Paypal Withholding Funds to eBay Sellers for Up to 21 Days!  
by Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. - 70 Comments, Last updated 05/12/2012

70 Comments - Newest First »

1. I have now in last four months have gone through the 21 day hold, and during christmas time caused them to hold one day start to hold what was in my account and at time was 800.00 and so they found the last 20-40 transactions that would equal this and said they were holding these funds, and so first day or two forced all debit card transactions that should have pulled from my paypal funds but now since held forced to my backup checking account, and during holidays and with no warning, first day or two I was hit with drastic overdraft fees, causes not only did it causes me to overdraw my account at personal bank, but they send not one large withdrawal but dozen small ones each night and everyone one caused a $25 fee once account became overdrawn and the next night same thing so by time I could move funds around and try to block paypal from pulling out of backup source I was over $250 in fees in two days. Now buyers are more upset lowering my ratings cause to pay for postage and also inventory to sell was now behind causes for eBay to hold funds longer till better ratings. So called PayPal and they started had 6 cases recently on ebay but most were communication, those that had a lost package i always refunded quickly since have insurance on it. But rep said also could be new seller also, and been member since 2002, and sold in last 12 months about $40,000 through PayPal/eBay. This is only start of what now is more, so filed complaint about how they held all funds in account for 21 days even if money was funded form my own account, and filed with CA Banking division consumer affairs and PayPal sent response to my complaint and so I sent in my response to there reasons they stated, and so this part of government agency could not help anymore. So now have a Unauthorized Charge Claim on a large sale, and so hold $400 till resolve it, and sent in my postage shipping information in 3 days, and was not covered by the seller protection program they advertise due to never shows it was delivered, but since this is a Unauthorizes Charge claim, and not a NON Receipt claim I met the requirements in User Agreement, so now I am in process of arbitration with PayPal. But one last issues that have come up, I since funds being held issue have opened a BillMeLater line of credit which is part of this whole PayPal eBay company, so would not have issue of debit card funds not available if they deceived to hold again. So oddly my payment of $200 to line of credit this month did not show a payment on account, but yet they have cashed and the payment check to BIllMeLater has processed through my bank account, and so now they are researching the missed credit for payment. Also have noticed if I get refund from a purchase or something to my paypal account they are holding these and it states funds be available when investigation done. The refunds are about $20 for shipping cost a vendor is crediting me back for late shipments, and now these are being investigated, and what possibly could they do next will see. I have cut back 60% of items selling on eBay, but now other similar platform out there for this, and so have to deal with this monopoly they have me in.

   Comment by Christopher Burniche — 5/12/2012 @ 5:09 am

2. Long time Ebay user here. Been on Ebay since 1999. Always 100% feedback. Not a power seller, but I have excellent customer service and stand behind products that I sell. Just recently sold an item and suddenly was introduced to this 21 day hold policy. I lost the sale due to my customer not wanting to wait untill the funds cleared. Of course there is no way im going to ship an item that im not paid for yet. Thats insanity! Ebay stated that im below seller standards due to my shipping practices. Aperantly we are supposed to ship through them now and provide tracking numbers and such. Ive always done this outside of Ebay through my home business. Never had a problem untill now. Spoke with Ebay pleading my case that hows can they pull this crap on a long time seller with a great reputation? Since I didnt get the answers I wanted I complained my way up to a supervisor. Finally after getting the run around and becoming very frustrated Ive decide to close my account which of course they were unwilling to help me with. I complained more untill now they finally stated they will have a manager call me. Ill be sitting by the phone waiting for that call. Im done here. Im taking my business else where. Big business needs to understand how they got big in the first place. When you bite the hand that feeds you it eventually bites back. We the buyers and sellers have the power. We must join together to change things. They cant get away with this. I would never be in business if I pulled these shinangians on my customers.

   Extreamly Irate!

   Comment by Wheres an attorney? — 5/9/2012 @ 6:56 am

3. This started in 2008, as early as June. Thays when I stopped selling on Ebay. Feedback of 6000, sales of about 90 items a month. More at Christmas.

   Comment by madmike007 — 5/7/2012 @ 3:37 pm

4. I was withheld some funds for a week or so, and the thought of having it withheld for 21 days horrified me. I now opt to sell my items on craigslist. It actually works on high-demand items.

   Comment by Just Me — 5/7/2012 @ 3:13 pm

5. This has not been happening universally across the board, I think it happened to me last year but not lately. You can call paypal during the day and keep trying until you can get someone in the US, at that point someone will be able to advise you about this. Same goes for ebay. I believe that is how I resolved my issue, with the help of a customer service rep. . Your problems can be escalated higher, but once again you have to speak to someone in the US. You have to request a MANAGER not s supervisor. Lastly, there are problems enough without idiots out there making stuff up about paypal retaliating because you “make a stink”. The people who work the phones couldn’t care less about you or your life or your account, But they WILL try to help as best they can. If all else fails you can open another personal bank account, use another email address, set up new paypal or ebay accounts and then continue. I’ve had to do that a few times.

