eBay is fixing several technical glitches with its new Checkout feature but plans to keep the feature for now, despite complaints from some sellers.
Critics say they want a way to keep the Checkout service --w hich provides buyers with information such as shipping addresses and applicable taxes -- off their auctions. eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said the company was considering the requests: "It"s premature on that one. That"s one we will continue to review."
eBay launched the Checkout feature last week, saying it was designed to address one of the most common complaints of eBay buyers: What to do after they have won an auction. While it isn"t required to close the deal, Checkout appears as a button after an auction closes. Initially, the site prompted buyers that they "should" use Checkout, but eBay has agreed to change the wording to tell buyers that they "may" use Checkout.
eBay is also fixing some early problems with the service, Pursglove said. Checkout was giving out sellers" payment addresses instead of their shipping addresses to buyers and automatically including buyers" phone numbers with the shipping information that is sent to sellers.
But the bigger issue for some people is whether it should be on their auctions at all. Many sellers say they already have systems in place similar to Checkout and the feature duplicates their efforts and results in additional, unnecessary e-mail. Sellers also complained about the privacy problems and that it isn"t attached to a shopping cart, meaning there is no way to ring up multiple purchases.