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Clear off eBay and forget Paypal


Damonjames
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I have just found out that PayPal are withholding my funds from an eBay sale of an item for what I can only gather, is I have 1-3 day handling time and a 1-3 day delivery time (2nd class recorded).

I would hardly describe this as unfair, unrealistic or excessive times. I AM NOT AN EBAY BUSINESS!

They are quick enough to TAKE your money, and through talking with the purchaser, the funds have left his account!

This is just obscene money grabbing, I have NO negative feedback in the 7 plus years I have been buying/selling on eBay and now they spring this crap.

Sorry for the vitriol, me think this will be the last time I use either service.

Mods, feel free to edit as appropriate, just had to vent!

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[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1389628438' post='2336274']
I have 100% positive feedback!
[/quote]

Exactly the same happened to me about 6 months ago. I also had 100% feedback and when I complained via email I got an auto response saying it was because my rating was not 100%. After about 3 emails going backwards and forwards I gave up because they simply don't read the emails. I too am not a business and really needed the cash, but they didnt care

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[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1389628438' post='2336274']
I have 100% positive feedback!
[/quote]

You misread me :( .

I mean you have to have sold 100 items and received positive feedback for each one, therefore 100 positive feedbacks as a seller.

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I think they do this to those of us who are under a certain threshold as a seller. It's nothing to do with your feedback level, just the amount of stuff you have sold, if I remember correctly.

Edit: ambient beat me to it.

Edited by BassBus
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I have 100% feedback too, and in over 100 transactions, but I've never sold anything on there, so they'd do the same to me.

My sister in law sold a load of furniture and other items from her late Grandfathers house a few months ago. She'd bought loads of stuff but never sold anything.

The same happened to her, she had one hell of a job getting her money for one item. The buyer disappeared and didn't leave feedback. It took weeks of emails to paypal and ebay before they released her money. Despite sending them numerous copies of the receipt from the courier and the tracking number showing it as delivered.

There's also the risk of the buyer turning around and saying the item is broken or faulty, as happened to my other sister in law. The buyer got a refund, my sister in law received an empty box back from the buyer :( .

Edited by ambient
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I think if I put up any gear for sale through ebay these days I'd do cash on collection only or find another route. They charge enough just to act as a hosting site for your ad/auction without taking a cut of the money changing hands as well. I specifically made my last bass sale on eBay a pickup only / cash deal in the ad (having had too much tyre kicking going on trying to sell it here) and it went no problem so it can be done.

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I don't think you can beat Gumtree.

I sold an Ikea bookcase on Gumtree last year. I placed the advert, and literally within 2 minutes of posting it the phone rang with someone wanting it.

I've sold 2 basses on there, a condenser mic, studio monitors, an amp, and numerous bits of furniture.

Best thing of all is it's free, and they come and collect it and pay cash :D .

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EBay do seem to be trying to make it as poor as experience as possible for sellers these days, I would be extremely unhappy if I sold a guitar and had to wait for the seller to leave feedback before I got paid, doesn't this just put all the eggs in the buyers basket? Buy an item, receive it, use it, abuse it and all the time the seller is having to wait until you can be bothered to leave feedback.

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I had my paypal stopped because according to ebay/paypal someone had tried to hack it but had been unsucessful.....had to wait 28 days with 1500 quid in limbo, not a great experience....they then said it was a mistake and no one had tried to hack the account!?'?!

Nowadays i have as little as possible (zero?) in my paypal account.

a guy i deal with in my business of used car sales told me he had the same thing happen a few years back..only he had 23k in the account and took 6 months to clear up to be told no problem found....


too many horror stories abound of paypal for my liking...and just lately i've had 3 bad experiences on fleabay....never again.

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It's such a shame, I have been buying/selling for years on eBay, and put thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars/pounds through their hands, and this is the way it's panned out.
Gumtree I find tedious, and there is nowhere near the level of stuff on there. The email system is a downright joke, it's been taking a full day just to get the email to say that my question has been sent.

Thanks to the mods for the edit, it was probably a touch inappropriate, I was livid this afternoon when I posted!