   Comment by Greg — 4/30/2012 @ 7:34 pm

6. I marked “shipped” on both eBay and Paypal on 12/April/2012, according to Paypal I should get my money within 7 days, however today is 30 April 2012 and I am still waiting for the funds to be release. My buyer has already left a positive feedback. I sent Paypal a few emails, everytime the response is the same, you guessed “marked shipped and you will get your money in 7 days. And they also told me a “positive feedback” is not a requirement for Paypal to release money. I ask the question both me and the buyer are happy with the transaction and the buyer has got the goods, why do you Paypal is still not releasing my money, they just ignore my question. I hope someone would do something to teach Paypal a lesson. I hope there will be a new systme like Paypal and I will definitely close my Paypal account.

   Comment by ana — 4/29/2012 @ 4:28 pm

7. Speaking only as a buyer whose “spending limit” has been reached, I can only sympathize; but I do have a suggestion for sellers who are obliged for one reason or another to continue with payPal/eBay. Did you know that buyers have no clue that the mothership is doing this to you? I think it might help–a tiny bit–if your site included the information that payPal is hanging on to the money we sent you until we leave feedback. Since they’re lying, it won’t help much, but it might clarify matters a bit. I suggest this because, when I 1st started using eBay, I wrongly assumed that the rating system was for real, & left 4 star reviews when it seemed appropriate, until I discovered, from a plea on one seller’s site, that anything less than 5 stars branded you as Bad Seller. And this “21 day”–or 90. or 180 day hold–was news to me until I began to dive into the boards I won’t myself be continuing to shop on eBay, much as I’ll miss it, because their demands for a link to my bank account sounded pretty Nigerian-prince-ish to me, but I know there are other buyers like me who would appreciate being tipped off to our sellers’ problems. Remember, we’re not the enemy: we’re your allies against the real enemy.

   Comment by SUSAN FORER — 4/29/2012 @ 5:24 am

8. the 21 day hold is awfull i really have had enough of paypal they held over £200 of mine then i have to take ages emailing buyers to leave poss feedback and not many evn bother to leave feedback though they have the item and r happy the buyer not always got time to mess around with feeback straght away so the poor ebayer has to wait for paypal to relase funds or buyer to leave feedback its not paypals money but they treat it like it is i have had enough of paypal im leaveing

   Comment by sam — 4/22/2012 @ 1:40 am

9. What a system ?
   Let’s face it, the majority of eBay seller’s make very little profit from a sale, so in order to actually accrue any revenue, seller’s must sell many items, the more items sold, the more profit for eBay/Paypal.
   I thought crooks were usually hid in the shadows, not eBay, they steal in broad daylight.
   Corporate America has become disclaimers and contracts that favor them, not the members.
   As soon as I am able, I will say goodbye forever to eBay.
   Good riddance !

   Comment by LB — 4/14/2012 @ 7:24 am

10. 21 Days hold of MY MONEY. I sold a large item that was for local pickup only. Could not be shipped . Buyer came picked up Item. Marked a positive feed back. He got the Item.He called ebay and paypal with me. He paid for item through paypal . E-bay said mark it as shipped so I would receive my money in 7 days. They did not release my money. 12 days later, they still will not release the money. I was told 21 days and the money will be release . This is a scam. Shame on E-bay and paypal
    e-bay has $135. Paypal has $120 Buyer has the Item. (but I still don’t have my money) $4100 . So you really can do a local pickup only. And get the money for a long time. Buyer lives 40 min. drive.

    Comment by Ed — 4/10/2012 @ 10:32 pm

11. Paypal was holding $3000 of my funds which I could not do anything about.
    100% feedback, never any issues, and all trackable items.

    Now they suspended my account, because they think my account is linked to a suspended seller from 1 year ago.

    I need a lawyer for this bs !!

    Comment by Afsheen — 4/3/2012 @ 4:57 pm

12. Did it ever occur to all those buyers that the paypal protection system actually makes customers feel confident enought to buy from you in the first place? I just won a bid on a $700 camera. The seller has 100% feedback, but is answering in 3 or single word emails. He just claimed to have sent my item, but doesnt want to give me any proof of this. Now probably I’ve been scammed, and I should have bought my stuff from a seller with much more stars. But, I feel confident the @#$#$ who tried to steal my money won’t have access to it, as I’m filing a case right away.

    Do you really think that buyers like me would sent large amount of money to unknown sellers, if there wasnt the kind of security paypal offers?

    and NO, the rating system alone is obviously not enought to fight of scammers.

    Comment by Tim — 3/20/2012 @ 8:27 am

13. I just received the same email of holding my money for 21 days . . I have a 100% feedback, and no complaints or cases against me. I am stunned. Its like paypal saying they are holding my paycheck for as long as they want now. This is an outrage. They already take a huge cut of my funds for doing nearly nothing. I am really fed up from being pushed from all sides these days. It becoming impossible to even live in this country.

    Comment by Kevin — 3/10/2012 @ 6:48 am

14. I just cancelled my Pay Pal account. I urge you to do the same. After almost 8 years, 100% positive feedback, I get hit with this load of b s.

