Just Got off the Phone with Paypal Customer Service..
dragon
Posts: 4,548 ✭✭
I'm sure this has come up numerous times here about Paypal putting a hold on a sellers funds, but I thought I would call and find out their explanation for myself.
I sell a coin for about $400.00 on Ebay and the buyer pays me the next day using Paypal. It shows the amount is not available to withdraw and pending for an undisclosed amount of time. I ship the coin the next day using Ebay / Paypal's online postage thing and ship it out. The buyer gets it 2 days later, and Ebay now knows the buyer has received the item and still my funds are pending and not available to me.
I have been an Ebay member since early 1999 and have 800 feedbacks and a 100% rating, and have also sold thousands of dollars of items in the past.
So this lady at Paypal is trying to explain to me in great detail how Paypal is "protecting" me by holding my money after I fulfill my part and even after the buyer receives it and leaves me a positive. I asked her if Paypal will transfer $100 million into my checking acct. and let me "protect" them for a couple weeks, but she failed to see the humor I guess. It's always good to know someone is protecting me by holding back my money.
I sell a coin for about $400.00 on Ebay and the buyer pays me the next day using Paypal. It shows the amount is not available to withdraw and pending for an undisclosed amount of time. I ship the coin the next day using Ebay / Paypal's online postage thing and ship it out. The buyer gets it 2 days later, and Ebay now knows the buyer has received the item and still my funds are pending and not available to me.
I have been an Ebay member since early 1999 and have 800 feedbacks and a 100% rating, and have also sold thousands of dollars of items in the past.
So this lady at Paypal is trying to explain to me in great detail how Paypal is "protecting" me by holding my money after I fulfill my part and even after the buyer receives it and leaves me a positive. I asked her if Paypal will transfer $100 million into my checking acct. and let me "protect" them for a couple weeks, but she failed to see the humor I guess. It's always good to know someone is protecting me by holding back my money.
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as someone that has spent literally dozens of hours on the phone with ebay/paypal i have yet to not receive a precise answer to any of my inquiries.
as a matter of curiosity, what is the reason.
maybe by your explanation all the people with accounts can learn something and possibly avoid future troubles.
btw. you can have 100% FB with low DSR ratings and your money will be held until the DSR ratings are among the acceptable levels, just fyi to those that read this.
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<< <i>Im curious about if you can use the 400 in other ebay or paypal transactions ? I see you have said you wanted to withdraw the money. >>
the balance of the held funds are not accessible until released
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<< <i>Don't ship until the money is yours. >>
the first post states the item has been shipped, received and positive feedback left.
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<< <i>
<< <i>Don't ship until the money is yours. >>
the first post states the item has been shipped, received and positive feedback left.
. >>
He probably saw that. I think he meant don't ship the item until the held funds get deposited into your account.
For the OP, did the buyer pay a funky way other than the normal way?
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
<< <i>Don't ship until the money is yours. >>
That will take 21 days. I"m sure he'll get good feedback for that one.
As for the OP, as soon as the buyer leaves feedback they will release the money. You might want to drop them a note. --Jerry
<< <i>All the while, the money is sitting in their account earning interest for them. Nice. >>
by rights it should be earing interest for the seller. i wonder if theres any recourse on it? just wondering
If "pending" balance in your account paypal is making sure buyer receives and is satisfied before releasing the funds to you. This can happen if business picks up a lot in one month. A spike in sales can also trigger a request from them for business info such as insurance on inventory, source of inventory, etc., and a permanent holding status of a percentage of your sales for 30 days. If tracking shows delivered and you got good feedback, NORMALLY paypal will expedite releasing the money with a phone call. Call again and get another drone on the phone.
