Paypal's reserve is thievery

[glensideshirts]

I just got off the phone with paypal after noticing my 'reserve' funds have been at $430 for a while.  After browsing help, I really didn't find out how or why my money was being held.  Speaking with customer service really didn't help clear up the 'why' but I did find out that they are holding 10% of my receipts (including shipping charges) for 60 days.  The only reason given was that this is a protection against a buyer opening a claim requesting a refund.  Customer service told me accounts are reviewed every 30 days.  I have been an ebay bronze level powerseller for at least five years and have NEVER had a buyer open a case against me.  Never!  I have issued a handful of refunds over the five years to buyers who have changed their minds.  Never more than $20.  Every now and then, I will issue a partial refund of a few dollars for buyers who selected the wrong shipping method, thus paying too much.  I have NEVER been in a negative balance; always using my paypal balance to issue those small refunds.  There is absolutely no justifiable reason for paypal to be holding 10% of my money for 60 days.

Better yet, when I asked for my account to be reviewed because there seemed to be no justifiable reason for the reserve, I was told it's done by the computer and a person can't do it.  

What do I do?  I am basically caught up within the paypal/ebay monopoly.  Why doesn't ebay accept google checkout?  I guess I just have to live without my $430 for 60 days while paypal makes money on my money.    I guess it is the cost of doing business with the monopoly.  Infuriating since I really need that $400 of MY money!

[jay2you]

YOUR RIGHT ITS A LOAD OF CRAPOLA! THEY SAY ITS IN CASE OF CHARGEBACKS.  DO THEY REALLY NEED TO HOLD THAT MUCH FROM ALL OF US! IF THEY THOUGHT THAT MANY CHARGEBACKS MIGHT  HAPPEN THEY ARE NUTS.  I TOO HAVE NEVER HAD A CHARGEBACK BUT HAVE GIVEN A FEW REFUNDS AND MOSTLY FOR SHIPPING COSTS.  TRY CALLING THEM ON THE PHONE AND ASKING OH THATS REAL FUN! WHEN YOUR DONE ALL THATS BEEN DONE IS NOW YOU FEEL LIKE EATING THE BARREL OF A GUN BECAUSE YOUR SO MAD.

I KNOW HOW YOU ALL FEEL THIS STINKS OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!

[Mellon]

Paypal is taking 20% of my individual sales and holding it for 90 days.  My reserves are higher than my available balance now because I don't make more than 20% on most sales.  So now my business is unable to make some purchases.   I've been with them since 2006 and only had two customers attempt to commit fraud by saying they never received the service from me and I won both cases.  They also put a 3000 limit on my daily spending which cripples my ability to make the occasional 5000 purchase.

I've called about both of these issues and they absolutely will not budge

[cmesoftware]

This is happening to us too,  they are holding $3000 of our money as ransom!  We are very upset and truly ready to open a class action suit!

[touroneinc]

i'll join you

[cmesoftware]

I emailed the lawyer who sued them, and won, before.  As far as I understand they were doing similar business unfair business practices and settled out of court.  I haven't heard any response yet, but I will let you know once I know anything.

[ts56]

Let me Know

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@cmesoftware wrote:

This is happening to us too,  they are holding $3000 of our money as ransom!  We are very upset and truly ready to open a class action suit!

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[ts56]

How can they do this and who determine the % and the length of time??

[cmesoftware]

This is happening to us too, they are holding $3000 of our money as ransom!  We are very upset and truly ready to open a class action suit!

[WigWamCrafts13]

WTF!!! PayPal is AGAIN claiming that they intend to hold 30% of all of my daily sales for 90 days with out a VALID reason. This is the second month in row that they have done this. I am NOT using their virtual terminal. And I refuse to continue to play their games. So if any one wishes to make a purchase from me, ...contact me via email at (removed) or call me at (removed).