HORRIBLE IDEA TO HOLD FUNDS FOR 21 DAYS!!!

[gearhed78]

  Holding funds from sellers until the buyer leaves feedback is the worst idea EVER! Since when does Paypal become an authority on buyer satisfaction?? A smooth transaction is all that I wanted from Paypal. If they are going to hold funds, then they should make it very clear BEFORE you use them!  Keeping my money in their account for 21 days is a HUGE disadvantage of using Paypal. Stick to transferring funds,not trying to be a satisfaction authority!

[lingo]

Hello...Could you please explain your post it would make it easier to understand. In one place you say you are not going to give the item and then toward the end you say you lost the item to the buyer. Thanks

[why_me]

You are right.  eBay has cut me back to 5 items , I can sell a week , becouse of 3 bad feed backs to me.

PayPal hold my money of 21 days . Why 21 days ? I only takes 2 to 3 days to ckeck on tracking shipment.(Priority Mail)

What next ? Maybe 30 days.

We can't stop them.

Boycart

[tbone0106]

I recently came into possession of a model train collection from an estate. I want to get rid of most of this stuff and since I've had an Ebay account for eleven years, I figure it's the ideal way to reach the largest pool of potential buyers. I'm not happy with some of the price hikes at Ebay, but what the heck...

But then PayPal decides that, out of the 13 paid sales I've made in the past couple of weeks, they're going to "hold" one -- the ONLY one that was for an amount over $100 (What a coincidence!). They're going to hold the money "for my own good," or some such crap. And it so happens that the party to whom it was sold splits his time between British Columbia and Arizona -- you guessed it, I shipped AT HIS DIRECTION to AZ and they just left AZ for BC. The package has been delivered -- I can show that via USPS delivery confirmation -- but the buyer (understandably) is waiting to leave feedback until he sees the merchandise. (I would too.)

There have been no complaints. I have left good feedback for the buyer. The merchandise was delivered a week ago, according to the post office. But I don't have my money. To add injury to insult, PayPal nicked me for a full percent extra on the transaction because the buyer's credit card was issued in Canada, a fact I could not possibly have known in advance.

SELLERS BEWARE!!!!!! If your buyer uses a credit card issued anywhere outside the US, PayPal will nail you for 3.9% plus $.30, a full percent higher than the domestic rate, NO MATTER WHERE THE ITEM IS SHIPPED, NO MATTER HOW THE BUYER REPRESENTS HIS LOCATION, NO MATTER WHAT.

The 21-day hold that PayPal has put into place is this: a money-making device for PayPal, nothing more, nothing less. NO ONE benefits from this policy, regardless of PayPal's claims, except PayPal. Anyone who has ever been through Econ0101 at any college in the land understands how financial institutions make their money -- it's all about the margins. The more margin you can claim, the more money you make. If PayPal can dream up a way to keep MY money for three weeks -- at no cost whatsoever to PayPal -- and invest it in the way all banks do, then PayPal can combine MY money with that of other folks and make a chunk of change in the way of interest. 

I am seriously considering eliminating PayPal as even an option for my sales. Their fees are rather heavy in the first place, considering that their risk is so low. And arbitrary policies like the "hold" are purest BS, cheap money grabs.

What say you?

[surplusdealdude]

NO ONE benefits from this policy, regardless of PayPal's claims, except PayPal.

Nonsense.

Paypal was able to expand the coverage from 3 xountries to the entire world because of this hold policy - all the sellers benefitted tremendously from that.

And having funds held for 3 weeks in high-scam areas really puts a kink in the colon of scammers - they just don't bother anymore.  The resul;t is a safer environment for buyers and that translates into more sales for sellers.

You really should have thought this through a bit more.

[surplusdealdude]

Oh, and if you eliminate Paypal, you have to have another form of merchant banking or you can't sell on ebay.

You'll find the merchant banking rules are more draconian than Paypal's and the fees are higher as well.

