Its to do with buyer protection. If a buyer does not receive their item or it was misdescribed etc and the seller refuses a refund then paypal have to refund the buyer and go after the seller to try and get reimbursed. So as a business to protect themselves from loads of refunds they put a hold on new sellers until they have a proven good selling record. Payments as a new seller are held for 21 days UNLESS when you send an item the buyer leaves feedback OR if you send the item trackable and that item shows as delivered + 3 days then email paypal and they will release the funds sooner. Payment holds occur because: You have been selling on eBay for less than 90 days You have an eBay feedback score fewer than 100 and have not yet established a record of good performance You have received fewer than 20 Detatiled Seller Ratings on eBay in the last 12 months or your eBay seller performance is below standard You have a high rate of customer disputes or a low eBay feedback percentage You have been a PayPal member for less than 6 months and have limited selling activity You have a sudden change in selling activities (e.g. suddenly selling expensive items, selling large numbers of items, etc.) You happen to be selling in a high risk category such as tickets, travel, gift vouchers, computers, electronics, mobile phones, etc. Depending on the circumstances, paypal may set aside payments for a single transaction or for all payments to sellers who meet the criteria above.
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