    I tried to cancel my ebay account but can’t due to a recent payment.

    No more money from me Ebay and PayPal.

    Comment by Larry — 3/3/2012 @ 2:06 pm

15. wow! Just sold something on ebay and to find out this 21 day holding is bs!! I need the money now! no more selling on ebay thats for sure.

    Comment by Cal — 2/27/2012 @ 2:24 am

16. AS A SELLER YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ANY CUSTOMER!!
    TALK TO THEM!
    IF THEY DO NOT TALK TO YOU…CANCEL!
    IF THEY ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS…CANCEL!
    IF THEY DON’T PAY YOU THE MANNER YOU WANT…CANCEL!
    YOU PEOPLE NEED TO DO YOUR JOBS AND MAKE THIS PLANET BETTER!
    NOT CRAPPIER!
    IT’S NOT YOUR PLANET!
    DO YOUR PART OR DEAL WITH KARMA!
    TRY TO CHALLENGE IT!

    Comment by stankpeaches — 2/19/2012 @ 10:56 am

17. DO NOT LISTEN TO EABY….
    THEY WANT TO TEACH PEOPLE TO USE PAYPAL…LOG INTO PAYPAL AND PAY THREW THERE…NOT EBAY EXPRESS!
    REFUND ALL PAYMENTS THREW EBAY EXPRESS AND ASK THE BUYER TO PAY WITH PAYPAL ONLY!
    IT’S A PAIN IN THE ASS…BUT NO 21 DAYS BS!
    DO NOT LET EBAY CONTROL YOU!
    FIGHT BACK!

    Comment by stankpeaches — 2/19/2012 @ 10:52 am

18. Who ever came up with this 21 day “hold funds hostage” policy needs to be replaced with experienced business persons. Small business sellers & regular eBay sellers need their money now for operating costs and living expenses. Did anyone fail to mention that a gallon of gas / diesel is well over $3.00? Hiking the price of shipping - groceries etc. There was a time when eBay & PayPal were good companies with limited bull crap to put up with. Now that eBay / PayPal cater to the 2% whiner mooch buyers instead of the 98% good buyers, eBay sellers are dropping like flies. eBay / PayPal are bending over a $10.00 bill to pick up a dime.

    Comment by Grant — 2/12/2012 @ 11:49 am

19. Wow - this is NUTS. I have 150 all positive feedbacks, and am a top rated seller, as well as a power seller. This account criteria was imposed on my account, holding every transaction for 21 days. After 6 phone calls to paypal, every agent agreed there was no reason that my account should be placed on hold. Finally, I got to one customer service manager who told me that “it is like an insurance policy” and that there was nothing I can do. They are currently holding over $3500 of my money, which has to be illegal. And I received no notice of it. CROOKS!

    sign me up for the class action suit, fella’s!

    Comment by mancavedweller — 2/7/2012 @ 2:05 pm

20. I just got a notice from PayPal last night that starting yesterday my PayPal funds will be held for 21 days. I’ve been a seller since 1997 and have used PP since the very beginning. I have never had a claim or any problems. WTF!

    Comment by Janet — 1/25/2012 @ 10:48 am

21. Each and every one of the sales I made from eBay.com has been withheld by Paypal eBay, even though I had provided tracking information for most of the transactions and marked “shipped” on eBay. I have sent Paypal at least 7 emails and make 5 phone calls regarding the funds that I should have received by now, and every time I got different answers. But further apart from receiving the automated standard email replies from Paypal, Paypal has never replied to me to assit with my specific questions. Yes, I am so pxxxed off and so frustrated by Paypal, surely it’s not legal to withhold someone’s money even after someone has already provides and goods and services. Where can I find more help. Maybe that’s all stop using eBay and Paypal.

    Comment by Ani — 1/19/2012 @ 7:37 pm

22. Just found out about this issue with PayPal the hard way. I sold 2 items on ebay. No where in the listing screen does it tell you that your money will be held for any amount of time, nor does the email confirmation of the listing, nor does the email sale confirmation. The first hint that your money will be held is when you receive the email from PayPal about receipt of funds, at which point it’s almost too late to cancel the transaction because then your buyer has to fight with PayPal for a refund I’m sure .. not going to make many buyer friends on ebay that way! It seems to me that ebay/PayPal want to act as sort of an “escrow” agent, which is fine but both parties (buyer/seller) have to agree to that AND the way an escrow works is, both parties submit to the escrow agent and then everything is disbursed. In otherwords, if this was being done truly to protect buyers and sellers, buyers would make payment to the escrow agent and sellers would ship items to the escrow agent. Once the escrow agent receives everything, they send the item to the buyer and the money to the seller. But that’s not what’s happening here. I shipped my items out immediately so I no longer have the item I sold since it’s with the post office and I still have no funds. In addition, PayPal withdrew funds for shipping out of my bank account so I’m actually in the hole about $85. Isn’t the seller suppose to MAKE the money?? This is absolutely ridiculous and I have called PayPal about 5 times in the last 2 days and get different answers each time. They tell me on the phone that if my items are delivered Jan. 3rd (anticipated delivery date) that my money will be released 72 hours after that .. yet on my PayPal account summary, it says January 16th. Not to mention the fact that when you view the account summary, it is so confusing, you need a damn accounting degree to figure out exactly what the hell they owe you! I will most defintely be calling the FTC and contacting the Internet Crimes Complaint Center as well as the Chicago firm handling the class action. Thank you to those who posted that information here. I’m also closing my PayPal account as soon as they release the rest of my money .. assuming they actually do! This is a real shame because it seems like ebay/PayPal are trying to squeeze out the “little guy” who wants to sell on ebay (which is exactly how ebay started) and that they only want to deal with stores who sell. If I can only buy on ebay from a store, why not just drive to a local store to buy? What incentive is there to buy on ebay then? It’s fine if they want to hold your money if that’s what sellers agree to but it seems to me that they just try to “sneak” that in there which to me doesn’t seem very fair at all. Definitely an unhappy ebay/PayPal camper here!

