Funds in hold for an item that was collected in person

[Jadie_p1]

Hello,

So I sold my laptop on eBay for £550 , thinking that I could have access to my funds straight away to get a new one (unaware of this 21 day hold on PayPal money). The person paid via PayPal straight away on eBay and then collected it the next day in person. So of course, I cannot add a tracking number. (which I hear speeds up the process) They did however leave positive feedback on their end through eBay and on my end I have marked the item as processed on PayPal and as shipped on eBay. 

This 21 day hold I still unfair for several reasons:

• PayPal is making profit from having money that does not belong to them. Each day they have the money, they receive interest 
• Sellers may be relying on that money. I am now out of pocket for the sum £550 which was going to be used for a new laptop and to pay my bills. I'll now have to attend university with no laptop at all until funds are released (whenever that is as there is no approximate time as I cannot upload a tracking number)
• Buyers are in full control- if they have the item, they can dispute the transaction, reverse it or want a refund. I don't have the money or the product so potentially they can keep both! What about seller protection? 

What can can I do about this? There is no way I can wait nearly a month for my money, when rent is due in less then 2 weeks! I cannot upload tracking as the person collected it in person and PayPal obviously get complaints about customers money being on hold a lot as there is no direct email address and when I've called, it has an automated system that reaffirms the policy. I have tried the agent thing too, but put on hold for a long time!

Can a representative please tell me how long I will have to wait? I do not think I will sell via PayPal again after this.

[manofdogs]

Same problem.  I've sold plenty on eBay over the years, never had a dispute, always get excellent feedback and now I am expected to release an item with the funds being uncleared. I have never had this uncleared funds business and I have no idea why it applies. For all I know it might be the buyer who has a problem since he is listed as non-US verified (both buyer and seller are UK based so i don't know why that should be an issue).  All 'Buyer protection' and no seller protection.  What happens if the buyer is a scammer and says he never got the item?  Can't see that I'll be using Ebay again frankly.

[kernowlass]

@manofdogs

Every single paypal account holder that does not live in the United States are ' non-US verified' in other words we are not in the U.S but are verified.

However are the funds actually showing in your paypal balance but pending? If so it sounds like the new seller hold, BUT it applies for other reasons as well, have a scan of the below list and see if any 'may' apply to you?

Reasons why you may have returned to the hold as per link above possibly are >>>

1. New seller.
2. Not sold for a while and returned to selling.
3. Dipped star ratings on ebay.
4. Recent buyer disputes.
5. Selling on a different email address or ebay i.d.
6. Suddenly selling a high cost item against normal selling history?

If none of those apply it may be worth contacting Ebay to ask why they have applied the hold?

If you're contacting from the UK, you can get in touch with eBay at 0845 355 3229. Alternatively, you can get in touch with them through social media, either via Twitter (https://twitter.com/AskeBay) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/eBay.co.uk).

HOWEVER if the funds are SHOWING in your balance but pending then a buyer can only get the money back if they file a paypal dispute, but that is the same as if you had withdrawn your funds in to your bank account and the buyer opened a dispute. In that situation paypal would put your account into negative (if they found in the buyers favour) until you paid them back again.

If you send trackable then normally funds are released when tracking shows the item as delivered + 3 days.

Good luck.

[manofdogs]

Thanks for your input Kudos but the problem here is that no explanation is made. I'm a 100% eBayer as is my buyer. This has never happened before and now it has there is no explanation. I should get an explanatory note from eBay or Paypal but no - I just get told a payment has been made. Only when I check my account do I see the payment is 'on hold'. No clarification as to why or what the implications are, just a long list of possible reasons - none of which apply to my situation.  

I call Paypal and they say there is no problem at my end but there is a problem with the funds from my buyer. This makes no sense because the transaction is classed as 'completed'. They ask me to get the buyer to contact Paypal.

So my buyer contacts Paypal only to be told that the transaction has gone through and the holding back of funds is a problem at MY end.

This is a joke - I simply want confirmed funds and the transaction sorted, but eBay and Paypal between them manage to complicate everything.

So I make a refund in order to process the sale directly with the seller and of course lose a transaction fee for the privilege!  As the owner of a web design company, I have been recommending my clients look at Stripe rather than Paypal because it is less expensive. Now there is the added benefit that they don't **bleep** you for transaction fees when they mess up.

[manofdogs]

by the way, the EBAY phone number given is no longer in operation

[kernowlass]

@manofdogs

Thanks for that, is this the new one?  0345 355 3229