<< <i>Im wondering because im in the middle of building a web site and thought i'd add paypal as a payment method option , i'll be thinking again if they can hold my funds from a private website which i don't see why they wouldn't if they can do it on ebay. >>
Your account with paypal is independent of your account with ebay. You will more than likely be subject to similar holdings of funds. Most volume sellers have some holdback by paypal as they are trying to reduce the risk of business gone bad. I sold over $100K last year (on ebay) and paypal holds $1000 at all times and 5% of all sales for 30 days. They tell me I'm getting one of the better holdback arrangements.
The way is was explained to me is they like to keep a "cushion" on hold because experience shows them that even good sellers can go bad, especially with collectibles and bullion.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
My Jefferson Nickel Collection
So you the seller is paying for their buyer protection. It's win win for them. They can offer great buyer protection and only have to honer it buy holding back money and not having to fork out any money themselves in case of something going wrong.
I wonder if insurance companies could do something similar?
<< <i>The way is was explained to me is they like to keep a "cushion" on hold because experience shows them that even good sellers can go bad.
So you the seller is paying for their buyer protection. It's win win for them. They can offer great buyer protection and only have to honer it buy holding back money and not having to fork out any money themselves in case of something going wrong.
I wonder if insurance companies could do something similar? >>
Not much different than having to keep a minimum balance in a bank account to avoid addtional fees. Paypal is in affect your e-commerce "bank." If holdbacks reduce their losses those losses hopefully won't get passed on to account holders via higher fees.
Am I the only one seeing a Paypal banner ad at the top of this thread?
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
<< <i>I'm sure this has come up numerous times here about Paypal putting a hold on a sellers funds, but I thought I would call and find out their explanation for myself.
I sell a coin for about $400.00 on Ebay and the buyer pays me the next day using Paypal. It shows the amount is not available to withdraw and pending for an undisclosed amount of time. I ship the coin the next day using Ebay / Paypal's online postage thing and ship it out. The buyer gets it 2 days later, and Ebay now knows the buyer has received the item and still my funds are pending and not available to me.
I have been an Ebay member since early 1999 and have 800 feedbacks and a 100% rating, and have also sold thousands of dollars of items in the past.
So this lady at Paypal is trying to explain to me in great detail how Paypal is "protecting" me by holding my money after I fulfill my part and even after the buyer receives it and leaves me a positive. I asked her if Paypal will transfer $100 million into my checking acct. and let me "protect" them for a couple weeks, but she failed to see the humor I guess. It's always good to know someone is protecting me by holding back my money.
<< <i>Don't get me wrong I have used PayPal for years without a problem and find it an easy and quick way to sell and buy but I'm just trying to get my head around this topic and I'm a little tired tonight. >>
Your normal fees help pay for the protection (losses they cover at Paypal's expense) for both sellers and buyers. Your holdback reduces them having to dig into the fees they collect to cover their losses. Hopefully the losses prevented by enforcing holdbacks help keep fees from going up. Until they face stiff competition their fees will never come down.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Paypal has become very successful by providing both buyer and seller protection. As a result, paypal gets caught holding the bag sometimes when a seller is a scammer. The seller sells junk, takes the money and runs, and paypal has to refund the money to the buyer as part of buyer protection. To keep from getting caught holding the bag paypal, for new sellers, holds the money until the buyer receives the item and leaves positive feedback. However, recognizing that sometimes feedback isn't left, they release the money after 21 days if there is no claim filed.
If paypal told the OP they were holding his money to protect him, that isn't true. they are holding the money so that they can continue to provide buyer protection without raising rates. BTW, paypal rates for sellers are better than 99% of the credit card rates out there.
--Jerry
Face it, when paypal gets taken to the cleaners by a scammer, they just pass the loss on to those paying fees. I welcome they're security enhancements.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
I believe the holding the money is somewhat of a scam. Multiply that times how many transactions they are holding and they're making money off of other folks money.
<< <i>I'm sure this has come up numerous times here about Paypal putting a hold on a sellers funds, but I thought I would call and find out their explanation for myself.
