"Dispatch time

[RayVonGeezer]

Hi,

I've looked at other threads with similar problems, but none seem to be precisely my predicament.

I bought an item on eBay and paid with Paypal.  Within Paypal both the fund transfer from my credit card and transfer to the seller show as "Completed" but eBay shows "Pending" for the payment against the item.

I used the Paypal automated assistant and it advised that the payment has been made, and suggested I ask the seller to check his Paypal email address is correct and to check that he's accepted it.  I've asked him to do this and he's come back and said that the money is pending and can take up to 21 days to go through.  I've never experienced anything like this before, payments have usually been instant.

I might be being a little over cautious, but when I first contacted the seller about the problem he offered to cancel and deliver the item so I could pay cash, which I can't (and don't want to) do - I don't have the cash and he wanted exactly the same amount of money anyway.  Note I'm not sure whether he meant to cancel the auction or just the Paypal transaction, so I'm not accusing him of trying to complete outside eBay.

Is this an actual payment problem, or could the seller be holding things up in the hope I'll go for the cash option and he can avoid fees and responsibilities?

Thanks in advance,

Ray Von

[RayVonGeezer]

Just to add, I've also had the confirmation email from Paypal confirming the payment and advising they've asked the seller to ship the item.

Ray Von

[kernowlass]

This is not a problem to do with your account, if the payment is pending on the sellers side for 21 days then it is because he is a new seller and paypal will let him have his money once you leave feedback or a tracking number provided by him shows delivery of the item to you...............so he needs to send your item asap.

[RayVonGeezer]

Thanks for your reply.

The seller isn't going to ship until he gets his money, is there an official Paypal or eBay link I can send him that says he should ship it under these circumstances?  All I can find in Google is a lot of forum posts complaining about the hold.

He's not sold much and it's a relatively high value item, so I can understand why he's fallen foul of this criteria.  Though how this is actually supposed to protect anyone is a mystery.  I can understand him not wanting to ship until he has the money, and I don't want to strong-arm him as I don't want to risk losing the item. 

I suppose it could be argued that it allows more time for fraudulent sellers to be identified, but if a scammer delays shipment until they recieve the funds anyway how exacttly would this help?  All it effectively does is mean that either the buyer or seller has to spend the hold period without their goods and money, increasing the temptation to complete outside eBay or Paypal.  In the meantime Paypal has my cash, which I suspect is a large part of the reason this policy exists.

Ray Von

[kernowlass]

The whole point of the hold is that the buyer gets their item before the hold is released, so if a seller is refusing to send an item until the 21 days are up then after about 7 days the buyer files a dispute for non receipt of item. > the seller is then forced to send or refund and if he does not his seller account is limited.

HERES SOME INFO FROM EBAY>

PayPal payment holds

 

How can I avoid having payments held?                            

When will PayPal release the payment hold?                                                         

Can held funds be used to pay for Postage & Packaging?                            

  When you sell an item and your buyer uses PayPal to pay you, PayPal sometimes holds that payment until they're sure the buyer is satisfied. A payment hold doesn't mean you've done anything wrong. There are several reasons a payment might be held. Some of the most common reasons are:

• You're a new seller

• You're selling in a new category

• You've had disputes with buyers in the past

• You haven't yet established good Feedback or detailed seller ratings (DSRs)

• A buyer has opened a case with you for an item not received or an item that doesn't match the listing description

Find out more details about PayPal payment holds.

[kernowlass]

Also send them this >>.


How can I get the payments released before 21 days.

1. If your buyer leaves feedback (pos) then funds are normally released within 48 hours of that feedback being left.
2. If you decide to send an item trackable then you can add the tracking number to the details of the paypal transaction and funds are then released when the item shows as delivered + 3 days.

[RayVonGeezer]

Thanks again for your quick response.

He's not happy about shipping it before he gets his funds, and I don't see how I have a leg to stand on trying to force him to do otherwise, not least because he included eBay's standard dispatch terms in his auction:-

"Will usually dispatch within 2 working days of receiving cleared payment."

"Dispatch time

The dispatch (or handling) time is the number of working days the seller will take to post the item after receiving your cleared payment. A payment is considered 'cleared' after the money from the buyer has been deposited into the seller's account. If the buyer pays by PayPal, the payment may clear immediately. However if the buyer pays by cheque or postal order, it may take several days."

By eBay's own terms he's quite within his rights not to ship.

So my choices are; wait 7 days then launch a dispute to try and force him to ship and risk him cancelling, cancel it myself and buy elsewhere, wait +21 days, or avoid Paypal altogether.  Not great, is it?

Ray Von 

[kernowlass]

He is not within his rights, what they mean by cleared payment is that it has cleared from your paypal account to his paypal account and it HAS.

The fact paypal are holding it does not change that fact.

If he makes you wait 21 days then the whole point of the payment hold is pointless as EBAY AND PAYPAL want the seller to ship the item asap and then when the buyer is happy they get their money.

[RayVonGeezer]

I don't think that meets the definition of a cleared payment that most reasonable people, including me, would understand.

I also don't appreciate that it appears to be up to me to educate or even get into a dispute with the seller, when according to my Paypal account the transaction is completed and that should mean he has my money.  When that isn't the case, Paypal should identify the fact for the buyer as well as the seller.

Thanks again for your time, but in future I think I'll be avoiding transacting through Paypal whenever possible.

Ray Von

[kernowlass]

No problem, i don't work for paypal and am just an ebay seller that posts here to try to help.

When your seller is new he is clearly told the reason for the pending payment.

I went through this myself as do all the sellers on ebay and until you have 100 successful transactions the pending status applies.

Luckily for me most of my buyers left feedback promptly and I got my funds quickly.

Rather than having a go at paypal for protecting you, maybe you should be having a go at your poor seller.