topic Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments.. in Selling

Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

88gustaf — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:03:06 GMT

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.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

padi*0409 — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:09:22 GMT

You have actually had 6 sales in total with 5 of them more than a year ago. eBay is holding sellers money that don't have a number (I think around 50) of sales in the last 6 months, for 21 days or until tracking shows as delivered or buyer gives positive feedback.

If either of those scenarios happens you can phone Paypal and they will release the funds, often while you are on the phone to them.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

88gustaf — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:19:33 GMT

Thank you for the reply,

You forget about transactions where no feedback was left, hence my guess of ~15 sales. Either way, the number of sales I have had are irrelevant, really. 6 or 15 - doesnt matter, my track record is perfect and I have been an active member for 5 years.

If they are holding money without 50 sales in 6 months, then all they are doing is hurting small timers like me who occasionally sell personal things on here. I have sold well over 1000$ worth in those few transactions, by the way, so its not like eBay have not taken there cut.

Tracking shows as delivered and I have receieved feedback from the buyer. I guess I need to call Paypal then. I honestly dont see why I should though, as eBay can already see that the item was received and that the buyer is happy....

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

bakeandfry — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:29:15 GMT

Welcome to selling on ebay, every new seller has had paypments held, that is untill you sell $250 worth, be no less than 90 days since last successful sale.
You will have to moniter when you can get payments off hold, for example three (3) days after delivery if tracking is supplyed.
If paypal dont comply with there policy you can lodge a dispute with the FOS.
If a dispute with paypal is lodged paypal have up to 45 dayd to reply to dispute

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

clarry100 — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:30:53 GMT

In recent times it seems that the writing is on the wall that ebay are squeezing out small sellers and some not so small as you. So one of the things they have introduced is the one you are experiencing. Sellers like yourself will become disgruntled over time and pack up and leave which suits their end goal to turn the place into a megs mall full of larger commercial sellers.
We are feeling it too from different angles than you mention here and about the end of the year we will be gone too.
What they seem to have forgotten is that sellers are buyers too and if they are not selling they are not buying, which describes us.
So welcome to the real changing world of ebay.
But as has been suggested a phone call to PayPal should see your funds released.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

collect247 — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 07:51:40 GMT

I hear ya Gus and I agree with ya,

But how would PayPal make any interest if they don't keep ya money in their coffers for 21 days?

It's a fantastic policy that's making $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for PayPal lol.

And imagine if a buyer wanted to return an item,would you have to refund the buyer out of your own pocket because their payment

is on hold for 21 days ssssssssshhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh wouldn't that make ya angry,gggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Personally its happened to me

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

88gustaf — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 08:14:38 GMT

Thanks for the responses guys and girls. Glad to hear I am not the only one unsettled by these policies.

Never thought about the interest they are earning holding money either. Its crazy, and it comes at small time sellers expense!

Makes senses that eBay would want to push out smaller sellers as well. Oh well, I guess not much can be done except find another avenue for selling things (Incoming Gumtree death wishes).

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

vixen_teztarkles — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 09:16:06 GMT

Its about nothing more than money making !! I have made some enquiries aboutthe whole holding payments and it makes me laugh. I chuckle when Ebay says its Paypal doing it them you ask Paypal and they say Ebay is doing it !! I have a small amount ( around $400) and both items have been delivered and positive feedback has been received and that was two weeks ago !! I cant get a straight answer however Ebay keep sayingthey have released the money, so I go to Paypal and they say Ebay still has it on hold, so which is it ?

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

bakeandfry — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 10:15:21 GMT

If you have complyed with paypal policy and you have proof of paypal holding your funds, lodge a dispute against paypal with the FOS, esculate it due to paypal not complying with there own policys.

Is it going to be easy? No, can it be done, yes

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

k1ooo-slr-sales — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 10:22:03 GMT

@88gustaf wrote:
Thanks for the responses guys and girls. Glad to hear I am not the only one unsettled by these policies.

Never thought about the interest they are earning holding money either. Its crazy, and it comes at small time sellers expense!

Makes senses that eBay would want to push out smaller sellers as well. Oh well, I guess not much can be done except find another avenue for selling things (Incoming Gumtree death wishes).

have you read the Seller Centre page: http://sellercentre.ebay.com.au/funds-availability ?

I suggest you do so before writing off eBay for good. Things can be done to lessen the effect of the hold on funds. Marking the item as posted and uploading tracking numbers OR using eBay postage are both methods that will reduce effects of the 21 day hold on funds.

Also, some members have posted that PayPal react to sellers that inform them that will be contacting the FOS about the hold, and have had funds released immediately.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

88gustaf — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 10:59:22 GMT

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.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

*tippy*toes* — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 11:49:30 GMT

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.

21 days is 3 weeks, not a month.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

k1ooo-slr-sales — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 12:11:26 GMT

@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.

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.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

phorum_junkie* — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 00:34:15 GMT

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.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

nat64050_0 — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 10:29:31 GMT

Excuse my stupidy but what/who is FOS?

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

k1ooo-slr-sales — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 10:31:56 GMT

Financial Ombudsman Service

https://fos.org.au/

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

mrhamtenna — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 03:03:12 GMT

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.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

mrhamtenna — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 03:11:54 GMT

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.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

k1ooo-slr-sales — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 03:25:06 GMT

@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.

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.

Re: Unhappy with eBay withholding payments..

davewil1964 — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 03:38:14 GMT

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.