Thread: New PayPal Policy

Originally Posted by DaveW

.. but I'll admit I do like printing shipping labels from my sale proceeds, and buying with funds that are the product of selling other things, because they never show up "above the table" in the household finances, if you know what I mean.

You mean like you can do with any normal bank account?
Except those have much better consumer protection, a helpdesk you can actually talk with, a real address where you can go to, and a level of professionalism among all employees, for less money that what paypal fliches off you?

If paypal is better than your banks, then your banks must really suck.

I don't have these limits on my account, likely just high risk accounts (by their definition of course..) they are putting limits on.

About 5-6 weeks ago, I had another problem with eBay -- did you know that eBay limits the number of items you can list in a certain category, if you do not have a track record of positive feedback from items in that category? That was news to me! I had to contact them directly, have my account reviewed, and have the limit removed. That was a surprise!

Originally Posted by Undream

I don't have these limits on my account, likely just high risk accounts (by their definition of course..) they are putting limits on.

About 5-6 weeks ago, I had another problem with eBay -- did you know that eBay limits the number of items you can list in a certain category, if you do not have a track record of positive feedback from items in that category? That was news to me! I had to contact them directly, have my account reviewed, and have the limit removed. That was a surprise!

This was a new one to me as well. I had been unloading some stuff on my personal account which has very low feedback cause it isn't used much. I could only list 2 DVD's before I got this message and other items only 1! I guess I could have contacted them, but it's not like it was pressing for me to get rid of this stuff.

Originally Posted by fyrfyter43

Actually, funds are apparently held not only for Ebay purchases. I have funds on hold right now for a razor I sold on Saturday through the SRP classifieds.

The buyer must not be a registered SRP member (the email I received from the classifieds software didn't have a username, and the linked profile is blank). Since I use my wife's Paypal account, she has been in contact with the buyer, telling him that the razor is packaged and ready to ship as soon as the funds are released.

I've sold 2 more razors through the classifieds since then, and the funds were available immediately.

I think there are two types of holds. One is for the funds to clear, and depend on the actual process that the buyer/paypal choses to fund the transaction (instant bank transfer and e-check are processed very differently).
Then there's the other kind, where paypal has cleared the funds, but is not making them available to the seller because they consider them a high risk. In this case, you should ship the item and once it is delivered the funds will be released.


And yes, US banks suck, but just in a different way that EU banks do. To large extent what we're talking is due to different regulations compared to EU. That's how paypal was able to get the business they are in, and now people give a huge amount of control over their money to an entity that can largely do as it pleases. But it's fairly small amounts of money, so things are not likely to change soon. Unless, of course, Google or Amazon decide they actually want part of Paypal's business.

What we have in US, though, is fairly good credit card industry - by default they side with the buyer. At one point ebay/paypal tried to pull some funky stuff on me, and the only money I got back was the one that was charged to my credit card, everything that went from my paypal funds was a loss to me and I don't know between paypal and the scammer who ended up pocketing it. Lesson learned - a 'protection policy' from an intermediary who has full discretion in the decision making, as well as financial interest to not be stuck with a loss from their mistakes, is useless.

Originally Posted by gugi

I think there are two types of holds. One is for the funds to clear, and depend on the actual process that the buyer/paypal choses to fund the transaction (instant bank transfer and e-check are processed very differently).
Then there's the other kind, where paypal has cleared the funds, but is not making them available to the seller because they consider them a high risk. In this case, you should ship the item and once it is delivered the funds will be released.

I think you're right. I looked into this a bit this morning, and most things I read recommend shipping the item. However, I do not have the option of printing a shipping label through Paypal. Therefore, I would assume the hold is not because I am seen as a risky seller. Also, like I said, the payments for the other 2 razors (which sold after the one in question) cleared immediately.

The buyer has contacted Paypal, comfirming that he did purchase the razor. My wife has responded to Paypal's email asking about the transaction. But yet the funds are still being held.

I just feel bad about holding the razor. The buyer's money is tied up, my money is tied up, and Paypal is using it to bolster their profits. And neither of us has the item in question (I have it boxed up and ready to ship as soon as the payment clears).

You should just call paypal and ask them about it.

I've just started listing a couple of things on ebay and all the sales proceeds are being held for 21 days although as a buyer I have 1300 transactions and 100% feeback. It sucks but it's there show so if you want to use their site then you have to follow their rules. Apparently I need to have 25 sales and then the lock comes off. I had that but I changed my account from Australia to the US to avoid being locked out of US only auctions and that reset the sales number.

Originally Posted by gugi

You should just call paypal and ask them about it.

Shortly after you posted, I noticed that the payment cleared. Now I can mail the razor out tomorrow.

It was only a couple of days this time, but it really bugs me that Paypal holds people's money like that. Besides their anti-2nd amendment policies, this is another reason why I prefer not to use their service whenever I can avoid it.

Originally Posted by gugi

What we have in US, though, is fairly good credit card industry - by default they side with the buyer. At one point ebay/paypal tried to pull some funky stuff on me, and the only money I got back was the one that was charged to my credit card, everything that went from my paypal funds was a loss to me and I don't know between paypal and the scammer who ended up pocketing it. Lesson learned - a 'protection policy' from an intermediary who has full discretion in the decision making, as well as financial interest to not be stuck with a loss from their mistakes, is useless.

Thats why paypal always tries to pressure you when you make a straight CC payment, and I'm sure its why they dont let you make a credit card payment if there are funds in your account to cover the purchase.

Paypal is a bunch of rotten thieves who will steal your money and tell you they were justified in doing so.

After all the dicking around with random holds, etc, and putting up with it, they finally went too far yesterday - they reversed a transaction that had already completed and debited the money from my checking account. Today I called them, providing an email from the buyer stating that the transaction had completed to his satisfaction (the buyer never opened a dispute in the first place, Paypal took it upon themselves to reverse the transaction on his behalf for no reason whatsoever). This is all after Paypal had already put those funds on hold and told me not to ship until they investigated - they then completed their investigation and emailed me a "go ahead" for the transaction. I shipped the item, the buyer got it and was happy and then Paypal took the money back.
When I spoke to them, they said I don't qualify for buyer protection, and I am pretty much SOL on the deal.

So... Google Checkout has a new customer.