Trade Me users complain: Ping ‘pongs’

Trade Me sellers are complaining a new payment service introduced by the online giant will mean more of their trading profits are eaten up by fees.

The company says the service, Ping, will mean swapping bank account details between buyers and sellers is a chore of the past.

Traders who sell goods will be able to set up a Ping account with Trade Me for receiving payments.

When paying for goods, buyers will be able to transfer funds into a seller’s Ping account from their bank account, or via a debit or credit card.

Traders are complaining Ping has a downside for professional traders who currently accept payment by credit or debit card using Trade Me’s ‘‘Pay Now’’ service, but who also accept payments by direct bank transfer.

Sellers will need to pay a 1.95 per cent fee on payments made through Ping – the same charge that currently applies if buyers purchase items using a credit or debit card through Pay Now.

Trade Me spokesman Logan Mudge said Pay Now would be withdrawn later this year.

Traders commenting on Trade Me’s said that meant that if they wanted to continue to give buyers the option of paying by debit or credit card, they would have to adopt Ping.

That would likely mean they would also have to pay a 1.95 per cent fee on non-card purchases, which did not previously attract a financial transaction charge, they said.

Mudge confirmed it was possible that professional traders would have to pay the fee on a higher proportion of their transactions. ‘‘Yes, but in saying that they also have access to the money straight away,’’ he said.

Asked whether traders would have the option of accepting credit and debit card payments through Ping while requiring people who paid via bank transfer to pay direct, Mudge said: ‘‘I don’t think so’’.

The company had been upfront about how the system worked, he said.

Several large traders said they were not happy. ‘‘When Ping replaces Pay Now eventually we will be forced to pay the extra 1.95 per cent fee on all bank transfers customers make,’’ one complained. Another said the new payment service ‘‘pongs’’.

Trade Me commercial head Jimmy Mcgee denied it was forcing sellers on to Ping. ‘‘If they want to accept payment by bank deposit only – and do the money transfer for free – they remain totally empowered to do that via the payment options they choose.’’

The biggest convenience of Ping is likely to be for people who both buy and sell goods through Trade Me.

They will be able to buy goods using money in their Ping account that they have received from the proceeds of sales, bypassing bank transfers altogether.

Trade Me said 5000 members would be given Ping accounts next week and the service would be rolled out to all its members ‘‘in the coming months’’.