I sell a coin for about $400.00 on Ebay and the buyer pays me the next day using Paypal. It shows the amount is not available to withdraw and pending for an undisclosed amount of time. I ship the coin the next day using Ebay / Paypal's online postage thing and ship it out. The buyer gets it 2 days later, and Ebay now knows the buyer has received the item and still my funds are pending and not available to me.
I have been an Ebay member since early 1999 and have 800 feedbacks and a 100% rating, and have also sold thousands of dollars of items in the past.
So this lady at Paypal is trying to explain to me in great detail how Paypal is "protecting" me by holding my money after I fulfill my part and even after the buyer receives it and leaves me a positive. I asked her if Paypal will transfer $100 million into my checking acct. and let me "protect" them for a couple weeks, but she failed to see the humor I guess. It's always good to know someone is protecting me by holding back my money.
I had a very similar experience with Paypal last month. I called "customer service" & got some moron in the Phillipines. It was obvious he was reading his responses off a screen & telling me "I understand your frustration, but...". Nothing is more frustrating than having some clueless moron in the Phillipines tell me that he understands my frustration. I asked for a supervisor & got a very nasty gut telling me that he wouldn't do anything to address my concerns. I pointed out to him that I have been selling on eBay for 13 years with 100% positive feedback & never had any problems or complaints from buyers. I also pointed out to him that should Paypal go belly up in the 21 days that they're holding my funds (unlikely yes, but a possibility), I then become a creditor, etc. He told me if I didn't like it, then I should stop selling on eBay. I told him to go f**k himself & hung up.
I sent an email to the California Department of Financial Institutions & registered a complaint, stating among other things that Paypal is acting as a bank and an escrow service when in fact they are nothing but a money transfer service much like Western Union. Within 3 days, I received a call from a senior executive at Paypal notifying me that the funds in my account would not be held for the 21 days & that the holds would be lifted from my account for the rest of the year. A few days later, I received another phone call letting me kow that the holds would be permanently lifted from my account as long as my eBay acoount is in good standing.
Yesterday, I received a copy of a letter that the operations attorney for Paypal sent the Califonia DFI. It basically said that Paypal was just enforcing its "Terms Of Agreement", etc., but that the hold on my account had been lifted. If you want, PM me & I'll give you the name & direct phone number for the operations attorney at Paypal.
<< <i>I do quite a few transaction on Gunbroker and PayPal is always a pain in the but to use for those transaction. They are anti-gun and when a firearm is involved you can't disclose that or PayPal won't handle the transaction. If two law abiding citizens are engaging in a legal sale why the hell should they care what the product is? >>
With the number of crooks they encounter on ebay they probably don't want the liability of being involved in firearms transactions. One good lawsuit from a victim's family could destroy them. I love my guns but can't say I blame them from stearing clear.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
<< <i>I do quite a few transaction on Gunbroker and PayPal is always a pain in the but to use for those transaction. They are anti-gun and when a firearm is involved you can't disclose that or PayPal won't handle the transaction. If two law abiding citizens are engaging in a legal sale why the hell should they care what the product is?
I believe the holding the money is somewhat of a scam. Multiply that times how many transactions they are holding and they're making money off of other folks money. >>
I didnt know that , thanks for the heads up. I can add that to the long list of items ebay and or paypal doesnt like.
<< <i>So this lady at Paypal is trying to explain to me in great detail how Paypal is "protecting" me by holding my money after I fulfill my part and even after the buyer receives it and leaves me a positive. >>
It's my understanding that once positive feedback is left the held money is released.
Were you told something different? If so, you might want to make another call.
Lance.
<< <i>
<< <i>The way is was explained to me is they like to keep a "cushion" on hold because experience shows them that even good sellers can go bad.
So you the seller is paying for their buyer protection. It's win win for them. They can offer great buyer protection and only have to honer it buy holding back money and not having to fork out any money themselves in case of something going wrong.
I wonder if insurance companies could do something similar? >>
Not much different than having to keep a minimum balance in a bank account to avoid addtional fees. Paypal is in affect your e-commerce "bank." If holdbacks reduce their losses those losses hopefully won't get passed on to account holders via higher fees.
