Paypal upgrade to business, support says my payment is invalid, transaction with eBay looks valid

[easy80]

I sold a small item on ebay to a buyer with high rating and transaction shows in my ebay account. I got the small payment via email from address "member at paypal dot com". Email says I cannot collect money until I upgrade to business account. This is after I click a link in the email. I use an authentication utility to avoid phishing; when I click on the email link in the paypal email, I am able to authenticate to the site. If it was a phishing site, I could not have authenticated. (and it has detected paypal phishing in the past) So the paypal email seems valid. 

However Paypal is telling me that they do not show the transaction and they would never ask someone to upgrade to a business account to collect money. I was on hold for some time while they searched this out. Seems I am stuck and I have emailed the buyer, and changed my password just to be on the safe side. Any ideas?

[lancelotme]

if you cannot find the payment in your Paypal account and Ebay did not say it has been paid,then you have not been paid.

You have changed your password which is good,but your Paypal email address is now known to the scammers and watch them sending you more emails to that address about all the nonsense to make you believe they are authentic .

Did you give them your name?

[easy80]

No, ebay is saying I have been paid and provides a link in the sales page to Paypal. I click the link and it takes me to a paypal page that says I can upgrade to business account. I decline and then it brings me to my account page. The paypal page is valid as I changed password 30 seconds earlier and it authenticates with my utility.

So ebay says I've been paid but only has a link to "view transaction" in paypal and paypal says its not valid.

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

Sounds like the upgrade to business account thing is just an advertising splash page from PayPal, not that you are required to upgrade to receive money.

So when you go to the PayPal transaction page from eBay it says that the transaction is invalid?  No such transaction?  Hmmmm, very odd.

[sharpiemarker]

Well, obviously it's some technical glitch somewhere, contact the buyer and ask for the PayPal transaction ID number as you are having trouble locating their payment and then call PayPal to give them transaction ID to see if they can find the transaction.

[easy80]

I closed this by accident, no it's not a solution. Ebay says the payment is valid but the link to paypal only shows account details without the sale.

[sharpiemarker]

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@easy80 wrote:

I closed this by accident, no it's not a solution. Ebay says the payment is valid but the link to paypal only shows account details without the sale.

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Explain in more detail about "only shows account details without the sale".  Or post a screenshot with the private info blocked out.

[easy80]

[sharpiemarker]

It has the hour glass icon in the second listing so it's Awaiting Payment.  When you click on View PayPal Transaction, it just takes you to your PayPal Summary page?  And you do not see the payment in Summary page for the mouse?

[sharpiemarker]

Cancel the order.