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[quote name='Damonjames' timestamp='1389645647' post='2336573']
Thanks to the mods for the edit, it was probably a touch inappropriate, I was livid this afternoon when I posted!
[/quote]

Sorry for editing the title into something my grandad would say, it just made me chuckle a bit :D

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I sell on eBay and have never had this issue... yet! And I have way less than 100 sales, although my feedback is currently 100% positive. I've just sold a bunch of items and have received instant payment for each one without any of the buyers leaving feedback.

Have you guys fully upgraded and verified your PayPal accounts? (the final step involving sending them copies of your passport and a utility bill). If not I'm wondering if that might be the cause.

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You have to send copies of your passport :blink: , why ?

Gotta say that's definitely not something that I'd fancy doing. What do they do with it when they've finished with it ?

I don't like them, and I'd just be reluctant for them to have a copy of my passport and a utility bill.

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1389660878' post='2336786']
You have to send copies of your passport :blink: , why ?

Gotta say that's definitely not something that I'd fancy doing. What do they do with it when they've finished with it ?

I don't like them, and I'd just be reluctant for them to have a copy of my passport and a utility bill.
[/quote]

It's apparently a fraud prevention measure.

The first step is to do the bank account verification: they bill you for a small amount of money - or pay it in, I can't remember - and the payment has a code attached that you can view in your statement. You enter the code and that's the first stage of verification completed.

Next they ask for a scanned copy of your passport (or other photo ID) and a utility bill. It happens when you reach a certain sending or receiving limit on eBay.

I read up on it at the time, uploaded the paperwork (you do this through your PayPal account, [u]not[/u] through an email - beware of phishing scams!) and since then I've had no problems or delayed payments.

PayPal are a bank - they're governed by the exact same laws as banks - so I guess I decided to trust them with this info in same way I would any bank when I open an account.

Hope that helps!

Edited by Skol303
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[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1389661884' post='2336791']PayPal are a bank - they're governed by the exact same laws as banks ...[/quote]
PayPal Europe is registered as a bank in Luxembourg, which allows it to operate its money transfer and merchant payment systems in Europe, but it does not operate as other high street banks do, or even as other online banking organisations do, in the EU. Previous to relocating its business to Luxembourg, PayPal Europe was registered in the UK, not as a bank but as an electronic payment handler. The primary organisation in the US is not registered as a bank, but as a money transfer service. Oddly, in the US, its registrations are on a state footing, which means it's not governed by US federal law. Personally, I found it's revised terms and conditions, circa 2008, to be unfairly weighted, giving it much more extensive withholding and charge-back powers than supportable under normal commercial practices. That's when I deregistered as a merchant account holder.

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First time I sold on Ebay, my money was held for 90 days because I was a first time seller. The money was paid when the buyer finally left me positive feedback. The problem with this, though, is that some buyers aren't too quick to leave feedback, and in fact, some never left any feedback. I had to wait 90 days to get my money. Worst of all - I was only selling the stuff to get money for a Red Hot Chili Peppers gig that I was going to, which meant travelling to Dublin and staying the weekend in ROI (with a relative). I didn't have the eBay money, so things were very tight that trip, and the prices of everything down south was sky high. I was pretty angry.

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[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1389677290' post='2336807']First time I sold on Ebay, my money was held for 90 days because I was a first time seller. The money was paid when the buyer finally left me positive feedback. [/quote]

Hi Milty. That's weird... in that I've [i]never[/i] had any eBay payments withheld by PayPal, whether the buyer has left feedback or not (not even my first payment received, as you mention).

Is your PayPal account linked directly to your bank account? And have you verified and upgraded your PayPal account? (both of which are free to do - it's just a bit of a faff).

Seems odd that I'm not having any of these issues that you are guys are reporting :huh:

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eBay/PayPal are a monopoly, so they can do what they like. I've never understood why they are so hostile to sellers - it's the sellers who provide their profits. Yet it's the buyer who is always favoured in any dispute, regardless.

A case of bending over backwards for the buyers while bending the sellers over forwards. Or something...

Edited by discreet
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