topic Re: Funds on hold policy change? in Selling

Funds on hold policy change?

goodbyetoallthat — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 07:03:25 GMT

After 26 years selling on eBay, 100% feedback rating and just one negative many years ago, I learned today that an item I sold on the weekend has had its funds placed on hold by eBay. As the buyer had paid promptly, I mailed it straight away and then contacted eBay (dodging the chatbots twice) to find out why the funds were not being cleared as usual. The reasons given were just bizarre - apparently 100% feedback doesn't qualify as proof that I'm a dependable seller - and after pushing them about the absurdity of what they were saying, it finally emerged that eBay wants me to sell more items, more often. I explained that I'm not a business and I'm selling (and buying) as a small collector. Eventually I was told there's been a "policy change", which I assume means eBay can't be bothered sustaining small volume sellers any more. So I'm letting my current listings (94 at time of writing) run their course and then not relisting. Ever. Curiouys to know how many others have had this happen.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

countessalmirena — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 07:16:06 GMT

This isn’t a recent policy change.

I - as a buyer - received emails some years ago concerning Managed Payments, and it wasn’t too much later that notifications went out clarifying that holds would be applied when a seller wasn’t selling regularly or sufficiently – that, in effect, such intermittent sellers would be regarded as “new sellers” until their selling was at the necessary level.

Did you perhaps disregard those emails and eBay messages, thinking they were just blah blah blah?

To avoid those holds, perhaps there are things you can sell on a more regular basis…? Otherwise, you may want to sell on Facebook Marketplace, or in Facebook Buy/Sell groups. There are risks involved as well as time wasters, but if you can’t sell regularly it may be the best option.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

*casey* — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 07:57:24 GMT

" apparently 100% feedback doesn't qualify as proof that I'm a dependable seller "

eBay would rather have the site flooded with shonky Chinese sellers with appalling feedback , dropshipping rubbish and call them 'top rated sellers'. eBay makes a lot of money from them

Seems they won't be happy until this site looks exactly like TEMU.

It's heading that way fast !

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

*casey* — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 08:30:17 GMT

And let's not forget these very same shonky sellers have multiple IDs so just start new selling accounts when the old ones look too bad.

Let's also not forget all the counterfeit listings sold on this site along with all the dangerous items not passing mandatory Australian Safety Regulations.

Along with hundreds of thousands of items sold on hijacked Italian and German accounts, hijacked by Chinese scammers sending the items, or not, from AliExpress.

And what about all the VERY OBVIOUS fraudulent listings for non existent items.

It used to be all about the money but these days the scammers around the world are sharing and / or selling buyers' details.

These details may be harvested to use at a later date.

Think about identity fraud !

Then eBay tries to get rid of sellers like the OP

It's an absolute disgrace !

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

pnc75 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 08:46:11 GMT

Completely agree. Eventually though, it will lead to their downfall. I stress....... eventually. But not for a long time. But when it happens, it will serve them right. They are already not what they used to be, and I suspect sellers & buyers are leaving in droves each day. What we see & hear on the forums only represents a minute number of us.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

davewil1964 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 09:28:54 GMT

Not me. I keep up with eBay policy changes.

As the countess remarked, this is not a new thing, so obviously you haven't sold anything for a while.

Have you signed up to Managed Payments (six years since implementation)? If not, you will never receive your money.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

*casey* — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 10:21:02 GMT

@goodbyetoallthat wrote:
" find out why the funds were not being cleared as usual.
Curious to know how many others have had this happen"

You've had a small gap in selling in the last few months so all of the items you've been selling and have been paid out for regularly over the last few years, can sometimes count for nothing in eBay's eyes !