    Comment by zengac — 12/29/2011 @ 8:35 am

23. This is plain and blatant fraud. I will stop selling on ebay.

    Comment by irma — 12/20/2011 @ 1:03 pm

24. I just found out about this policy the hard way. I am a brand new eBayer with 5 recent sales and 100% positive feedback. Paypal wouldn’t release my funds for four transactions, even after 10 days had passed since shipping on 12/5/11. Two of the four customers I shipped to last Monday left positive feedback. Paypall listed today as the “estimated” date of funds availability. I called Paypall today (the following Wednesday) when I realized I hadn’t been paid. They told me that funds are not released until 3-5 days after the estimated delivery date. All of the packages, by the way, were received at least 5 days ago. The woman on the line told me entering tracking info would help to release funds. She proceeded to tell me that the usps tracking info I had entered was either false or incompatible with the usps web site. [Unfortunately my local post office had misinformed me that the "insurance claim number" could be used as a tracking number online. (It doesn't work.)] IMPORTANTLY, she denied that positive feedback would help me get funds under their new policy. I explained to her that this directly contradicted the statements regarding holds on paypal.com! I threatened to close my account TODAY if I wasn’t paid as soon as possible. Talking to a call center manager finally freed three of the four payments… I almost got off the line before I realized that they hadn’t released the fourth. The manager claimed there wasn’t any info to prove the item had been shipped. NOT TRUE! He complied when I made it clear that feedback had been left regarding the arrival of the package. I was ultimately paid the remaining money. I plan to clean out my account while they still have the capital to actually pay me. Abandon Ship!

    Comment by Jim — 12/14/2011 @ 6:58 pm

25. If there is a class action lawsuit I def need to know where to sign up. I have went through the same problem as many others and it has hurt me financially and personally. email me at fireguy4life at gmail dot com with any further info

    Comment by Larry — 12/9/2011 @ 4:33 am

26. So I’m suppose to be paid today for some products I’m selling, not through ebay, and they can hold that money as well? Are there any other ways besides a check from my buyer or western union? I need to the money for the holidays, I can’t wait 21 fricking days??

    Comment by Dave Halter — 12/6/2011 @ 5:38 am

27. I talked to someone from paypal and they said that this is there “new policy” Thanks for the warning A-holes. I shipped through paypal and saved on postage and confirmation. now i am going to have to pay full price due to the holidays and counting on buyers money. If i went to western union and sent money, would the recipient have to wait 2 weeks? HELL NO. Also, if there picking and choosing who to withhold isn’t that discrimination? HELLO
    I too have 100 percent feedback with 295ish rating. Goodbye Paypal once this is through.

    Comment by johnnyd — 12/4/2011 @ 11:09 am

28. Yep, that is total BS, I cannot Afford to lose money. Im making just a tad after ebay and Paypal fees. Once these transactions go through im done. Amazon or other online sells are going to get my business.

    Comment by JohnnyD — 11/30/2011 @ 6:23 pm

29. Re:When paypal started this. They first did the 21 day hold
    on my funds on 6/6/2008.I waited 21 days and went to my bank and zeroed out my PP acct.. That was the first, last and only time PP held any of my money. I quit selling then.

    Comment by Madmike007 — 11/29/2011 @ 4:05 am

30. I talked to paypal some time ago and it is definitely an eBay problem, not a PayPal problem; some other people say they use PayPal with other selling places and don’t have this problem… Solution seems clear: use other selling places!

    Comment by gerrywalker — 11/18/2011 @ 1:45 pm

31. They have it set up so as a small seller I am 100% dependant now on people to leave positive feedback to get my “score” back into a normal range, to bad I was hit by a string of people who thought it’d be funny to leave negatives and open cases before contacting me (another break of their own rules by the way). I spent 40 minutes on the phone with eBay and the said they understood but could do nothing. I can barely afford ship[ping charges without the buyers help. I think I’m done with eBay and will be using amazon from now on. I did file online complaint and will be calling an attorney.

