Paypal cancelled payment after I shipped

[SusieJ]

Paypal advised on 8/20/17 that payment had been received from my eBay buyer. I, in turn, shipped the item by my shipping deadline of midnight, 8/21.

Then….on 8/23, Paypal sent an email to me that I should NOT ship the item because the payment had failed. But, of course, I had already shipped.

I called Paypal. The man told me that the buyer's credit card had been declined so they had to cancel the transaction. He said that sometimes they know right away if the credit card is declined—but sometimes it can take a few days, depending on which card it is.

Why doesn't Paypal make payments "pending" until they KNOW that the credit card went through okay? When they declare that payment is received—eBay expects me to ship by my shipping deadline.

So, now I don't have the item or payment. I asked the Paypal rep if Paypal contacts the buyer about their credit card being declined. He said "No" – he said they simply cancel the transaction.

In the end, he told me that I should call eBay about this problem. He said that eBay should never have sent me the email telling me that my item was paid for and that I should now ship it. He said in the future, when I receive these emails from eBay that my item has been paid---I should always check my Paypal account to make sure that's TRUE and I should hold my shipments until I see the payment in Paypal. (I can't hold shipments, of course, or I'll get penalties from eBay). He said if I had checked my Paypal account at the time of this payment, I would have seen that it wasn't there.

I have a feeling that what he told me isn't true. I think if I had checked my Paypal account at that time, the payment would have been there. In fact, it is still there NOW---it is just crossed out and says "Canceled – Payment Received."  

I did, however, call eBay and they told me to open an "unpaid item case" and said they would investigate it further.

I would think this happens a lot….credit cards being declined. I can't imagine that Paypal doesn't have a solution for this.

Is there anything I can do to protect myself from this happening again?

[Whac-A-Mole]

you need to call Ebay and ask what kind of seller protection do you have,since you have already shipped the item with tracking?

[Ssawyer29]

This just happened to me as well. I sold an item on ebay on 1/27/18 and got notice that I had received payment that same day. I shipped the item on 1/29/18 and it has been received by the buyer. This morning I got an email from Paypal saying my payment was cancelled. Looking through the records on Paypal I see the following when I switch to the classic site.. "

Reason:

This payment was automatically returned by PayPal on Jan 27, 2018 because the funds were unclaimed for 30 days.

I was not aware that I somehow had to "collect the funds," I'm not even sure how to do this. And it hasn't even been 30 days yet! It's been just over a week. So now the buyer has received the item and I'm out the $305 I was supposed to be paid. How can PayPal and eBay allow this to happen??

[Whac-A-Mole]

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wrote:

This just happened to me as well. I sold an item on ebay on 1/27/18 and got notice that I had received payment that same day. I shipped the item on 1/29/18 and it has been received by the buyer. This morning I got an email from Paypal saying my payment was cancelled. Looking through the records on Paypal I see the following when I switch to the classic site.. "

Reason:

This payment was automatically returned by PayPal on Jan 27, 2018 because the funds were unclaimed for 30 days.

I was not aware that I somehow had to "collect the funds," I'm not even sure how to do this. And it hasn't even been 30 days yet! It's been just over a week. So now the buyer has received the item and I'm out the $305 I was supposed to be paid. How can PayPal and eBay allow this to happen??

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Today is Feb 7,2018,so the 30 days expiration does not apply.

This message does not apply to your case.

what could happen is buyer uses bank transfer,since he has a credit card linked t o his paypal account,Paypal advance the money and pay you instantly and then go after his bank account,figure if it fails,it can always charge his credit card.

It turns out he has no money in his bank account or he closed his bank account and cancel his credit card,so Paypal just take the money back from you.

HI risk items which can easily be turned into cash are the ones which are being targeted