What does 'Pending Balance' mean?

[Corey]

On my main page it says I have so much available, but a lot more is in pending balance, I click on that, and it doesn't tell me what 'pending balance' means. Can someone explain to me what that means?

[HyperPromoter]

PayPal should not be withholding access to our funds. When a buyer sends a payment, it's their perception that the seller has the money immediately.

If a potential customer isn't comfortable with a seller then they shouldn't buy from them. That's why the feedback system exists, to show who can be trusted, not to be a method for verifying a purchase has been delivered. We already pay fees to UPS, Fedex, etc. for delivery confirmation.

PayPal isn't holding the funds to protect the buyer. They're doing it to protect themselves. I just recently had one package in a multi-package shipment get lost in the mail. While I was sorting it out the buyer submitted an action with PayPal. I had already withdrew the funds so PayPal put my account in a negative balance for the amount of the entire transaction even though the customer indicated all but one item had arrived. This shows PayPal is definitely on the side of the buyer and that they'll debit the seller as soon as a problem is reported. It's then the seller's responsibility to prove the order has been fulfilled.

If these policies are a result of rampant fraud then they should require security deposits on new accounts or something instead of attacking those of us who've proven ourselves trustworthy. Unfortunately we're the low hanging fruit because PayPal knows we'll always make good on our transactions.

As was stated in another post, PayPal is not a bank or an escrow service. However, here's a bit of trivia, PayPal did start out as an online bank. The company name was X.com and I had a checking account with them as one of the very first customers. They still have the very cool x.com domain which they use for their developer network.

It's time to give Google payments a try or re-open my merchant account with Authorize.net.

[Ted_Mawson]

I just sold my first item on eBay.  I've bought $1000s of stuff using my PayPal account over the past several years but never sold until now.  I used eBay shipping option (worked OK except that I had to cancel first attempt due to a known printing problem using the Google Chrome browser; it worked on the 2nd attempt using MS IE but I'm still waiting to be refunded the first set of shipping costs).

The buyer paid PayPal by echeck (seemed weird) and I waited 3 days until the PayPal system said it was OK to ship. The item was received by the buyer on Feb 1 but, so far, he never left feedback and my account sat as Pending until I called them today.

The (as of Feb 7th) description of the Pending Payment status is that sellers have to wait until the buyer either receives the item OR leaves feedback (positive I assume).  Clearly I had met that requirement because I used eBay shipping and the eBay record showed the tracking number and clicking that number indicated the item was received by the buyer.

After a lot of strained conversation with the PayPal rep who kept on saying that I had not shipped the item, I manged to get her to understand that YES I HAVE SHIPPED THE ITEM, BECAUSE HOW ELSE WOULD THE TRACKING NUMBER SHOW THAT IT WAS DELIVERED????

At the end of that phone call, the pending funds were released.

The rep told me that "there was a bug in the PayPal system" and that it should have released the pending status once the tracking system showed the item was delivered.

[1t2golf]

Does Paypal automatically track the delivery status via the tracking number, or do you have to call to get your funds released? I have funds pending for an eBay transaction which is linked to a UPS tracking number. The item was delivered on 2/16 confirmed by the tracking number. My funds are still pending. Will my funds automatically become available within a few days or will I still have to wait 21 days if I don't call them? Thanks for a response.

[Solidus]

you have to wait 24hrs after the delivery has been confirmed and positive feedback has been from the buyer. its a tedious process, paypal has us all by the balls and they aren't letting go because they're making tons of money off of our money. I was the second person to respond on this topic and i look at how many replies from people that were in the same position i was in and i can only shake my head. Words of wisdom "Be Strong!" hopefully we can fight against this mess paypal has put us all in.

[1t2golf]

Why would you need both delivery confirmation and positive feedback? Shouldn't it be either delivery has been confirmed or positive feedback received since positive feedback received, obviously means the package has been delivered.

[amato-ink]

hi, im a newbie and a lil freaked out by hearing paypal holding your earnings.  a friend of mine recommended using paypal to sell my art/crafts, stating that this place is great... not so much from what i hear.  so basically, i should just cancel my account before i sell anything, yes?  i understand the frustration you all feel.  i came here to make sales, not wait months on end to get paid.

[AUTigersGrad]

As a buyer, I like this poilicy.  It forces the seller to be accountable to (a) shipping time frames, if they want their money, they will ship it quicker... and (b) to tracking... accountablity through tracking is good for both parties.  Unfortunately, it does delay the payment to their account but overall, i find this method of buyer protection leaps and bounds above the previous method.  Also, for scammers, it adds an extra checkpoint to stop them from stealing the funds.

[dlessor1]

I have had a pending balance now for 14 days.  The buyer canceled their EBAY account and now im stuck in pending balance limbo forever.  UPS reports that it was delivered. wtf am i supposed to do now...?

[razz]

ok, here is something that all of us here who have money in pending might just find very shocking . I see that there are two things that are needed in getting the money realeased. Well when i went to ebay to contact them on this problem with getting positive feedback i igured i could get them to send a message to the buyer about leaving me some pos. feedback so i can get my money faster. Well guess what i found?  This B.S. right here:

Here's some information about: When your trading partner doesn't leave Feedback

Some members choose not to leave Feedback or forget to leave Feedback, even when the transaction has been hassle-free. However, most members understand how important Feedback is for the eBay community. 

Although members aren't required to leave Feedback, you can email the member and ask them to leave Feedback for you.

Thats right they dont have to leave any feedback at all. Now thats some B.S.! That means in every sells it is gonna be a 21 day wait. I cant believe that ebay has this crap on their site when they know that paypal wont pay us til some kind of feedback has been done. I am so confused on even tring to sell on ebay anymore. It just doesnt make sense