    Comment by Erik B. — 11/17/2011 @ 10:35 am

32. You know, there was this one time late in the summer, where I sold a couple of items up to $60. While Paypal was withholding my funds, I went below 0 dollars in my Bank account, forcing me have to borrow money because I got deducted 60 dollars for doing so. That’s a lot of money that I don’t have. Thanks PayPal.

    Good luck to whoever’s taking action against this.

    Comment by powoire — 11/6/2011 @ 9:40 am

33. I being a biller/collector, know that Ebay and Paypal, are breaking FEDERAL laws. I too am effected by this CRIME eBay and Paypal, are doing by withholding funds for 21 days. I have filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission @ 1-877-382-4357. They have asked me to urge MORE people to call them and file a case against eBay and Paypal. Yes, they are breaking the law. When you call, after you’ve heard all the options, press “0″, and you will be connected to a live respresentative. Once they have obtained the information from you, they will give you a reference case number. They also, want us to file a complaint through the Internet Crimes Complaint Center @ http://www.ic3.gov. I have done all of the above, please DO THE SAME. We can’t beat this if we don’t get involved.

    Comment by C.Weaver — 10/11/2011 @ 11:31 am

34. I just joined the class action lawsuit out of Chicago. You should too. Scroll down to Vincent Francone. And join us to stop this abuse!

    Comment by Bryan Alesi — 10/11/2011 @ 8:58 am

35. They are going out of business. This is why they went from taking 1 1/2% and jumped up to 10% but started giving waiving their posting fees. They expected sales to jump and they would be able to pay off their debt but since that didn’t happen they chose a swath of customers each month and borrow thier funds and give themselves a month to pay back those funds, using the next swath of clients to do so with. This needs to be investigated by a law enforcement agency. They are holding(using and borrowing) the funds of their customers almost like a ponzi scheme. They are running out of money and time doing this. And they should have to pay the sellers that they hold and use their money like any bank or payday loan company gets a return on their loan,hold or borrowed money. This is illegal. Not one customer on ebay or Paypal has agreed to let them use their money for 21 days like this. INVESTIGATE THIS FLEA MARKET!

    Comment by Bryan Alesi — 10/11/2011 @ 8:41 am

36. Following my call to Paypal today I received an email asking me to complete a “Customer Satisfaction” survey…. what fun I had.The final question was would I be prepared for a follow up pnone call, which of course I answered YES, penny to a pound I do not get one.

    Comment by Susanne Rowley — 10/10/2011 @ 3:08 am

37. I am seething; just spent a hugely unproductive, highly stress making, 15 minutes talking to some guy from Paypal on the phone.Apparently this farce will not continue as soon as I reach 100 positive feedback. He could not grasp the concept that if I were to walk into Argos/Tesco/John Lewis or any other store on the planet; pick up an item say a vacuum cleaner and take it home saying ” I will pay for it in 21 days if I like it” I would be charged with theft. All he kept endlessly repeating was “Well Mam (!) as soon as the purchaser leaves feedback you will get your money” which is fine if they do leave feedback, which sometimes can take a month for people to get round to. That’s it no more Ebay/Paypal for me.

    Comment by Sue Rowley — 10/8/2011 @ 4:54 am

38. I just cancelled two paid purchases on eBay. I contacted the buyer’s outside of eBay (something that I have never done before), to pay me directly. I explained the 21 day money hold. The buyer’s responded very favorably.

    I believe that this can cause the 21 day money grab policy to backfire in their face. Please notify as many eBay sellers as possible to do the same.

    We the seller’s will come out the winner for once. You won’t have to pay Paypal’s high collection fees as well as any eBay final value fees. The only charge that you will incur will be the listing fees. That’s a pretty good dealfor us the sellers. And hopefully a very bad deal to the dictators at eBay.

    Now is the time to act. Cancel the sales and make life miserable for ebay, as they have made it for us.

    You may contact me with your input and ideas at showbiz1 at optonline dot net.

    Comment by Alan Ehrlich — 10/2/2011 @ 8:17 am

39. Is there any person out in eBay land that can help get a “SELLERS ASSOCIATION” started? We need to exert our power and let eBay and Paypal know that they are not going to get away with this thievery.

    Please help me help you. We can set up an association that will put some of the power in our hands. It is just what eBay and Paypal have been asking for.

    I am not familiar with the start-up of this much needed association. If you are or have been involved in such situations before, please help all of us. send your comments to Alan Ehrlich: showbiz1 at optonline dot net

    This is urgent.

    Comment by Alan Ehrlich — 10/2/2011 @ 4:51 am

40. I haven’t read any place here where I think anyone understands the situation or the solution. No one is forcing any one to buy or sell on eBay. If you don’t like the way they operate then don’t deal with them. How did you live before the internet and eBay came along? EBay nor Pay Pal owe you anything, not to you nor me. I ran into this myself but I’m not crying about it. The buyers and sellers control the market but only if they participate, stop dealing with eBay and Pay Pal and sooner or later they’ll get the message. They can’t hurt you unless you let them.

