Ebay linked account for payments

paymentparanoia

HI Everyone,

I recently changed bank account so I have swapped over my old account to a new one with ebay so they can pay me for things I've sold. I am a private seller just using it to get rid of stuff I don't need any more. Total sales are maybe a couple of hundred quid per year so not a great deal.

Ebay are unable to "verify" my new bank account - they have deposited 1p in there - and they can't withdraw it, so they have said all my payments are on hold until they can verify the account.

There are a few red lines for me here:

1. I will not let them anywhere near my current account - I have set up an instant access savings account so that they don't need to know my current account details. There is an overdraft facility on my current account and nobody gets to use that other than me.
2. Nobody takes any money out of any of my accounts without my express permission in advance of any transaction.

All of this worked fine with the old account and looking back at my statements they didn't do any small transfers in either direction prior to paying me my money.

They also seem to have changed payment provider from Adyen (who I have heard of) to Trustly (who I hadn't heard of until yesterday)

I am going to go to my branch next week and talk to them about this - but I wanted to gather some opinions from the forum first. So - anyone got any opinions or advice? Clearly I don't really want to stop selling stuff on ebay - but if the only way for that to happen is for me to grant access to my bank account at that level then I am prepared to walk away.

se2020

The verification process needs to be able to make a withdrawal of 1p.

They send you the 1p first so you don't end up out of pocket.

This confirms to them that you have provided genuine bank details.

They need to be granted the ability to withdraw funds in the event of a dispute.

I'm sure you are perfectly trustworthy but what happens if you sell an item then have a heart attack before posting it? The buyer still needs the money back!

Unfortunately the terms & conditions are clear in this. You need to provide account access. You could set up an account with no overdraft facility (and don't keep any funds in it) and allow ebay access to that or, as you say, just walk away and find somewhere else to sell.

soolin

As above really, if you don't allow them to verify your account your money cannot be withdrawn.

If you've money already in there just allow access temporarily and then pull your money and delete the DD instruction- and use any further monies to just spend on ebay. If you don't have any money to withdraw then perhaps as you are a low volume user, give ebay a miss. However most sites will need this so if you move to another site you will face the same issue.

At some point if you continue selling you will also need to provide any online site with your NI number as well , so be warned.

paymentparanoia

I disagree with some of this - the verification process doesn't verify that my bank account details are genuine - I have professionally and privately verified many different bank accounts without needing to withdraw money from them. It verifies that ebay can take money out of my account on their terms rather than on mine.

Money is not transferred into my bank account until a couple of days after delivery or collection is confirmed at the earliest, so if I die before posting something there is no issue. Ebay retain the money until after delivery or collection.

I agree that the terms and conditions are clear - my issue is that the terms and conditions are weighted too heavily against me. There was an incident some time ago with ebay where a transaction was cancelled due to a non-paying buyer. Ebay still charged me for the transaction and I eventually gave up trying to get the money back. It was only a couple of quid and I took the pragmatic approach - but it does mean there is a lack of trust.

soolin

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82015446#Comment_82015446

Just to be clear, as soon as you get some regular history on eBay your funds are released within a few hours of sale. Something that I sold in the early hours this morning (2 am buyers!) had the money available to withdraw when I checked at about 9 am. It’s already in my bank.

The word I used ‘verified’ was I agree incorrect usage by me , verification will come later when you provide a scan of your passport, driving license or similar , unless of course you’ve already done it. However the requirement to provide an account t that is capable of receiving and paying funds is a requirement.

mta999

You could think of setting up a separate curent account with a different bank and using it just for eBay

steveE2

A savings account is not accepted for payments on eBay it must be a current account, open one with another bank as advised