Our boards here are very quiet but I've seen this reported on both the US and UK sites when a seller hasn't sold anything for a couple of months.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

sandypebbles — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 21:37:37 GMT

Hopefully there will also be some kind of consequences for buyers who choose to import non complaint garbage and put others at risk by doing so

No point only pinging sellers but leave those wanting to keep giving them air untouched

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

goodbyetoallthat — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 18:57:23 GMT

So eBay wants to remove sellers who aren't selling in high volume? What a disgrace. No surprise really, but for those of us who don't buy and sell on eBay as a business, increasing our sales is not an option. And nothing would induce me to sell on Facebook.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

springyzone — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 19:59:19 GMT

I'm with casey on this one.

The ebay policy for a long while now has been that irregular sellers are to be treated as 'new' sellers and so funds go on hold for a month.

The reason for it of course is ebay want to cover themselves as they have a money back guarantee. Of course, if a customer makes a claim, ebay wants to get that refund money off the seller, not out of their own coffers. Buyers only get 30 days in which to open a claim though so ebay figures if it puts a hold on funds for that long, they are covering themselves. I see this as perfectly reasonable if a seller suddenly lists items after a long period of inaction.

But where it is unfair is when it applies to sellers such as yourself. I can see that you have sold quite a few things in the last few months to a year. You have a fairly steady pattern of recent sales and 100% satisfaction rating.

You've been an Australian member since 1999 and you've received over 4000 feedback, some as buyer, some as seller.

You're what I would see as a fairly regular seller or a steady seller at small volume.

Since you have that steady (though not high volume) record over the last 12 months, if I worked for ebay I would not see you as high risk.

You're the very type of safe seller who made ebay great in the early days. You're here in Australia and you're likely to have items that people won't see everywhere else.

But you're right, ebay has not been wanting to deal with small, occasional sellers for years now. I suspect they see it as potentially too much work, sellers who may not know the ropes etc and I also think they have been chasing sellers of 'new' stock.

Big mistake in my book.

I think the tide may be turning slightly, going on past posts I have seen, in that they may also start to push the image that they also cater to those looking for high end second hand designer products. That's not your market though.

Facebook isn't that bad for sales but depends what you sell. I'd guess your pet carry cages would sell on marketplace easily, individual books etc not so much.

For those, just persist with ebay but just mentally allow a month before expecting funds.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

gutterpunkz05 — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:53:47 GMT

Not a new policy, it was introduced as a security measure, long before managed payments was introduced, with ebay having holds applied via paypal.

Nothing to do with getting rid of low velocity sellers at all. Still one of the best security measures introduced

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

gutterpunkz05 — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:17:19 GMT

Seems everyone forgets the friday night specials that triggered these holds, which is understandable given the success achieved. Millions of dollars of listings sold every weekend and the sellers and money gone before monday morning.

According to some - the good old days.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

countessalmirena — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 02:11:42 GMT

In my view, applying holds to sellers who only sell sporadically, intermittently or occasionally is a cheap “solution” in lieu (to some extent) of effective and timely action by eBay regarding reports of fraudulent sellers.

It’s almost certainly not the only reason for this “funds on hold” policy… but it is in my opinion a large part of it. eBay uses it as a way of being seen to be doing something about the problem of fraudulent sellers and also as a way of actual risk management. Whether it genuinely lowers fraud is another matter. Looking at it from the outside in, I don’t think it’s a highly effective method - but it’s certainly cheaper for eBay than, say, something like the old Trust and Safety Team acting on reports.

eBay will still have to front the bill themselves to refund buyers who have been defrauded, in instances where eBay can’t extract the funds from the seller… but I doubt that this is anywhere near the cost of preventing such frauds in the first place. Online fraud is accelerating dramatically with the advent of everyday AI; criminals are probably the leading element to take up AI for malicious purposes.

Think about this: When do eBay have to shell out refunds that they can’t recoup? Between buyers who are out of time with the MBG, and seller accounts subjected to holds, at the moment I suspect the balance favours eBay. But if more and more buyers act within the MBG period and if criminals hijacking accounts find ways to obtain their funds more quickly so that eBay cannot access those funds for refunding buyers, the balance may shift. If eBay’s outgoings in this respect become greater than the money saved by ineffective bot-driven inaction to reports (or if a court action set a precedent with a buyer’s loss demonstrably resulting from such inaction re reported fraud), eBay would rethink things.

