New Ebay Seller - Payment through Paypal

Ms_Chocaholic

I sold an item on Ebay yesterday and requested payment through Paypal. Although I've had a notification of an instant purchase payment via email, the funds do not yet appear in my Paypal account.

Is there usually a delay between the email being received and the funds showing as a credit in Paypal account and at which point is it safe to post the item.

Thanks

frivolous_fay

I'd say emails always come AFTER payment. If there is absolutely no sign of payment when you log into your paypal account, I'd be tempted to suggest someone's sent you a fake payment email.

It sure as hell wasn't an 'instant' payment.

Always go by what's in your paypal account.

kathrynvaughan

Please tell me you didnt sell something valuable like a camera, video, mobile phone etc...As they tend to be a target for scammers, and you get emails that say you must post the item straightaway as the money has gone in to your Pay Pal account - have to say, if you havent seen them before they do 'look' very official - but are nevertheless a scam.
As previous 'poster' said - dont post until the payment appears in your Pay Pal account!!
Good Luck!

aqueoushumour01

and don't click any of the links in the email as they may direct you to a site looking exactly like paypal, you enter your details and they have your password. Always type the paypal address into the address bar manually

Ms_Chocaholic

Thanks for your replies.

In resposne to your question, no I didn't sell a camera or anything valuable, it was only a voucher which was free to me anyway.

I don't think I clicked on a link from the email to a fake Paypal account but I can't remember because I kept checking and re-checking to see if payment had gone through. I've just changed my password on my Paypal account now though so will this stop the fraudsters if I did click the link by mistake.

Just one final question, if you get an instant payment, do the funds instantly appear in your Paypal account, is there ever a delay. Even when funds appear in Paypal account, is it still okay to post or should you withdraw these first to prevent any clawing back of the money.

Thanks

MrsTinks

Yes changing your password should help prevent them accessing your paypal account even if you used a link to a "phishing" site. Keep an eye on it for a few days though just in case...
In my experience the funds have always shown up straight away in paypal... If it's an E-cheque the it should still show as "not cleared" or something similar... I would treat this one VERY carefully!
If you want me to have a look at the "payment confirmation mail" to tell you if it's a fraud or not PM me and I'll send you my mail address (And before anyone starts telling me how to tell if it's a fake mail then I work for one of the worlds largest AV companies running the technical support department )