????eBay在前行的路上備嘗艱辛，而貝寶（PayPal）始終是個令之振奮的亮點。這個在線支付系統于2002年被eBay收購后，不僅給公司帶來了持續增長的利潤，有時還成為前者用于說服投資者的殺手锏。貝寶于2000年由彼得?西爾和埃倫?馬斯克等IT明星一手創建，為零售商和消費者提供了一個迅捷的資金結算平臺。令人贊嘆的是，貝寶由一家僅僅提供在線劃款服務的公司成長為數字貨幣巨人，不僅能與零售商達成交易，還能提供移動支付服務，完全靠的是自力更生，整個過程中，eBay完全袖手旁觀，未曾出過一分力。

????現在，由于母公司的干預，貝寶的好名聲也將不保，甚至還有可能使首席執行官約翰?唐諾霍為扭轉eBay的頹勢而付出的艱苦努力付諸東流。問題出在一個看似普通的決定：貝寶最近向賣家發出了通知，告知他們，通過貝寶收到的所有買家在eBay上購買物品的貨款，從現在起將最長延遲21天撥至其賬戶。eBay聲稱出臺這個政策的目的不僅在于保護買家免遭假冒賣家欺騙，而且是為了自保，防止公司因其保護買家計劃而蒙受損失。

????這項政策最初于2009年12月出臺，當時只針對少部分賣家，其中主要是那些曾經被投訴過的賣家。去年秋天，規則開始面向所有會員。消息一出，數千名賣家深感困惑，甚至是義憤填膺，特別是eBay資深賣家，他們多年來苦心經營，已經贏得了良好的口碑。“他們這么干簡直是把我當作罪犯，”加利福尼亞州阿維拉海灘的居民瑪德琳?卡拉博羅稱。她從2003年開始就在eBay上買賣物品，獲得了100%的好評。事實上，怒火中燒的賣家迄今已在貝寶網站論壇上發布了600多頁的帖子，對eBay的上述策略表示抗議。甚至，letssuepaypal.com、paypalsucks.com、以及screw-paypal.com等一系列網站應運而生，以示對此舉的強烈抗議。

????批評人士認為，新出臺的延長付款日期的策略完全跟預防網絡詐騙沒關系，純粹是為了追求收入最大化。他們指出，貝寶可以通過延遲付款，利用eBay賣家應收到的付款賺取利息。更糟的是，eBay甚至還能因此進行短期的小型市場投資，而風險幾乎為零。21天的等候日期滿時，一旦某個賬戶出現了虧損，還可以用下一個賬戶中的資金填上。很明顯，貝寶出于擔心，調整了其用戶政策的措辭，強調指出“貝寶將作為代理人對延遲劃撥的付款進行管理，并將之放入總合賬戶（Pooled Accounts）中，用戶不會因此獲得利息或者其他收入。”

????這點激起了眾怒。“這太不公平了，我認為這純屬違法行為，”北卡羅萊納州托馬斯維爾市居民道格?布萊克表示。他自2008年1月開始在該網站上銷售物品，收到eBay的策略變更通知時，他已經進行了600多筆交易，而且全部都獲得了好評。之后不久，他又獲準得到了eBay的借記卡。“如果我是兇險所在，我怎么可能拿到eBay的借記卡？”他憤怒地問道。布萊克已經停止了使用eBay網站，并且向美國商業促進會（Better Business Bureau）、北卡羅萊納州總檢察官（Attorney General of North Carolina）、北卡羅萊納州銀行業委員會（N.C. Banking Commission）、以及加里福尼亞州總檢察官等提起了投訴。

????Through all eBay's struggles, PayPal has always been a bright spot. The online payment system, acquired in 2002, provided eBay with growing profits and, at times, a much-needed good story to tell investors. Founded in 2000 by tech stars, including Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, the company offered merchants and consumers an easy way to transfer money. To its credit, eBay generally left PayPal alone as it transformed itself from a company offering simple online money transfers into a digital currency powerhouse forging deals with retailers and pushing into mobile payments.

????Now, interference by its parent is threatening to tarnish PayPal's good name. It may even stymie CEO John Donohoe's effort to finally turn around eBay (EBAY). At issue is a mundane-sounding decision to send out notices to sellers informing them that all payments they receive through PayPal for items sold on eBay will now be put on hold for up to 21 days. The company says the policy is aimed at protecting buyers from bogus sellers and to stem potential losses it incurs from its buyer protection program.

????First introduced in December 2009, the policy only applied to a small number of sellers, mostly those with a history of complaints. Last Fall, eBay started applying the rule to virtually all of its members. That move has confused and outraged thousands of sellers -- especially ones that have used the site for years, building sterling profiles along the way. "They're treating me like a criminal," says Madeleine Calabro, an Avila Beach, California, resident who has been buying and selling on eBay since 2003, garnering 100% positive feedback. Indeed, the PayPal website forum has more than 600 pages of posts from angry sellers protesting the hold. Also a flurry of surly websites -- letssuepaypal.com, paypalsucks.com, and screw-paypal.com, among others -- have popped up in response.

????Critics contend the new hold policy has little to do with scammers and everything with fattening revenues. The delay, they claim, could allow PayPal to collect interest on eBay sellers' payments. Worse yet, eBay could potentially even make short-term, small-scale market investments with little risk. Any loss from one particular account, could be repaid with funds from the next account once the 21 day waiting period is up. PayPal -- seemingly lending credence to such fears -- adjusted the wording on its user policy to specifically state "you will not receive interest or other earnings on the funds that PayPal handles as your agent and places in Pooled Accounts."

????That has customers angry. "It is unfair and I considerate it illegal," says Doug Black, a Thomasville, N.C., resident who has been selling on eBay since January 2008 and had 100% positive feedback on more than 600 sales when he got notice of the changes. Shortly after, he was approved for an eBay debit card. "If I'm such a bad risk, how did I get an eBay debit card?" he asks. Black stopped using the site, filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General of North Carolina, the N.C. Banking Commission, and the California Attorney General.