Why eBay not acting as an escrow agent?
eBay does auctions. Their concept is astonishingly simple: they bring buyers and sellers together. It’s about the cheapest thing in the entire universe. They have a web site, and a big database, and that’s about it. They don’t get involved in money or products, except for the money you send to them. Escrow would massively complicate their business model. They’d have to hold money and get a lot closer to customers in terms of arbitrating disputes. They have to do some of that anyway, but for the really big purchases they can push that dispute off onto the escrow company. There were existing escrow companies, with expertise. When eBay was created, they didn’t want to have to become experts in any more than they had to. Further, it would commit eBay sellers to one particular escrow service, or at least put one front and center. They just stay out of it and let the customers pick an escrow service appropriate to their needs and whom they trust. It’s similar to the way eBay sellers can choo
