I purchased an Item and the seller never accepted payment.

[Rob_Brande]

I purchased a book on eBay using buy it now, and paid immediately. The seller never accepted payment. I emailed the seller with no response, so I canceled payment and ordered the same book from another seller, who has better feedback and a long record of sales using paypal.

My question is, how long will my funds be on hold? And if the seller finally decides to accept payment, will I then be held accountable for those charges?

[PayPal_Adrian]

Rob_Brande,

Excellent question!

The answer is going to depend on how you "cancelled payment."

If the PayPal payment was unclaimed and you canceled it there, the reason there would be a hold on the funds is because it was a bank transfer.  Three to five business days after the payment was initially sent (weekends/holidays don't count), the bank transfer will finish processing and the funds will be placed in your balance, where you can withdraw them for free or use them for another purchase.

If you mean that you cancelled your commitment to buy with eBay, and the payment still shows unclaimed in PayPal, then you'll want to cancel the payment if possible.  Log in and find the payment, and in the action drop down, select to cancel it.

If that option is not available in PayPal, it means the payment can't be cancelled, but if the seller hasn't claimed it by the end of 30 days, it will automatically cancel on it's own.

Thanks!

Adrian