payment hold

[bysaab]

paypal are now holding every payment i get from customers!

i have been told it's because i have sold less than 100 items. i am so angry about this. never mind that paypal operates a monopoly- you cant do buisness without using paypal on ebay. i feel like reporting paypal to the monopolies and mergers commision.

[memedoos99]

hi. this is only the start of it! i have benn on ebay for a year and have over 100 fb and my payments have been on hold since july! I have complained and rung them i have thretened them with reporting them i have tried everything but they do nothing! i dont know what eles to do but hope that if enough people complain that they will do something!

[PayPal_david]

Hi guys,

There are a few different reasons in regards to why your payments may be getting placed on hold when they are getting received in to your PayPal account. When you are listing the items for sale through your eBay account, you would be advised if the payment will be placed on hold when the funds are received in to your PayPal account.

The different reasons that your payments may be placed on hold are as follows:

• You have been an eBay and PayPal member for less than 6 months
• You have an eBay feedback score of less than 100 and do not have a record of good performance
• You have a Buyer dissatisfaction percentage of 5% or greater
• You have an average Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of less than 4.5
• You have received fewer than 20 Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 12 months
• You have a high rate of customer disputes
• You’re selling in a high risk category or industry such as, tickets, travel, gift certificates, computers, consumer electronics or mobile phones

Your funds will be released within 24 hours from when one of the following occurs:

• The buyer leaves you positive feedback
• 21 days pass without a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal being filed on the transaction
• You provide a tracking number which shows that the item has been delivered over 3 days ago

I hope this information helps,

David.

[bysaab]

to be honest, i think that it's a bit rich to quote chapter and verse to me- i already understand your askew reasoning behind payment (with)holds. this new policy makes a mockery of the 'feedback' system.

when i browse the boards and view buyers asking for voluntary payment holds, i understand their reasoning. i am also a 'buyer'. BUT, they're asking for that service, where-as, this policy is enforced on every sale. they are 2 very different things.

 also, as a individual who both buys and sells on ebay, i can tell you that this will and is stifling buisness.

 there is also the question of people fraudulently claiming they havent recieved the item- i notice nothing in paypals justification waffle even mentions this issue "oh, if we don't mention it, maybe people wont do it."

as i mentioned before, paypal has an enforced monopoly on ebay- i wonder if payment (with)holds would even be happening if there was a competitor to paypal who didn't use them OR offered them as a sale by sale service to the buyer?

it has now been 2 weeks since i sent an item with a witheld payment- no responce yet from the buyer!

[LarrytheLock]

Try putting "cheques only" in your written ad or if you are in business put a phone contact for debit/credit cards, if enough people do this they might start treating us like "customers" !!!

[corby40brian]

Dear Mr Thompson,

CEO of Paypal

I've just started selling some items on ebay and have been shocked and hugely annoyed by the imposition of a payment hold. This is not clearly stated at the beginning of the sign up process. This is very misleading  and unfair to new sellers on E bay, to new customers of Paypal;  to customers who have been charged a fee for having Paypal transfer  money from their buyer to the seller's account and then find that the fee does not result in the performance of the contractual obligation to transfer money

The new seller payment hold means that sellers are in effect paying a fee to have their money  held up for 21 days. WHY SHOULD SELLERS PAY A FEE?? It is Pay Pal which OWES SELLERS MONEY for 21 days lost interest on balancess due. Paypal sellers are in fact providing free insurance to Paypal against fraud, when this should be the buyers obligation and duty. Why shoud Paypal arbitrarily set aside the principle of Caveat emptor to penalise the seller of goods?

To bury the 21 day hold provision within the service agreement which is not visible at sign up but which must be downloaded is quite frankly UNFAIR DEALING with customers. It is buried because if it was clearly stated upfront nobody would use Paypal and the potential market of PayPal would be reduced by 50%!

This arrangement is unfair to new sellers who are essentially being pronounced "Untrustworthy" by PAYPAL on the basis of no evidence. The Buyer buys as seen and under clear conditions that refunds are or are not permitted and can ask for information from the seller prior to bidding. Why should the SELLER have to wait three weeks after the delivery of goods for his money ? 

I urge all similar PAYPAL account users to simply BOYCOTT Paypal by asking for cash on collection or to have BUYERS transfer money via the UK banking system bill payment services available on most accounts.  