Am I the only one seeing a Paypal banner ad at the top of this thread? >>
No, I also saw a paypal banner ad at the top of the page, it appeared to be a google ad that indicated you can change your add preference if you like. very kind of them
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
<< <i>Big picture for those not understanding what is going on here:
Paypal has become very successful by providing both buyer and seller protection. As a result, paypal gets caught holding the bag sometimes when a seller is a scammer. The seller sells junk, takes the money and runs, and paypal has to refund the money to the buyer as part of buyer protection. To keep from getting caught holding the bag paypal, for new sellers, holds the money until the buyer receives the item and leaves positive feedback. However, recognizing that sometimes feedback isn't left, they release the money after 21 days if there is no claim filed.
If paypal told the OP they were holding his money to protect him, that isn't true. they are holding the money so that they can continue to provide buyer protection without raising rates. BTW, paypal rates for sellers are better than 99% of the credit card rates out there.
--Jerry >>
"BTW, paypal rates for sellers are better than 99% of the credit card rates out there."
That is only because Paypal has greased the palms of the banking regulation legislators to let them get away with providing financial institution services without being subject to banking laws in the U.S.
"Everything is on its way to somewhere. Everything." - George Malley, Phenomenon
http://www.american-legacy-coins.com
<< <i>
<< <i>So this lady at Paypal is trying to explain to me in great detail how Paypal is "protecting" me by holding my money after I fulfill my part and even after the buyer receives it and leaves me a positive. >>
It's my understanding that once positive feedback is left the held money is released.
Were you told something different? If so, you might want to make another call.
Lance. >>
Automatic release of money takes up to 21 days. Phone call can expedite it once they can see proof of delivery (make sure the tracking number is added to the paypal transaction) or they can see positive feedback from the buyer. It takes a phone call to make a person (and not a computer program) look for the proof. If you don't get release of funds call again and get another rep. Any time you call paypal keep saying "agent" until you get a live rep.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
At what point does a Paypal / Ebay 13 yr. 100% feedback customer earn a bit of trust over a few hundred bucks?
<< <i>I guess my whole point in starting a 'rant' thread was because I've been a 100% feedback member on Ebay going on 13 yrs. now and have sold many items in the past, and Paypal treats me as If I signed up last week, have zero feedback, didn't ship the coin yet, and am a seller from China.
At what point does a Paypal / Ebay 13 yr. 100% feedback customer earn a bit of trust over a few hundred bucks? >>
There are litterly tens of thousands of customers in the same boat. Personalized service is not something to expect from paypal. Because of their volume, they are on full auto-pilot. Think of it as security enhancement for the benefit of all paypal customers, both sellers and buyers.
No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left
Somehow I do not feel "enhanced" by having a 3rd party putting a hold on my funds for a week and a half after I shipped out the item to someone I don't know, and I do not believe that Paypal does anything for anyone's benefit but their own.
<< <i>I guess my whole point in starting a 'rant' thread was because I've been a 100% feedback member on Ebay going on 13 yrs. now and have sold many items in the past, and Paypal treats me as If I signed up last week, have zero feedback, didn't ship the coin yet, and am a seller from China.
At what point does a Paypal / Ebay 13 yr. 100% feedback customer earn a bit of trust over a few hundred bucks? >>
I am an ebay powerseller with preferred paypal status and perfect feedback. I opened a second paypal account to sell kids toys and junk to keep it separate from business sales for tax purposes. I associated it with my second ebay account that has 10 yrs of 100% positive feedback I called and asked to waive the 21 day hold based on my other account history and at first they said "sure, we can do that" but it never happened so I called back two more times and nobody else thought it could be done. They basically said "rules are rules" and all that matters is selling history, not buying history.
As for calling again, I wouldn't waste my time. Get the buyer to leave positive feedback and money will be released automatically. --Jerry