and advanced shipping solutions," he added.

"We are also working closely with each service provider to ensure a smooth transition to eBay checkout. You can expect to hear from your provider with more information in the coming weeks," he explained.

Less than 10 percent of the transactions are processed by third-parties, eBay says, so the move is not is so drastic. The auctions site has actually been moving towards this for some time now, but has stopped short of issuing an all-out ban.

Recent problems with third-party checkouts though spurred the site to take action so eBay has decided to ban them starting June 30 next year. With almost a full year to prepare, it should be easy for users, auctioneers and checkout service providers to adapt to the changes.

eBay has tried to do this before, in 2008, but eventually decided just to impose more stringent conditions for the handful of third-party checkout processors it did allow on the site.

eBay's PayPal payments solution is already the most popular service of its kind on the web. And the auctions site itself is PayPal's biggest customer, followed by none other than Zynga, the social gaming powerhouse.