Money on hold annoyance!

[TSpencer1]

So I am not SELLING on ebay, don't have tracking, etc. I offered PayPal to people that want to buy one of the six puppies we are rehoming. The first one was fine and no charges were applied. The second and third I have been charged and the money put on hold unless I can provide a tracking number and/or confirmation of delivery. I will NOT be using PayPal for this in future - I cannot believe they charge so much! And getting the money is now so very difficult where it needn't be. Feels like a scam to me.

[kernowlass]

@TSpencer1 

You are a seller (not sure what ebay has to do with anything) so if you sell goods OR services and use paypal as your payment processor then you pay them for their services.

Fees are in paypals user agreement for you to see upfront what you are charged.

If you were not charged the first time then it means the sender used the friends/family option to pay instead of rightly using the goods/services option. 

They should not have done that as its against paypal rules to send or accept that sort of payment for selling and can get your account restricted as you are negating paying paypal the fees to use their service.

The hold is for all new sellers and more info if you want it in this link >>>

https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/article/why-is-my-payment-on-hold-or-unavailable-faq1987

With payments received for tangible goods Paypal would request valid tracking information confirming the item has been delivered to the buyer. As they can validate the tracking information online, once it is delivered they can release the funds. IF you have received the funds for a service / virtual or digital sale OR no tracking number is applicable Paypal would be unable to release the funds any sooner than 21 days.

HOWEVER if you mark the transaction as processed then the buyer may have the option on their account to mark the transaction as delivery/satisfied. If the buyer confirms this by clicking on the "Confirm Receipt" button, the funds may be released to you sooner ie 7 days after the buyer verifies receipt. This is not always available or guaranteed. 
If not then sadly its 21 days.

[TSpencer1]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't get given an option as to whether or not I was "selling something" or "friends and family" - that is entirely on the buyer! So why would MY account be restricted? And what if - in two of these instances, these people ARE my friends.? One thing is for sure - I have learnt a valuable (and costly) lesson and won't be doing this again. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[kernowlass]

@TSpencer1 

If you receive a payment via friends/family then you do not pay any fee and the payment email does not contain an address (as you would not be sending anything) so you would know its a friends/family payment and would need to refund it and request the buyer sends it correctly.

However its always best to protect yourself by sending a money request or invoice fully describing what the buyer is paying for and that way its always a goods/services payment.

If they are your real friends but are still paying you for the puppy then you would still be selling and so pay a fee and be subject to the hold.

The only time its a genuine friends/family payment is when someone is sending you a gift of money and getting nothing in return ie a birthday gift of money etc.

And your welcome to the advice, paypal is tricky when you start out, but you can always post on here for help.

What breed of puppy?

[TSpencer1]

You see this is where you have made an assumption. I didn't send out any invoices, requests for payments or anything else, merely provided my email address and asked if they would prefer to transfer to my bank or PayPal me... I am not a business, a dog breeder or ebay seller and don't plan to send our much loved puppies via Parcelforce. Under the rules in the UK everyone is allowed to sell a litter or cats or dogs once a year without being a business. Obviously PayPal rules don't cover everything.! And again I thank you for taking the time to reply.

[kernowlass]

@TSpencer1 

I didn't make an assumption, I advised you to always send out invoices or money requests INSTEAD of accepting payments from the buyers so that they cannot send you friends/family payments and so you can protect yourself in the event of a chargeback for item not as described etc.

I am merely trying to explain how paypal works but you seem to be not understanding what I am trying to tell you.

Never mind, hope you get your cash soon.