eBay announced today that it has made a couple of changes to the eBay user Agreement. These concern eBay Buyer Protection and the holding of seller funds.

eBay Senior Counsel Braden Dong highlights the changes:

- Provisions have been added regarding eBay Buyer Protection. If a seller changes his or her reimbursement method for eBay Buyer Protection cases from PayPal to a new one, the new method will only be effective for transactions not yet paid for, and for future transactions. In addition, eBay may correct payment processing errors made in connection with an eBay Buyer Protection Claim. Please refer to the eBay Buyer Protection policy for the full terms.

- Clarification is included about instances where seller funds may be held as pending in their PayPal accounts. eBay has at times requested, and may continue to request, that PayPal hold seller funds to help facilitate smooth transactions. eBay will make such requests based upon factors including, but not limited to, selling history, seller performance, riskiness of the listing category, or the filing of an eBay Buyer Protection claim. PayPal may also hold funds pursuant to their own Funds Availability Policy.

The updates are effective immediately for new members. For current members, they will go into effect on September 7.