[tbone0106]

What I had in mind was allowing -- insisting on --payment via the traditional methods -- checks, money orders, etc. The sort of thing folks have gotten away from. Get this: if you're willing to wait a bit -- say, a week or so -- you get your money and pay NOTHING to PayPal or any other provider. 

Looking at the subject transaction, I've already "waited a week or so" and I'm out the merchandise and the shipping and I've still got two weeks to wait for my money. And for all of THOSE privileges, I pay 3.9% plus $.30. What a deal!

PayPal is cute and sweet, but it ain't cheap. And I don't like what PayPal does with MY money.

[sandypurins]

---

@tbone0106 wrote:

What I had in mind was allowing -- insisting on --payment via the traditional methods -- checks, money orders, etc.

---

For most eBay categories, the eBay seller is restricted to advertising one or more of the following payment methods... PayPal, Paymate, ProPay, Moneybookers or merchant account credit/debit card payments.

For most eBay categories, the seller is not permitted to ask for check or money order payments.

The eBay Accepted Payments Policy has all the details... here's the link to the policy...

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html

[surplusdealdude]

What I had in mind was allowing -- insisting on --payment via the traditional methods -- checks, money orders, etc.

Sorry, you're not allowed to insist.

If the buyer suggests it, you can accept other means of payment, but they're not guaranteed, either.  Money orders can be faked.

And you're going to see a drastic drop in sales if you try it - the buyers LIKE Paypal.

[tbone0106]

OK, let's see here. I AM a seller who you claim has benefited "tremendously" from the PayPal "hold" policy. I don't see it. It's just another example of how the non-scammers are forced to pay for the activities of a very few.

And who appointed PayPal as arbiter anyway? Who said PayPal ought to take care of this problem?

Having my funds "sat on" for three weeks doesn't improve the lot of a single entity on the face of the earth... except PayPal. Had you taken the time to read carefully, you'd have learned that PayPal CHERRY-PICKED the only transaction out of thirteen that totaled over $100. 

My buyer has his merchandise. He paid for it, in full, a week ago. The merchandise is now out of my hands, and I'm out the cost of shipping. For the next couple of weeks, PAYPAL will be sitting in the 'catbird seat,' wouldn't you agree?

If my buyer somehow gets wind of the fact that my money is being held by PayPal... well, I don't want to go there. Do you?

And you're absolutely right, almost. ONE of us should have thought this through a little more.

I am still leaning toward eliminating PayPal altogether as a payment option for my sales. Too much cost, too much bull**bleep**.

[surplusdealdude]

It's just another example of how the non-scammers are forced to pay for the activities of a very few.

Oh, I agree with that completely.

However, scammers are a fact of life.  If you have some way to get rid of them that works, I'm sure paypal and ebay would be all ears - this hold business can't be cheap to run.

BTW, I'm a seller, too.

And who appointed PayPal as arbiter anyway? Who said PayPal ought to take care of this problem?

ebay.

Had you taken the time to read carefully, you'd have learned that PayPal CHERRY-PICKED the only transaction out of thirteen that totaled over $100.

I did read "carefully".

Scammers don't bother with small amounts - no scammer is going to bother with $30 or so.  Obviously, the $100 is a threshold where paypal finds that scammers will get interested.  They do have facts and figures that we don't have access to, you know.

For the next couple of weeks, PAYPAL will be sitting in the 'catbird seat,' wouldn't you agree?

Well, you can do it that way if you want, but there's no need to.  If you have proof of delivery, put it in the spot in your paypal account that's designed for it ( it'll be in the same line where the payment was made), advise that the item has been delivered, and Paypal will release the funds in 3-4 days.

If my buyer somehow gets wind of the fact that my money is being held by PayPal... well, I don't want to go there. Do you?

I don't know about your buyers, but MINE are honest.  I've had parcels go missing and the buyer informed me just before I was going to replace it at my cost ( a $500 order) that his neighbour came over and delivered it.  He could have got the extra shipment with no problem - I was all ready to ship it.  But he decided to be honest.

The boards where I consult on are full of these stories.