Pay "Goods and Services" OUTSIDE of eBay

[dburns2]

As the title says, I'm trying to buy something from someone on Facebook Marketplace. I'm trying to pay them using a Goods payment but if I'm paying for an item outside of eBay? Will my money go through right away or will there be a delay in the seller getting the payment? Is there a way I can make sure that it is not sent, the seller will NOT get the money? I've seen some places where it might take 20 days but I am unsure on that.

[sharpiemarker]

@dburns2 

eBay institutes the 21 day hold based on seller's eBay account history and behavior, it's not a given, no one can predict whether funds will be held or not. If you paid outside of eBay, then similarly PayPal may institute this 21 day hold also based on the seller's PayPal account history and behavior and it is also not a given.

This is generally why there is a hold:

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

Either way, if you sent a goods and services payment, you have 180 days to file a dispute if there is a problem, barring you having to wait 7 days to open a dispute so to give time for the seller to process your order.

Note that sellers sometimes give the 21 day hold as an excuse to hold shipment until PayPal or eBay releases funds if you haven't receive a shipping tracking number or notice that your order has shipped. They're not supposed to but it's a symptom of this policy. And that's when you may have to file a dispute for Item Not Received to try to get your money back if the seller is afraid of this 21 day hold, which they shouldn't be if they are confident in their service and order processing and do what they are supposed to do to make the transaction as pleasant as possible.

You can't block the seller's payment after you complete payment because it is a PayPal or eBay hold. You have no control over that, except maybe when delivery is confirmed and the seller asks you to confirm receipt on your end but you'll have to relinquish rights to file a dispute if you confirm receipt on the payment so you have to make sure you're satisfied with your order before you confirm. If you don't confirm, the seller has to wait the full 21 days for PayPal or eBay to release the funds. That is if the goods were delivered to you within the 21 days of course.