eBay Australia Makes Free Selling Balance Spendable

eBay Australia is updating its Payments Terms of Use November 3 to bring eBay balance into the Free Selling experience, allowing sellers to use proceeds from their sales for purchases and other expenses on the marketplace.

When fee-free selling was introduced for eligible non-Pro Australian sellers earlier this year, it also eliminated scheduled payouts effective May 1. Those sellers could still request their Available funds at any time, but the money would otherwise remain on eBay until they did. Now those funds will become part of a formal eBay balance account that can be used directly on eBay rather than simply waiting to be withdrawn.

eBay announced the Payments Terms update October 2, saying the revisions will "better describe the payment services we provide to you" and change how funds from selling can be used.

From 3 November 2026, eBay balance will become part of the Free Selling experience.

The new balance terms describe eBay balance as a "non-cash payment facility" provided by eBay Commerce Australia under its Australian financial services license. It allows eligible funds payable to sellers to be held and used for purchases, selling costs or withdrawals to a linked financial account.

From November 3, having an eBay balance account will be required for sellers who enroll in or continue participating in Free Selling, although sellers are not required to use the balance for purchases and can still withdraw funds to their linked bank account.

Once the account is open, sales proceeds, credits and refunds can be credited to eBay balance, while Available funds can be used to buy eligible items on eBay.com.au, purchase shipping labels, cover fees and other selling costs or be withdrawn to a linked financial account. External top-ups are not allowed and the account cannot be used to receive payments from third parties.

If sellers use the balance to shop, eBay says it may make eBay balance the default payment method at checkout when funds are available, although another payment method can still be selected. Spending is capped at AU$2,000 per transaction and AU$2,000 in a 24-hour period, with a maximum of AU$5,000 in purchases over a rolling 30 days.

That model is similar to the Spendable Funds and Balance products eBay has introduced elsewhere. US sellers began getting access to Spendable Funds in 2022, allowing sales proceeds from Managed Payments to be used for purchases without first being paid out to a bank account.

A closer comparison is the UK, where eBay Balance was introduced alongside fee-free private selling. Private sellers there can use proceeds for purchases and selling costs while withdrawals are made manually rather than through scheduled payouts, a setup that quickly frustrated some UK sellers who had been accustomed to money moving automatically to their bank accounts.

The previous Australian terms referred to funds available on a seller account as a possible payment method only through eBay's US Spendable Funds program, while the updated terms add Australian eBay balance as a separate option for using seller funds to make purchases.

The new setup comes with additional eligibility and verification requirements. Users must be at least 18, have an Australian residential address and Australian bank account, maintain a registered eBay seller account and meet eBay's identity verification and anti-money laundering requirements. eBay may also require government-issued identification and two-step verification and can restrict access to the balance for fraud, security, risk or compliance reasons.

eBay balance also won't necessarily disappear if a seller leaves Free Selling. Sellers who already have access and later upgrade to a Pro plan will retain the feature, subject to the applicable eligibility and verification requirements.

The account is not a bank account or bank deposit, and sellers will not earn interest on money held in eBay balance. eBay has previously disclosed in other markets that it may retain interest earned on seller funds, and the new Australian Product Disclosure Statement is explicit: eBay Commerce Australia will hold client money in a pooled trust account with an authorized deposit-taking institution and retain all interest earned on the pooled client money account.

While eBay balance is not covered by Australia’s Financial Claims Scheme, eBay has put a separate protection arrangement in place. A bank guarantee from JPMorgan Chase is held by security trustee GLAS for the benefit of eligible balance customers in the event of eBay Commerce Australia’s insolvency or financial difficulty.