I am hugely dissatisfied with PAYPAL which is simply RIPPING OFF its customers by charging a fee and then failing to deliver its promised service for 21 days. How much does profit does Paypal make each year by holding back payments of new customers for 21 days?

Mr Scott, I intend to refer this matter to the Office of Fair Trading in the UK and the FSA's financial ombudsman. I urge all other dissatified Paypal customers to do the same. The email addresses would be below BUT THe CUSTOMER SERVICE  comunity does not permit me to post their addresses! 

Other customers who are affected by this should also complain with me to the Financial Service Ombudsman in the UK. The email addresses would be below BUT THIS CUSTOMER SERVICE  comunity does not permit me to post their addresses! 

To the on line customer services representative who will no doubt send send me the cut and paste answer with unexplained ratios scores, feedback etc , you will not  deal with my complaint by doing so. Please send this to Mr Scott Thompson. I do not understand whether the conditions are several or singular in application. It would appear that n even if the Seller provided proof of postage by recorded delivery, it would appear that there are so many conditions that a 21 days hold can never be avoided because multiple conditions are imposed! 

It is fair and reasonable to transfer funds if the seller provides a tracking number since it is by no means guaranteed that the seller will provide feedback or will confirm the reciept of the goods to Paypal.

Over to you Mr Scott I am one extremely annoyed and dissatified customer and this is the first time and probably the last time I will use Paypal to receive funds!

Yours sincerely

Brian Wilkinson

[LarrytheLock]

I agree Brian, I have been using Ebay and Paypal for years and out of the blue they also put my funds on hold implying that I have done something wrong but not informing me what!!! They do not answer email contact other than occaisional standard and obscure messages sugesting a variety of reasons but no definate one leaving you in the dark! I even managed to get through on the phone once and the guy refused to tell me why I had been put on payment hold saying it was company policy!!! Some company! Thankfully I am not in business , if I was it certainly would not be through these people. I would suggest,until there is an alternative company, as I am going to do from now on, when selling ask in the ad for payment by cheque. Obviously a bit slower but at least no one is smirking at your inconvenience!!!

[LarrytheLock]

David (Moderator) ,you have just given the standard response to our enquiries about this payment hold business, how do you think we feel when you will not tell me which of those reasons applies to me!!!? It is a very cynical way to treat your customers!

[LarrytheLock]

It states somewhere that you HAVE to offer Paypal in your Ebay ad but is it not possible to ask for cheques in the actual written ad or if you are in busines put a link/phone number and take debit cards? People should fight against poor customer service and not accept it, I do!

[temp01032012z]

This is for everyone on PayPal and eBay who sell stuffs and facing payment holds.

There are many reasons for these hold. Let me explain you that PayPal is online bank and acting as 'payment processor'. Due to risk of reversal of payments i.e dispute or failed bank payments or chargebacks, it loss to PayPal if they don’t hold your payments. All buyers know that they are covered for most of the items they buy on eBay and sellers have to suffer.

There are buyer and seller protection polices available to them and I think it’s better to understand them before buying and selling.

Talking about holds for sellers, below are few reasons.

1)     If you are new seller and selling high risk items ( i.e. consumer electronics etc) you will face holds because more likely buyer could open dispute against you for non-receipt of item or item not as described.

2)     When you are new seller and have less than 100 feedbacks PayPal see you as not established seller on eBay and again the above principle applies (i.e. reversal of payments)

3)     PayPal also check the dispute rate on your account etc etc

4)     Check your DSR score on eBay. It has to be at least more than 20 etc.

There are many more reasons for these holds. I could probably give you full page list of reasons.

I would advise you to first check the seller protection policy and always send items with trackable information i.e. recorded or special delivery and you can pass the cost to your buyers.

Keep good communication with your buyers and encourage them to leave you feedback if they are happy with your stuff.

If you have positive feedback, the payment gets lifted with 24hrs.

If you have tracking ID and item is delivered over 3 days, PayPal can release the hold on your payment.

As you are a seller, you don’t want to incur any loss to your business and for the same reason PayPal don’t want from their customers.

It is for those tenured sellers on eBay who face payment holds.

First make sure that all your details on PayPal account i.e. all your financials details need to be confirmed

You must fill SMI information. i.e. you need to tell PayPal about your business activities.

Talking about written confirmation of the holds then it is there in ‘Legal agreement’ section 10.5 ‘Payment Holds’ and also check the section called ‘Decide how you would like to be paid’ when listing your item.

I hope the above information helps you and clarify your understanding about payment holds.