But in the meantime, none of that matters - by which I don’t mean in moral terms or individual instances or overall to intermittent sellers. I mean rather that it’s eBay policy, it’s eBay’s playpen, and eBay’s rules. Arguing one’s case to eBay CS will get one precisely nowhere. Genuine occasional or intermittent sellers who are subject to these holds must somehow manage their selling within the confines of the policy, hence my suggestion of trying to sell something (however small) just regularly enough not to trigger the “new seller” determination.

If you’re doing a huge clean-up of items around the house, it would make sense to build up one’s selling pattern before listing anything that’s more expensive.

Selling some items for local pickup only, with cash on pickup preferred, may work.

But if you can’t make it work for your specific circumstances, and the inevitable hold on funds is not sustainable, then the eBay of today isn’t the right selling venue for you. That is the sad reality.

What about garage sales? Local auctions or swap meets? And as mentioned, selling on Facebook? Local seller groups on Facebook could work for you.

(Sorry - a bit of a scroller.)

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

*casey* — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 07:21:02 GMT

" the problem of fraudulent sellers"

The following happened twice in two days this month - February 2026

Both of these listings were reported by me through the US site.

1) Chinese scammer ( 0 feedback) listing very obvious fraudulent listings for non existent items:

5 Gaming Laptops

Inexperienced buyer bought one, very obvious fake tracking scam reported to eBay plus the buyer opened a dispute - eBay well aware.

With 4 fraudulent items still available, the listing was reported to eBay.

Within 10 minutes, the listing showed:

"This listing was ended by the seller on Sat, Feb 7 at 3:32 AM because the item is no longer available"

Chinese scammer still registered

Even worse:

2) Chinese scammer , minus 2 ( - 2 feedback ) listing very obvious fraudulent listings for non existent items:

25 Electric Tricycles

21 already sold

Listing reported with 4 fraudulent items still available

Within 10 minutes, the 2 negative feedback had been removed and the listing showed:

"This listing was ended by the seller on Mon, Feb 9 at 7:29 PM because there was an error in the listing"

Chinese scammer still registered

"Looking at it from the outside in"

Perhaps someone should be looking at it from the inside out !

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

countessalmirena — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 08:47:23 GMT

eBay should be looking at it from the inside out. They won’t - unless forced to (in my opinion). I could preach on about the moral turpitude and ethical bankruptcy until the golden calves come home… but it won’t change anything. One becomes increasingly cynical about claims by any company or business or organisation or government department who utters anything intended to convey integrity… It’s just so much blather and insidiously forked tongue.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

davewil1964 — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 09:29:37 GMT

Imo, if an organisation HAS integrity, they demonstrate it, not mouth it.

Re: Funds on hold policy change?

springyzone — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 23:14:34 GMT

@davewil1964 wrote:
Imo, if an organisation HAS integrity, they demonstrate it, not mouth it.

The bottom line for ebay is profit. Casey has often pointed out some obvious fraudulent sellers but the thing is, if they do 'sell' something, ebay gets commission.

I firmly believe many, many buyers never take any action when something fails to arrive or is not as described or is counterfeit. Not if the item is a small to medium price. They just write it off. Some don't know how to open a claim and others who know they could claim think it might be too much bother to find out how. That is not ebay's fault but it works in their favour.

Even if the item is expensive and the buyer opens a claim, they might run into problems trying to return overseas or with false tracking.

So it is not in ebay's best financial interest to quickly ban those sellers. Ebay has the 30 day MBG so they can claim they have buyers covered.

I can't see things changing at all unless ebay is legally required to step up to have more accountability.

Unfortunately, countess is right and good sellers just have to fit into the system as it is, which means goodbyetoallthat needs to pace himself, maybe not list everything at once. Just a few items each week or so. That could work, in that at least the hold should not apply then and it should not be too time consuming to list just a few items.