    Comment by David T. — 10/1/2011 @ 10:42 pm

41. I’m A new seller on ebay and have currently made 47 transactions so far and WAS hoping to start up a small buisness. After this paypal Event cropped up it makes it even harder to break into the ebay market! if payments don’t get realeased unless proof of tracking is provided or the buyer leaves positiive feedback it small businesses in a sticky situation, Buyers dont want to pay extra postage charges on small items and most dont leave posotive feedback so the funding that is created through sales cannot replace the stock that’s just been shipped out and so waiting 21 days leaves everything at a standstill. I think its totally pointless and a total Ebay already had so much buyer protection, thier just using it to both of thier advantages. Just for the extra interest its getting them. I think That EBay and Paypal will loose a great deal of their users through this ‘EBay safety’ Need to get it SORTED!

    Comment by Jazz — 9/30/2011 @ 7:54 am

42. Something else and bigger that bothers me about this is, maybe paypal/ebay is in trouble and is going to go out of business holding all that money. Boy what a mess that will be. I think I’ll be looking into Amazon to sell stuff from now on. SUre wouldn’t want that to happen if they had a bunch of my money. HERE’s the law office that’s handling a class action, I think:
    Email them to put your names in the data base:

    Vincent Francone

    Legal Assistant

    Freed & Weiss LLC

    111 W. Washington Street

    Suite 1331
    Chicago, IL 60602

    (312) 220-0000

    (312) 220-7777 - fax

    Comment by GJWalker — 9/29/2011 @ 7:13 pm

43. This has just happend to me as well 2 days ago! I am ticked off! I always ship to my buyers the very next day after payment is recieved, mark as shipped and add a tracking number, so if ebay wants to say they need me to ship and show proof of delivery then they have shut thier eyes and are making this bunch of bunk up! i have perfect feedback scores/ratings and bend over backwards for my buyers, even paying out more then they paid in shipping cause they ask for a quicker delivery service after the invoice had been paid! I am fairly new but have sold over 20 items in 3 weeks, I am also buyer and have never had any problem with my shipments from others, now they have MY MONEY for MY ITEMS froze for 21 days and making crap up to try and justify it like we are retarded, basically pulling a goverment trip on us… Big Goverment… BIG EBAY! this is such a crock, I was trying to do something in my life to make some sort of something out of myself.. now i cant even bid on anything for other sellers.. and to those whom are saying ” How does it feel to wait aka buyers” I apologize you have had a bad experience? But some of us sellers do what we are sposed to do.. once an item is bought from me it is no longer mine and i ship it immediately! Ebay needs to be punished for this scheme.. and thats all it is… a frickin SCHEME.. I doubt at all after all this i will continue on ebay.. i dont enjoy MY MONEY being with-held from me no matter what.. and i will be damned if they get their fees paid on sells until they give me what was mine to begin with and sure as hell not theirs!!

    Comment by Ron — 9/28/2011 @ 9:37 pm

44. You are not alone. Paypal is holding 50 to 100 thousand ebay sellers accounts - right now! The key is the PRESS. Write to the press, post on the net, PUSH THIS STORY - ask other ebay members, tell others to email the Wall Street Journal, New York Times - BE UNRELENTING, AS THEY ARE UNRELENTING. The noise has to reach the PRESS - Once this hits the news - things will get better - Politicians will read it, attorneys will read it, other news will pick up the story - the press is the answer. Trust me, Paypal and Ebay have set this up - in secret - once exposed - they are finished.

    Comment by Gerry — 9/28/2011 @ 5:47 am

45. This is the worst. A couple months ago ebay arbitrarily put a selling limit on my account and now I find out paypal just pulled this 21 day shit on me. My account has 100% positive feedback and I always ship and pay immediately. I’ve got a few more things to sell on ebay, but after that I think I’ll try to take my business to amazon or bonanza or craigslist. I don’t care if I have to go to a less popular marketplace, anything is better than this abuse. These thieves should be ashamed.

    Comment by Arch — 9/27/2011 @ 9:37 pm

46. This happened to me today on a 385 dollar iPhone. I have been with them 5 months, own a store, have 167 Feedback with 100% score. I just sent the request to cancel the transaction to the buyer and hope she accepts. I would never ship an item without payment, and in this case its a 0 feedback buyer!

    Im dissapointed because ive been very successful on ebay and have a few days left before getting my sole proprietorship and sellers permit finalized. I was hoping to delve into wholesaling (straight from the factory, no middle men) but this sudden realization of “ePay’s” policies have steered me toward closing my account and switching to amazon

    Comment by john — 9/27/2011 @ 6:22 pm

47. Ebay and paypal are apparently running with this scheme. Despite being 5 Star, with sales of 15 thousand per month, I was relegated to ’substandard’ seller last week, and this week, all my funds are frozen for 21 days. The substandard bar is so high, that almost noone can meet the bar, and that means that tens of thousands of accounts are being held for 21 days. That amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars - held for interest profits. If this isn’t “antitrust”, then what is?

