Newbie seller doesnt understand paypal

[geishame]

Aarrgg ! A newbie seller is driving me insane,I won an item last week and paid via paypal on Dec 2nd. Today I get an email saying she has been waiting for the paypal to 'clear'. Now I realize tthat an echeque does take days to clear, but mine was not an echeque, it transferred instantly. She says she is now waiting until the paypal money clears in her bank account!!!!  I have tried over and over to explain that  she already has the money and doesnt have to keep me waiting while she puts it in her bank account , but she has now sent me an email "explaining' paypal to me!! She says that while it a good way of paying, it unfortunatley does take a long while", she also says " paypal is used as a method of transferring money to her account' and I now only have to wait another three days for it to show up in her bank account!!! This is ridiculous, another 3 days, plus the 5 working days to get in over from the east coast takes it to coming up 3 weeks for me to receive my item. Now I have tried patiently explaining what she is doing is not right but she is clearly not listening to me and is holding my item hostage!

[digital*ghost]

I'd say that's more a case of a seller not understanding good selling practices than PayPal, as funds do need to be transferred to a bank account in order to have full access to them, and while the choice to do so before posting an item is not the best form when it comes to selling, it can be necessary for some sellers in order to pay for the postage on the item.

Of course, some sellers do it for other reasons, which can come down to misunderstanding PayPal (like the common presumption that they won't have to refund if something goes wrong and there are no funds in the account).

It's not really a matter of what she is doing being right or wrong, as there's nothing that mandates sellers do not transfer funds first, it's more a matter of whether you find it acceptable or not.

Personally, I am of the opinion that a seller can have however many handling days as allowable by eBay (which is up to 30), for whatever reason they like - as long as the handling time (not necessarily the reason for it) is made clear in the listing.

[4ewesonly]

Hi, I think the newbie because she has just started selling doesnt have any xtra in her own bank account to post your parcel to u. So the only thing she /he can do is wait for it to arrive from Paypal into her bank account.

[lane-ends]

Not best selling practices, but no point stressing about it, just go with the flow and mark down DSRs on posting time, if they keep getting that they will soon get the idea

[geishame]

well this buyer does happen to understand good paypal practice since she has been using for the best part of 12 years. if a seller needs to wait for the funds to transfer then they may as well simply ask for  a bank deposit since the speed factor with paypal is lost. And what about the seller waiting 4 days for the paypal to 'clear' when it was an instant payment, which was part of my gripe? Is this phantom 'clearing 'also acceptable??

Seems like if i was a seller posting on here about how I wanted to wait 4 days after paypal payment then keep the buyer waiting another 3-4 days whilst I 'popped' it into my bank account, i would be torn to shreds!!! Thats the wonder of the ebay 'forum' !!!

[putney32]

geishame, no it is not acceptable, but exactly how many days does the seller put in their ''seller will ship within  xyz days of receiving cleared payment'  bit on the listing?

that should be set to 7 or 8 if the seller wants funds cleared to their bank.

how many days did your seller have it set to???

[geishame]

Hi Putney, she states postage will be 3 days after cleared payment, and payment 'cleared' on Friday 2nd December. I think she thinks this means when it clears her bank account afterwards, but it has deffinatley cleared from me days ago, and still I wait!!

[catsnknots]

Hi, I think the newbie because she has just started selling doesnt have any xtra in her own bank account to post your parcel to u. So the only thing she /he can do is wait for it to arrive from Paypal into her bank account.

Very good point

When I first started to sell stuff I had to wait until the money was in my bank account to be able to afford to post...

The only reason I started to sell on ebay was to make a few extra dollars to put food on the table for Christmas many years ago.. Maybe this seller is in a similar situation..

[phorum_junkie*]

The seller needs to increase their handling time if they are going to wait until payment reaches their bank account, I would just tell them that most buyers will find what she is doing unacceptable and she is likely to get some very poor DSRs for her posting time!

[digital*ghost]

Seems like if i was a seller posting on here about how I wanted to wait 4 days after paypal payment then keep the buyer waiting another 3-4 days whilst I 'popped' it into my bank account, i would be torn to shreds!!! Thats the wonder of the ebay 'forum' !!!

Not by me, you wouldn't. I maintain my disposition with perhaps alarming consistency, and my opinion would be the same no matter which party you were to a transaction.

That is, to put it simply, I don't wait for funds to clear to my bank account before I post as part of my aim to provide the best possible customer service, but I couldn't care less if other sellers do transfer first, again as long as they are up front about their handling time so buyers are given the opportunity to make an informed choice.

The "phantom" clearing you mentioned is not actually impossible. There have been several instances lately of a payment being made and there being no record or notification of it at the seller's end - no idea if that happened here, obviously, but it's entirely possible. As you're in communication with the seller, you're in a better position to know what that was about than the rest of us. 😉