The short and brief answer to the many questions which have arisen in regards to the latest implementation of payment protocal is as quoted:
In a small percentage of cases where it has been determined the risk of dissatisfied buyers is higher, PayPal may delay release of the payment funds to the seller until the buyer has left a positive feedback or 21 days have passed without a dispute, claim, chargeback or reversal filed on that transaction.
The FAQs state that PayPal considers a number of factors in determining a whether a transaction may have a higher risk of dissatisfied buyers, including the following:
Positive Feedback in the last 30 days
Seller's Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 30 days
Final price for the item
Shipping & handling fee
Seller's eBay tenure as an eBay member
Seller's total number of Feedback
PayPal will release the hold when the earliest of the following occurs: the buyer leaves positive feedback; 3 days after confirmed item delivery; or 21 days without a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal filed on that transaction. (PayPal said if a buyer leaves a negative feedback but does not initiate a dispute, PayPal would release the funds to the seller after 21 days.
Unfortunately this policy which is not new is beginning to spring upon unwary paypal account holders who for the most part have operated with integrity and honesty for many years. Who can say which of the listed qualifiers the penalized paypal account holder is being held beneath the undue burden of a 21-day hold. In fact, I as the author of this short and informative post, has been both a buyer and a seller on ebay for the past 10 years and currently hold a 100% buyer and seller feedback rating. While the amount of feedback I carry, only 78, may not seem impressive to many who operate in the hundreds if not thousands, it is a number that I have worked on with great effort and care.
I have always paid for the items I have purchased quickly and without guile and in like fashion anyone that has ever purchased from me I have ensured prompt communication, fast shipping, above par packaging and the fulfillment of satisfaction from the item they have purchased. The 100% feedback which I have worked on has become a badge of honor as also many of you can identify with. I have earned the right to be trusted and I am aware that the 100% feedback is also a peace-of-mind for the buyer that is bidding/winning on my items.
Suddenly and without warning the paypal accountholder is tacked with what I can only label as a "seller penalty." In return for the many years of respectable business, steady flow of paypal transactions fees and positive business many are thrust upon by this 21 day hold. In the most despicable terms we must realize that paypal has in fact offerred protection above and beyond the buyer protection to the buyer instead of protecting the seller. Now the seller is at the mercy of the buyer. Unlike EVERY transaction that exists on the internet in which the item is NEVER delivered without payment first we are now demanded to send an item without any monies in return and then begin the process of waiting on numerous events to occur, most hinging upon the buyer, before we receive the monies which should have been delivered the moment instant payment occurred.
I have noticed that while ours has been placed in PENDING status that PAYPAL of course immediately takes their transaction fee from what you have in pending.
Give it time and there will come a time in which paypal will find competition knocking on its door which will offer better services and a more reliable base of accountholder protection and appreciation. I will surely be one open that door!
