Warning to casual Ebayers on PayPal 'hold' system

MarkMcK_2

So things have become pretty tight recently for many of us, and in order to help myself to urgently repay some debt, I decided to sell various items on Ebay. Fine - I've had a verified PayPal account for years, and had nothing but good feedback from the few transactions I'd taken part in.

Well I put eight items on on Sunday, and to my delight, two have already sold. They are very similar items - both traditional Irish whistes. Well I received the money (minus PayPal's cut) into my PayPal account for the first, but for the second, slightly more valuable whistle, I have been told that I have to wait for 21 days before I receive the funds!

Well I wrote to them immediately and received a an explanation that this was part of PayPal's new 'hold' policy. (See the response below)
:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Effectively, it seems my funds are being withheld because I am a casual user, and thereby do not have over 100 feedback reponses or a detailed seller rating. I find this hard to swallow, given that my verified account goes back to 2004 and I've never had anything but great feedback from sellers or buyers, even if I haven't used my account more than a few times.

They deny that the funds are earning PayPal interest, in which case I'd like to know where all these funds are being held, and under what conditions. I'm afraid my sceptical side can't help but feel this was the idea of some bright young thing in the PayPal boardroom to pad out their annual bonuses under the auspices of 'privacy and security measures'.

Ultimately, this has annoyed me because I need the money now to avoid more debt in the coming weeks. These are hard times and I feel 'PayPal' is a bit of a misnomer: they are not my pal, and they are not paying me what's due.

Yours disappointedly,
Mark

This is the response I received to my complaint:

Dear Mark xxxxx,

Thank you for contacting PayPal regarding your payment that is currently
on hold.

I have reviewed your account Mr. xxxxx and can see that your payment
of £xx.xx from xxxxxx (Transaction ID:
xxxxx) was placed on hold on August 23rd.

I can confirm that your payment has been placed on hold due to a policy
recently introduced by PayPal. Please allow me to explain and clarify
this policy for you.

PayPal is working to make it safer than ever to buy and sell online. One
of the boldest steps we're taking is to identify transactions that pose
the greatest risk of fraud and holding the payments from sellers for a
period of time to help ensure that the transactions go smoothly.

Before a hold is placed we review many factors including transaction
activity, business type, past customer disputes and overall customer
satisfaction. Here are some common reasons for holding payments:

• You have been an eBay and PayPal member for less than 6 months, and,
have limited selling activity.
• You have an eBay feedback score of less than 100 and do not have a
record of good performance
• You have a Buyer dissatisfaction percentage of 5% or greater than 5%
• You have an average Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of less than 4.5
• You have received fewer than 20 Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 12
months
• You have a high rate of customer disputes
• You’re selling in a high risk category or industry such as, but not
limited to, tickets, travel, gift certificates, computers, consumer
electronics, or cell phones
• You have a spike in selling activities or begin selling in a category
without an established history

I can see that you have an eBay feedback score of less than 100 and an
average Detailed Seller Rating of less than 4.5.

I can assure you that PayPal does not gain any interest on the funds
which are on hold in your PayPal account. I can confirm that the funds
are in your PayPal account on hold and it is not possible for the buyer
to take those funds back.

We will notify you of the hold in the ‘Payment Received’ email and in
your transaction ‘Details’. While your payment is on hold it will be
shown in your Pending Balance and you will not be able to use it to pay
for shipping of the item.

If you are using PayPal Shipping, please be aware that you may need to
use a registered card or bank account to complete the payment if you
have no funds available in your balance.

Your funds will be released when one of the following occurs:

• The buyer leaves you positive feedback
• 21 days pass without a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal filed
on the transaction
• You provide a tracking number which shows that the item has been
delivered over 3 days ago

If you would like to provide us with tracking information so that we can
review the hold, please email us the tracking number along with the name
of the delivery company used as follows:

1. Log in to your PayPal account at xxxxx
2. Click the 'Contact Us' link at the bottom of the page.
3. Under 'Email us’ click on ‘Send us a question by email’.
4. Under 'Choose a Topic,' select the topic for your query.
5. Under 'Choose a Subtopic,' select the subtopic that best fits your
query.
6. Enter your question in the 'Summarise your question in one sentence'
box.
7. Click 'Continue'.
8. Please complete the form provided.
9. Click 'Continue'.

I realise that this may not be the outcome you have wished for and I
know it may not meet with your approval but this process needs to be
completed in accordance with our company's policy and security measures.

I hope this information has been helpful and thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,
xxx
PayPal

skattykatty

Well that IS disturbing! Thanks for posting, as I've been going through my wardrobe trying to find a coat to sell. I am VERY casual user of Ebay, just to sell off stuff maybe once a year! So I would be hit by this. And, despite being on ebay for many years, I have way less than 100 feedbacks...you've made me think again. Like you, if I post something then I want the money asap. May have to go back to asking for cheques only!!!!

Anyone else have experience of this???

darkblue_2

Paypal recently sent an email to all users who will be effected to say this is their new policy. They will hold payment for 21 days to ensure the buyer has received the items and all is well.

It can be speeded up if the buyer leaves you feedback before the 21 days or you can provide tracking that shows it was received after 3 days.

You can also try refunding 1p to the buyer. Reports previously showed this freed all the account balance, but Paypal might have caught on by now.

davetrousers

skattykatty wrote: »

May have to go back to asking for cheques only!!!!

But you can't, you have to offer paypal.

Short and curlies spring to mind!

janninew

Is this the same system if you sell a car on ebay? My sister is selling a car using my account, I've never had the e-mail posted above, but I don't use my account often! Would they withhold 2,000, what happens if you need that money to buy another car?

Confused!! :eek:

olias

errr....... make sure the buyers pay cash.

Olias

janninew

olias wrote: »

errr....... make sure the buyers pay cash.

Olias

Do you not have to offer Paypal though if you have a limited history on Ebay?

go_cat

This is not a new thing

It was introduced to combat the amount of new accounts that were opened fraudulently / accounts with low feedbaxk , then the seller taking the money and eloping!!

You did agree to this when you signed up for paypal and if you were previously registered with them you would have had emails about this

If you need any more info i suggest you go to the community boards on Ebay for help

MarkMcK_2

@go cat

I don't need 'more info' thanks - I am warning others who use PayPal infrequently that this is what happens now.

I did not sign up to this in 2004, and the emails they sent me link to the latest user agreement update which has no mention of the 'hold' policy. It just might be that there are others on here who, like me, feel they are too busy to check every clausal update to a user agreement that comes in for a service they rarely use. They might like to be aware of the change too. Had I known about it, I would not have sold them on there.

go_cat

the money should be released once you have received positive feedback so you then will not have to wait 21 days

HTH

soolin

janninew wrote: »

Is this the same system if you sell a car on ebay? My sister is selling a car using my account, I've never had the e-mail posted above, but I don't use my account often! Would they withhold 2,000, what happens if you need that money to buy another car?

Confused!! :eek:

No No and thrice no. Cars are exempt from the paypal requirement, DO NOT under any circumstances accept it for a car. Cash on collection only.