Automatic transfer of eBay funds to bank account - good or bad?

JKenH

Apologies if this has been discussed before but I am not a regular here and a quick look at the last few index pages didn’t throw anything up.

I tend to sell on eBay in fits and starts. I won’t sell anything for a few months and then have a clear out to raise some funds. I am into HiFi and every now and then I decide I “need” some new equipment. I am lucky that I can afford to buy what I need (within limits) but I now like to exert a little financial discipline. Last year I had a huge clear out selling several amplifiers and about a dozen pairs of speakers. Some of the money raised I used to buy more new equipment.

Now eBay have started automatically paying out funds accumulated from sales into bank accounts. That is obviously a good thing for most people but if, like me, you want to have a clear out to raise some money for a new purchase, then it would be nice to have the option of leaving the money in one’s eBay account, ring fenced as it were, to fund your next purchase. 

I have just sold a few items with a view to buying a new streamer but eBay have told me that on October 7th the proceeds from my sales will be transferred to my bank account. The money I have raised will just end up in my current account and I will just lose track of it. 

Why does it matter you might ask? Surely, the money is better in your bank account than in eBay’s.

For me, it’s a way of regulating my expenditure, exercising some financial discipline.

But what if you are genuinely a bit hard pressed and specifically selling stuff to raise some money for something special, perhaps a Christmas present? Having the option to ring fence the money would I feel help many people. 

So I explained to eBay my thinking and the lady understood but the computer says no. I pointed out that it would benefit eBay as, if I have money in my eBay account, I am likely to look on eBay first rather than go on Amazon. Sorry, that’s the way it is but I will pass on your feedback.

That was just a rant really, and I acknowledge I will be in a minority, but I wonder if anyone else feels the same.

soolin

It only transfers quarterly, other than that you can leave it in there. if you prefer to keep your money separate open a bank account online somewhere just to have the money transferred into. 

For my private ebay accounts the money goes into a little used bank account and I then transfer it to a savings pot within that bank instantly. I can then save up that money for holidays or extra things I want.

I don't leave money in either ebay or Vinted as I prefer to keep it safe myself with a slight amount of interest being added, rather than risk falling foul of some unknown ebay rules and getting temporarily blocked for some minor misdemeanor. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Ringfence it somewhere like PayPal maybe, which you can still use to pay on eBay?  Also there are back accounts where you can set up pots of money, the digital version of putting your wages into different envelopes for different expenses.

I suppose you could also see if there's a way of putting the money back into your eBay account, after it gets transferred to you for you to choose what to do with it.

RFW

You can open/use a bank account (or a savings account) that keeps it separate and just have your Ebay funds paid into that.