    Comment by Gerry — 9/27/2011 @ 7:24 am

48. How in the depth of hell did PayPal/eBay escape the regulations for a bank? They process billions of dollars, now they hold customers’ monies for days (21, then 45, may be even 180) with immunity. They must be regulated and forced to pay interest on the balance they place on hold. Security and consumer’s protection are a must, place hold they can, but they MUST PAY INTEREST as banks do.
    Let us join a class action law suit AND inform our public servants of our intention to ensure everyone is treated equal (i.e. you charge me fees when I use your service, you hold my monies the you pay me interest, FAIR yes?)

    Comment by th3fro6 — 9/25/2011 @ 1:04 pm

49. Thank you for the help, I think it is a disgrace that this is being done. If the customer does not leave feedback; which many don’t; I do not get paid. How dare they!!

    Comment by Sue Rowley — 9/25/2011 @ 8:00 am

50. I have the same problem here, After i have send it out and the items and they buyers give my a good rating. My funds still freezing. and i have contact ebay and paypal via email. They are not solving my problem especially ebay. I contact Paypal, Paypal push the ball to ebay.

    What can do is we forward this link to other ebayer.
    Create more comments… Making the bigger news!

    Comment by PAUL — 9/20/2011 @ 12:11 pm

51. So bad! Started all excited because I sold my fist item and now I cannot even get my money!!

    Comment by *Oscast — 9/19/2011 @ 1:05 pm

52. I am a disabled senior, selling small items on ebay to supplement a low pension. Have done so successfully and happily for many years. I have never owed them money or failed to mail an item. Now they claw back every little cent in overcharging on shipping fees, I used to add up to $1.00 to help cover the cost of packing and mailing materials, now ebay pockets that little bit extra and I have to pay for all my supplies myseld.
    Now they are withholding my money for no reason that I can see.
    I certainly hope there will be a class action suit, the amount may be smallish, but it is big to me.

    Comment by Barbara — 9/11/2011 @ 11:37 am

53. Susan: 1. how did you establish online shops; 2. does that eliminate the paypal hold even if you’re still using paypal?
    3. This sounds like the ebay/paypal connection is the only one with the hold, is that correct?

    Comment by GerryWalker — 9/7/2011 @ 6:19 am

54. LAW OFFICE HANDLING CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST PAYPAL: CONTACT TO BE INCLUDED IN THEIR DATA BASE.

    Vincent Francone

    Legal Assistant

    FREED & WEISS LLC

    111 West Washington Street

    Suite 1331

    Chicago, IL 60602

    Toll Free: 866-779-9610

    Firm Phone: 312-220-0000

    Firm Fax: 312-220-7777

    http://www.freedweiss.com

    Comment by GerryWalker — 9/7/2011 @ 6:16 am

55. I had this happen with Ebay. They are currently holding the money on 4 sales, supposedly until they receive delivery confirmation. I am furious that they have my money, and my merchandise is in midair. I have online shops in 3 places, and I get my Paypal money immediately. This problem is only Ebay/Paypal (so far). I have moved my ebay auctions to my online shops.

    Comment by Susan — 9/6/2011 @ 6:57 am

56. I forgot to say, anybody interested in joining a class action lawsuit, document all your contacts with them, do it email and make copies with dates,save it in a separate file on your computer and let’s DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS! I’m one UNHAPPY OLD LADY!

    Comment by grammawalker — 9/4/2011 @ 6:30 pm

57. I’m 74 and started selling May 2011 some collectibles from mom and old auntie. Now I get a hold notice for 21 days. SO how do I ship? No extra money for anything.
    Yes, class action lawsuit sounds right. What type attorney would take this? I’m also an old legal secretary so I’m going to put out some feelers and see if somebody I know knows somebody who might take this type suit. There’s got to be some attorney out there who would do it!

    Comment by grammawalker — 9/4/2011 @ 6:28 pm

58. I happen to me last nite , I called both ebay and papal
    both companys answers were very strange. When I asked about when I would get payed I was told ship your item, Like Iam there employee. The fact is I have been on ebay for 4 years and have had no problems with my buyers. I saw on another blog that the seller had to wait longer than 21 days because he had to wait for the buyer to give the buyer a feedback.

    Comment by Darrell — 8/18/2011 @ 1:49 am

59. I HATE THIS. I sold a perfectly good computer and now I can’t even ship it, so I have to refund the money. I won’t be able to sell anything else through paypal. THIS SUCKS SO MUCH

    Comment by Alfred — 8/12/2011 @ 10:28 am

60. Paypal took back payment after they said they had undertaken an investigation and found that the payment to us was fraudulent. It was Paypals fault that the transaction was fraudulent but they deduct the money from us to cover themselves. I am still fighting this and believe that I will win.

