Paypal's pending balance policy.

I've been selling on ebay for two months. I've sold over 150 coins, from pennies to silver dollars. I've never had a bad feedback point. I've got over 100 positive feedback points. I've never had anyone complain, and my S&H charges are as low as they can get.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, ebay has put a 21 day hold on my money. They say I can get my money faster if the buyer leaves a positive feedback. I have a few big ticket buyers that have left no feedback whatsoever, so now I'm waiting for my money.

My question is should I email these guys and ask them if they could please leave a feedback so I can get my money? These people are enjoying their purchases, ebay and paypal are collecting their fees, and I'm left waiting. I know some of you here warned me about this.

Is asking these buyers to leave me a feedback an acceptable practice, or does it seem pushy on my part? I'm also worried that this could backfire and some buyer might leave a negative feedback because I'm asking the favor.

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I'm not the pushy type, so I would not do anything -- but that's just me and we're talking only three weeks here.

If you feel differently, you might consider just sending an e-mail nicely reminding them to leave feedback. If you consider this course of action, I wouldn't mention the money thing.

 

Personally, I put all of those emails straight to the trash bin. I return all deserving feedback. If they do not leave me feedback, they get none from me.

 

If the delivery confirm/signature confirm # is entered into the Paypal transaction, as soon as it shows 'delivered', I'm almost 100% positive that will secure your funds, foregoing the feedback or 21 day period. The same happened to me after not having sold for over a year (I have a sellers, as well as a buyers account). Yes, it is a pain in the arse, but dems da rules.

Can anyone inform me if the seller has ANY protection at all (short of videotaping yourself actually delivering the item), between ebay and Paypal?

 

signature confirmation

 

What does the eBay and/or PayPal policy about this practice state? Can you find this and provide the quote for us or post a link to the policy page(s).

How does the Buyer leaving feedback effect your ability to get paid? I thought PayPal was an instant transfer of funds to your account unless a Buyer paid by the snails-pace, Paypal eCheck which takes time to clear. Unless there is a PayPal investigation due to a dispute why else would PayPal be withholding funds from you?

 

Funny you should say that because that excitable fellow who got banned did just this with his 3legger. video

 

I don't know how to link, but they do have a policy page. I'm sure someone here could do that. It basically states that the put your account in a pending mode for 21 days unless there is positive feedback left by the buyer or delivery confirmation.

They say it can be avoided if you have no cases against you, you up your feedback points, you deliver the goods in a timely manner, and you have low shipping charges. All of the above for me. I have over 100 positive feedback points, all in the green. I have no idea why this has happened to me. It wasn't always like that.

I looked in the internet just now, and a lot of people are complaining about it. It makes me feel like I'm being punished for something I didn't do. I've played by their rules.

 

I've called Paypal with problems in the past and they can usually address them quickly and while you are on the phone. Maybe you and others are being hit by a random audit. A quick call might get things in your case fixed quicker than sitting out three weeks with docked pay.

which site paypal or ebay are you reading from?

eBay's PayPal Payment Holds policy

 

I had a similar problem when I first started selling but it was only for my first sale. How long has it been since you shipped the item? I've had people wait up to about 1 full week after they recieved the item to leave feedback.

 

There's also a payments hold page on the Paypal website.

 

Paypal wasn't doing this for about a month, then it was there. I've never had a complaint. A few of these were shipped over two weeks ago. They would have got their package by now, or they would have already contacted me.

 

Found this in the PayPal Legal Agreement Amendments from March 14, 2008, is this up to date with what you read as PayPal policy as relates to eBay payments?

 

Regardless of the reason, is it cool to ask these buyers to leave me a positive feedback? I've had people ask me before. Or should I just let it ride?

 

You're held by the short curlies on this one. I hope it is not a lot of money, and it looks to me like they can do this at random the way it reads per Krispy's post. For all we know they may have put a hold on it because the buyer is a known "dispute pro" and you are the noob they're trying to take advantage of.

All said and done, unless it is some money you need right now because you haven't eaten in a day or 2, I'd wait it out.

 

If I was going to ask them, I would not do it directly. Maybe send them an email asking if they recieved the item(s) in good order and if they are satisfied, mentioning that if they are fully satisfied could they leave you positive feedback.

 

That's an excellent point of perspective to consider. Never can tell just what flags an account with so many scams out there.

 

I do think it's cool to send a short friendly reminder to them and to mention that you have posted feedback for them as well.

Some folks won't take your suggestion that they need to leave feedback and others will be annoyed by the extra email no matter how courteous you can be to follow up with their satisfaction. Unless they were upset by the item, which you haven't heard about from them to date, I doubt you run the risk of offending them by asking for feedback. All they have to say is "thanks" and be done with it.

I also think it would be prudent to call PayPal first to see if they can lift the hold.

 

Why would they penalize me because someone else is a known "dispute pro"? Don't answer that. They can do whatever they want.

Thanks for all the advice so far.:hail:

 

I cannot stress enough that I would just wait it out unless I really needed the money. I would also not stress yourself over the situation, you were told to expect delays in getting paid and, unfortunately, in business it is all too common. I would tell you to relax, you'll get your money, it is just a couple weeks longer than you had hoped for.

What date did they actually put the "hold" on your account? I think I read about this a week ago, and if that is true, you only need to wait 2 more weeks.