Okay, my mom's friend is a newbie both to Ebay and Paypal; I'm posting on her behalf, since she's older and not really savvy to messageboards. She's been selling for about 2 months on Ebay. She mainly sells homemade trinkets and re-sells things she's purchased over the years from yard sales and flea markets. Her Paypal account is Verified.
Well, a few days ago, Paypal evidently seized the entire balance of her account and she can no longer send or receive payments. When she contacted Paypal by phone, they informed her that she needs to fulfill 5 things...verifying her email, location, SSN, bank account and provide receipts for her initial purchase of the items she was selling. She has the first 4 down, but has hit a roadblock with the last one. Exactly how does paypal expect her to provide purchase receipts for things she makes from supplies she's had around the house for years, or things purchased at yard sales?
I have been on Paypal/selling stuff I no longer want on Ebay for almost 10 years and never had a problem with any money being seized or held, other than people who paid with Echecks. I can only assume the reason she's having trouble is because she relists a lot of duplicate homemade items and uses the same picture/description each time; maybe given her newbie status, that set off a warning for Ebay, or something. She isn't making an absurd amount of profit (generally $1-$10 per item) or anything and no one as given her negative feedback or opened a case against her, but thanks to PayPal, she's now being locked out of a fairly nice accumulated balance.
So, what can she do?