    Comment by John K — 8/10/2011 @ 11:21 am

61. This JUST happened to me tonight. I have been an eBay user since 2005, have 375 pos. feedbacks and only one neg from a buyer. I found out tonight selling an item, and getting paid by a buyer, that PayPal was putting a 21 day hold on those transaction funds BUT NOT BEFORE THEY TOOK their 1.80 fee for the transaction. So immed. they got their money but I got to wait 21 days?! I figure my acct will get frozen right off because I called them up 3 times tonight and caused a row with them agents. This is legalized extortion and as a subsidiary of Ebay as a monetary transaction tranfer agent PayPal and Ebay are in bed together on this. They said they placed the hold because I had low ebay seller ratings. Buyers never did that for me and I didn’t bother to ask them to. Hello, they gave me pos. feedback for any sells I ever did! But PayPal and Ebay could care less, their attitude is oh well. In 21 days you can have your money but I am expected to send the buyer the item, using funds I usually use out of what they pay me through PayPal. Never had a problem til tonight at 8 pm. No two days ago either. Some prick in Paypal in their Accts dept had a hair across their arse and flagged my acct, because apparently they are mad I didn’t pay more fees to either ebay or PayPal?! So what to do. I am extremely upset. I terminated my in-progress ebay sells cancelling them, due to this policy. I will not wait 21 days for PayPal to release a buyers funds so that PayPal can get the interest, and I have to loose face, having to inform the buyer that the item will be delayed in shipping by 21 days because I haven’t been paid for it yet. Sure PayPal says I been paid by the buyer, but their holding onto it. For 21 days. Totally pisses me off, and if any attorney wants my case you can holler at me. I would love to start a class action suit against PayPal and Ebay for their thievery and manipulations! Disgusting. In a little while Ebay and PayPal will see me waving bye bye to them. No more me, as their client. I will not use their services after this month if they don’t straighten this mess out. Customers on either PayPal and or Ebay do not diserve this rotten treatment whatsoever from either company. Time to kick some corporate arse. Nice Paypal your policy as created a love/hate dynamic. I used to love your services, NOW I hate you! That goes for ebay as well.

    Comment by Marsha Martin — 7/28/2011 @ 8:18 pm

62. article was helpful, pay pal should be punished/

    Comment by r. mistur — 5/22/2011 @ 4:47 am

63. Paypal are bloody corrupt and a bunch of thieves! something really needs to be done about them!

    Comment by foxcub — 7/24/2010 @ 3:05 pm

64. “Livid” starts to sum it up but still doesn’t cover the anger I have about this issue. I received my “notice” about this early this morning. I have called PayPal and emailed them. Here is my beef: I don’t sell anything on eBay. My PayPal account is strictly business. I am paid for services rendered. And still they tell me that they will be holding all my funds for up to 21 days - even tho the transactions has nothing to do with eBay whatsoever! Luckily the funds in there now are free up until this morning. I am transferring that money out and thinking about shutting my PayPal account down all together. This is just another way for PayPal to make money off our money from interest! I am contacting anybody and everybody that I know that uses PayPal to warn them. PayPal is going to loose alot of business because of this screw ball they threw!

    Comment by Paul R — 5/3/2010 @ 8:28 am

65. Paypal is holding moneu from 8 of my buyers! Since I have no money to ship their items, THE BUYERS are not going to get their items. OR THEIR MONEY! Paypal is withholding any refunds, as well! What do you “disgusted buyers” think about it? Do you think that they should be able to hold YOUR MONEY! I have 100% positive feedback, eamil to my customers when items ships and send tracking numbers. They have no reason to freeze my account, but they did anyway. Now people who bid and won the items can’t get the item or their money back for 21 days! Oh yeah! That really screws THE SELLERS! Dugh!!! The buyers are ALSO the being screwed
    by paypal. WAKE-UP PEOPLE!

    Comment by Patty — 4/24/2010 @ 6:54 pm

66. That’s 5 star right!!!!! That’s how it is with a lot of sellers! We pay you fast and YOU make us WAIT in the dark after we paid!! To those whining sellers, I say: how does it feel to WAIT for paypal and not have a clue of what to expect??!!! Get YOUR act together and you’ll get the BUYERS money owed to you through paypal faster!!!

    Comment by LIVID BUYER — 2/14/2010 @ 1:22 pm

67. GOOD PLAN only if it worked! ebay Buyers like me pay upfront, contact Sellers. then too often have to wait and wait for replies and shipping. They don’t notify if delayed, and then get into s twist, send insulting messages when asked about item delivery! But they all think they deserve 5* ratings and damn the Buyer for not giving 100% 5*

    Comment by Disgusted Buyer — 2/12/2010 @ 10:49 pm

68. 21 Days?!! I wish PayPal holds 10% of my money for 90 days…. And for no reason whatsoever. I am a very good customer!!!! Holding my money is completely unjustified…. I gas I’ll have to take my business elsewhere… Google Checkout seems as a very nice place.

    Comment by Scott — 1/28/2010 @ 11:41 pm

69. this little paypal scam goes well back before e-bay bought them, and is the reason i will not deal through paypal in any way, as a buyer or seller, or buy from anyone who’s only payment option is paypal.

    Comment by “gunner” — 12/25/2009 @ 11:23 am

70. The message forums on Paypal are swarming with this - people are livid. And they are saying that if you complain to PayPal or make a stink, your account freezes all together.

    Comment by Jess — 12/18/2009 @ 9:47 am

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