PayPal Withholding Funds?

Since I got my Blackberry (and am very happy with and my new carrier), I decided to sell my old phone on eBay.

The auction ended, the buyer made a payment to me on PayPal, ans then I got an email from PayPal stating:

You've received a payment, detailed below. We�ve placed a temporary hold on the funds for this transaction.

PayPal and eBay are working together to make payments for eBay items even safer. Because we want both buyers and sellers to feel confident about sending and receiving payments through PayPal, we may temporarily hold payments for items sold on eBay.

Make sure to ship the item right away, so you'll have access to the funds sooner. We�ll release the hold in 21 days unless you receive a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal on the transaction subject to the hold. We may release the hold earlier if either of the following occurs:

The buyer leaves you positive feedback on eBay.
We confirm that the item was delivered.* We can confirm delivery if you ship the item with USPS, FedEx, or UPS and either use PayPal shipping labels or upload tracking information from the transaction details page. This applies to transactions within the United States.
Additional hold period

If you receive a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal on the transaction subject to the hold, we may hold the payment until the problem is resolved.

Learn more about the PayPal policy for payment holds for eBay items.

We will notify you by email when the funds are released. You can monitor the status of the hold in your Transaction History.

Since when did they just start doing this? Is this the first step to me getting screwed out of my $$? I am hoping this isn't a problem as my buyer has close to 100 feedback and it is 100% positive.

I don't really like PayPal, they have a really long time for authorization holds. I would assume they hold the funds until the item has been delivered or at least a tracking number is provided so they know the transaction has been processed on both sides.

They started doing that a few months ago, it is no fun. I received that email a few times, but each time I logged in to paypal and was still able to transfer the funds without waiting any time. Hopefully that is the case for you as well.

Once the buyer has posted positive feedback the funds will be released within 24 hours. This is very annoying considering most people (me included) are lax on posting feedback right away. Best bet is to email the buyer to make sure everything is ok and ask them to leave feedback in order to release payment. I did this in December and the buyer was more then happy to help.

Good Luck!

Cliff, Unfortunately, I don't have access to the funds. Its a pain, because I don't have any funds in my paypal account to pay for the shipping label! I tried to transfer some funds in from a bank account, but paypal says that'll take 3-5 days to clear. This is aggravating.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Maybe I am not seeing something but if you have money in your bank account why don't you use that to pay for the shipping label? You can purchase the label online or take the item to the Post Office.

Yeah, I'll have to go to the ups place and pay cash. It's just would have been more convenient for me to be able to print up the label at work today and have the ups guy pick it up from work.

Now I'll have to make a special trip somewhere tomorrow to get it shipped...plus, it won't be tracked thru paypal/ebay like it would have been otherwise. Though I heard there is a way to list a tracking number to the ebay transaction if you didn't get the shipping label thru paypal.

Its not that I don't have any money, its just a matter of ease of use that is being hampered by this new policy.

And what if the other person leaves negative feedback? Then I don't get my funds and I don't get my phone back either :(

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Don't make a mountain out of an anthill....relax. Rules/policies/guidelines/laws/ordinances usually cause more headaches than not; in fact I have a nagging suspicion that most all were intentionally created to disrupt our lives to the point that it causes havoc in our immune system.

The point: Your transaction has already happened; now wait and see. Millions of people partake in millions of transactions; for millions of items; collectively worth millions of dollars on eBay...with PayPal being the payment format used.

Have a cold one.

I wonder if the buyer sent a bank transfer, those you usually take 3-5 to business days to clear. This is the only reason I can think why PP would be holding your money.

Never had PP withhold my chedddah *knocks on wood*

Originally Posted by Hi-Definition

Don't make a mountain out of an anthill....relax. Rules/policies/guidelines/laws/ordinances usually cause more headaches than not; in fact I have a nagging suspicion that most all were intentionally created to disrupt our lives to the point that it causes havoc in our immune system.

The point: Your transaction has already happened; now wait and see. Millions of people partake in millions of transactions; for millions of items; collectively worth millions of dollars on eBay...with PayPal being the payment format used.

Have a cold one.

You have ascribed a degree of panic to me that doesn't exist. My post is just an inquiry about a policy that I had not experienced before (that I find to be an inconvenience).

As I stated earlier, I hope things work out since my buyer has all positive feedback. We'll see.

Originally Posted by BTsee

You have ascribed a degree of panic to me that doesn't exist. My post is just an inquiry about a policy that I had not experienced before (that I find to be an inconvenience).

As I stated earlier, I hope things work out since my buyer has all positive feedback. We'll see.

I suppose I came off as a bit more illustrious to convey this: Good'luck.

Now; since I'm a contestant at the gunshow...off I go.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Originally Posted by BTsee

Yeah, I'll have to go to the ups place and pay cash. It's just would have been more convenient for me to be able to print up the label at work today and have the ups guy pick it up from work.

Now I'll have to make a special trip somewhere tomorrow to get it shipped...plus, it won't be tracked thru paypal/ebay like it would have been otherwise. Though I heard there is a way to list a tracking number to the ebay transaction if you didn't get the shipping label thru paypal.

Its not that I don't have any money, its just a matter of ease of use that is being hampered by this new policy.

And what if the other person leaves negative feedback? Then I don't get my funds and I don't get my phone back either :(

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Sorry for your troubles. I do agree, Ebay has become too protective of the buyer. Although I can see the point, it would be wiser for Ebay to create stricter guidelines/requirements for Sellers instead of making it harder for them to do business on Ebay.

just sell to people like me you can veiw their last feedback records and you can bump people bid out I know when I first started buying one bid got bumped cause I was under 10 on my rating but I had and still have 100% positive feed. as soon as I receive an item I do whatever it takes to test it and leave feedback right then. it is not that hard to log on and click positive and type a quick statement avt click the 5th star all the way down and hit leave feedback, come on people help the buyers out eBay is buckling down on them tight.