After facing stiff opposition from consumer groups and regulators, eBay Inc. is reversing its stance on requiring Australian users to pay for most purchases through its PayPal Inc.
The San Jose company said in a notice posted last week on its Web site that it had told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission it would continue to "allow all existing payment methods" through its Australian auction Web site.
The company's goal "has always been to provide members with a safer experience," eBay said. "Under the current circumstances, we will continue to look for ways to do that while still offering a variety of payment options."
"I think this was always an experiment," said Avivah Litan, a vice president and research director at the market research company Gartner Inc. If eBay had been able to reduce fraud by mandating PayPal's use in one place, it might have done the same elsewhere, she said.
In April, eBay said it would allow Australian users to complete transactions only in person or with the system offered by its payment subsidiary. The company initially said the policy would take effect June 17, but later it was delayed by a month, after the Australian regulator said it would reject eBay's proposal on the grounds that it would squeeze out competing payment options.
Last month eBay had said it would continue to press the regulator to accept is plan. The company has said the policy would curb fraud, since transactions completed through PayPal were less prone to fraud complaints than those completed through other means.
But last week eBay said it had decided "to stop any further confusion and disruption among the eBay community."
In May, eBay required all Australian sellers to list PayPal as a payment option.
Calls to the company were not returned Thursday.
