Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

[88gustaf]

Hi eBay community. 

I have been a member of eBay for 5 years now. I have completed exactly 60 transactions with 100% positive feedback, where roughly 15 of those transactions were me being the seller. I have never had any disputes or complaints against me, and have always gone above and beyond when selling something on here. 

Now that I have cleared that up, I am unhappy with this new (havent sold anything in about a year) seller policy that eBay have introduced.

I recently sold an item and learned after the bid had completed that my money would be on hold for a month.....!!

Now, dont get me wrong, I can understand that eBay want to make a safe buying environment, but isnt this taking it too far? The buyer has already recieved my item more than a week ago, and has already left me positive feedback, yet my money is still on hold for more than another week. It just seems beyond silly!

I just think this system punishes eBayers with a perfect record who dont necessarily sell things very often!

Not a very happy seller,

Gus. 

[88gustaf]

I'm not writing eBay off, per say, I am just going to broaden my options when selling again. The item was marked as posted the same day I sent it, and I added the tracking number the very next day. This is all within 2 days of the buyer paying for the item.

According to eBay, I need over 25 selling transactions for the waiting period to be nullified. Not sure I'm willing to go through this ~10-15 times again. 

[*tippy*toes*]

This hold has been in for several years now....it's not new. It's to protect buyers from scammers, but everyone else is caught in the crossfire. If you upload the tracking number into the PayPal transaction as well as in eBay, the funds should automatically release within 3 days after the tracking shows as delivered. If you're not prepared to put the tracking number in both places, you either call PayPal who will release while you're on the phone (you have to give them the tracking number to check), or you wait the 21 days.

Spoiler

21 days is 3 weeks, not a month.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@88gustaf wrote:

I'm not writing eBay off, per say, I am just going to broaden my options when selling again. The item was marked as posted the same day I sent it, and I added the tracking number the very next day. This is all within 2 days of the buyer paying for the item.

According to eBay, I need over 25 selling transactions for the waiting period to be nullified. Not sure I'm willing to go through this ~10-15 times again. 

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so your funds will be released 7 days after the last delivery date in the delivery estimate.  This should be earlier than the 21 days since payment.

If the funds are not released by day 8 you call PayPal and tell them you want the funds released immediately.  If they stall, ask to speak to a supervisor and tell them you expect PayPal to follow their own policy.  If they continue to stall, tell them you will contact the FOS and will lodge a complaint on the basis that PayPal are not following their own policy and that you have tried to sort this out with PayPal already.

Many sellers have posted on the boards that once they get one 'victory' over PayPal over the 21 day hold that they are no longer subject to the hold on funds. 

[phorum_junkie*]

While it must be frustrating for new or born again sellers I can see the other side of the coin. If a scammer makes a lot of money quick and can withdraw the funds straight away then the buyer doesn't lose out, ebay or Paypal does as they have to fund the refunds. Ultimately this means that honest sellers have to cover that expense and that will eventually lead to a fee increase.

Ebay make no secret of the up to 21 day hold, it rarely is 21 days, so anyone selling should build that into their business model and if they cannot afford to sell without funds being available straight away then perhaps they should list elsewhere. Note I said list, it is rare indeed to actually sell things on other auction sites. 

[nat64050_0]

Excuse my stupidy but what/who is FOS?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

Financial Ombudsman Service

https://fos.org.au/

[mrhamtenna]

I have just experience this issue. I also have a flawless track record yet my funds are being withheld. I have decided to end my relationship with both eBay and PayPal over this issue. I don't take it lightly that I'm being treated like a crim. Although I haven't dealt with eBay recently my 100% positive feedback is still on record.

[mrhamtenna]

I don't think they're trying to push out small sellers if that was the case why are they aiming marketing at getting people to list on eBay. It's more about just having hundreds or thousands of millions of dollars in their accounts.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@mrhamtenna wrote:
I don't think they're trying to push out small sellers if that was the case why are they aiming marketing at getting people to list on eBay. It's more about just having hundreds or thousands of millions of dollars in their accounts.

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nah, I think it is more about limiting their potential losses of sellers drawing down their PayPal balance to their bank account only to have refund claims against them in the 3 weeks post sale.

Anyway, there are ways to get your funds sooner than 21 days.

[davewil1964]

43 of your feedback score are for buying, which can only be positive, and doesn't relate to your performance as a seller. Especially when you haven't sold anything for over a year.

I'm sure eBay will be mortified that you are taking your business elsewhere. Those 53 transactions in 12 years, and none in the last one, really made a difference to their bottom line.