Funds being held by Ebay for no reason

[blue-butterfly-10]

I have been selling on Ebay for many years & have an excellent record with Ebay.  Completed very recent sales with no problems.  Now, after last sale, I get notice that my funds are being held until confirmation of shipping.  Ebay has always taken 3 days to put funds in my bank account, but is now holding even longer? 

I've always waited until I got paid before shipping because this is what Ebay recommends.  I have written in my listings that I ship within 3 business days so I can be sure the funds are in my bank account before shipping & I can be certain seller is not cancelling.

After lengthy chat with Ebay manager & repeatedly being told "it's Ebay's algorithm", he never gave me a legitimate reason for funds being held.  Is Ebay holding funds to earn interest on our money?  They've been paid, why can't I get paid?  Do I notify buyer that Ebay won't pay me so I have to cancel the sale?  Why is Ebay choosing to punish Sellers with excellent sales records?  I used to recommend Ebay to friends & help them get started selling.  I will no longer be doing this.  Does anyone have recommendations for online selling websites so I can leave Ebay?   

[ebooksdiva]

eBay holds funds from new or infrequent sellers to ensure the safety of the eBay community.

It is all writen in the policies.

Payments on hold | eBay

[mtgraves7984]

I've always waited until I got paid before shipping because this is what Ebay recommends.

@blue-butterfly-10 

If the item is in your Seller Hub/Orders/Awaiting shipment, then you've been paid. My guess is that your funds are being held since you haven't sold in awhile... you'll be treated as a 'new' seller for a bit. Hang in there!

[buyselljack2016 · Accepted solution]

@blue-butterfly-10 

You have been paid by the buyer when eBay shows "awaiting shipping". That payment is confirmed. It just needs time to process, and be released to you.

You just don't have the funds in your account yet. As others posted, standard procedure for infrequent sellers, so there is indeed a reason for the payment delay. Those delays will end as you sell more items.

You need to ship within your stated handling time. Cancelling sales, or not shipping within your stated handling time because the funds are not yet in your checking account will result in defects/dings on your account. Defects can lead to higher selling fees, or suspension.

[blue-butterfly-10]

I've been selling on Ebay for years, have an "Above Standard" rating & never took a break from selling.  I'm not an "infrequent seller".  I haven't been listing a lot of items recently because I have been busy elsewhere.  My sales never stopped.  I had sold several items, with no problems, before Ebay put this restriction on my payments.  I even shipped early to Buyers during the Holidays even though I state in my listings that I have a 3 business day shipping policy (because Ebay takes that long to transfer money to my verified bank account.)  I would ship sooner if Ebay would give me my funds quicker.   I never cancel orders nor ship late.  I check my Ebay account daily for any issues.  There have never been any until now.  I thought Ebay was set up for Sellers to sell however many items they wished.  I now have to sell a set number of items, within a set amount of time,  or Ebay will hold my fees?  This is something Amazon does to get rid of Sellers who sell on a limited basis.

Ebay has been paid, not me.  There is no money in my bank account, so I have not been paid.  The Buyer thinks they've paid me, but they have only paid Ebay.  Ebay has received their fees (including fees I'm charged for taxes & shipping costs that I never see & that go to IRS & shipping company).  What happens if Buyer cancels purchase while I'm waiting long time to get paid?  Ebay is Buyer focused & told me that they had to be in order to keep Buyers coming to their website.  Just because Ebay has been paid, does not mean I will be.  I've lost trust in Ebay because everything I've been told about why I can't get my funds makes no sense to me.  I'm not guilty of any wrong dong & feel like Ebay is punishing me  & won't tell me why.  I spoke with 2 Ebay employees & can't get an answer except it's "Ebay's algorithm & there's nothing that can be done."

[blue-butterfly-10]

You stated in your response:   "you haven't sold in awhile."  This is not accurate.  I've been selling, never stopped selling, & had sales during the Holidays.  All sales went through with no problems & I even shipped early to accommodate Buyers.  I do see that Buyers are slow to leave feedback, but it is always good feedback.

[blue-butterfly-10]

I'm not an "infrequent seller".  I've been selling, never stopped selling, & had no problems with sales during the Holidays.

[blue-butterfly-10]

I read the "Payments on Hold" section before posting on this community forum.  Nothing on the page applies to my situation.  I'm not "new" or an "Infrequent seller."  I've been selling recently with no problems until now.  I've had a strong selling history for years with no problems, until now.

"New or infrequent sellers will experience transaction holds while learning best selling practices. This helps sellers become established and build a strong selling history on eBay. New sellers typically experience holds for up to 14 days, although sometimes it may be longer."

[dryophelia]

@blue-butterfly-10 

You can pay for shipping labels using the held funds, you do not need money in your bank. 

Looking at your solds, you have sold 2 items in the last 90 days. 
You have not received any seller feedback, before these 2 recent sales, for more than a year. That doesn’t jibe with your statement of ‘never taking a break from selling. 

Buyers can’t cancel on a whim. Buyers can request a cancellation, but until the seller agrees with that request, the transaction continues. 
Buyers can file an item not received case when the item doesn’t arrive by the estimated delivery date.
You will never be paid if you you don’t ship. 

[ms.rodriguez*]

Like the others told you, you can print a shipping label through Ebay Shipping. The exact amount of the label is released by ebay.  Do NOT keep your buyer waiting.    There should be a reason why your funds are on hold. LOOK in MY EBAY and then look at MESSAGES.  Read all messages by ebay. This is the best place to read Ebay messages since a spam blocker might block the emails in your email account.    I am wondering if you gave Ebay your social security number? It's required by law.  This would be one reason why Ebay will hold your money.   Also did you sign up for MANAGED PAYMENTS?    I am pretty sure if the funds are held up by these 2 reasons, you will find the emails in MY EBAY.     In order to see your money , you MUST give ebay what they want.  Sometimes, they may require a valid ID like a driver's license.

Oh yes, no one here wants to hear that you do not feel comfortable supplying ebay with that information. We have heard it before and don't want to hear it again.  Also, the vast majority of us sell successfully, and we have given Ebay what they want.   Come back here if you do not know how to find MY EBAY.

[blue-butterfly-10]

I'm not new to Ebay.  I've been selling for many years with no problems until now.  I know how to find MY EBAY.  I look at it multiple times a day.  I check messages multiple times a day.  Ebay never sent me a message telling me they were going to start holding my funds.  I was already making sales over the Holiday season without any problems.  Then all of a sudden, I can't get paid.  I only discovered this because I never received an email about my payout being sent & began searching the multiple pages I have to go through any time I sell anything & finally found it in an obscure location.  To this date, Ebay has never sent me notice that my payments are now being held or given me a reason why.

As far as I can discern, I'm up to date on everything with Ebay.  They've never told me otherwise.  I've always printed my labels through Ebay shipping.  No problems there except when I look at details of a sale, I see multiple conflicting details about when a package is expected to arrive.  Even today, when I looked at the Order Details for the for the package I can't get paid for, it shows the package has already been delivered.  Ebay offers conflicting comments & dates on when the money will be released.  All the sales I've made recently have had conflicting information every time I click on a different page regarding the sale.  It's a mess that I blame on Ebay's tech people.  I used to say it wasn't worth my time to let them know about the conflicting info, but now has become a major problem.

As far as Ebay requiring SSN -- Amazon started requiring that a couple years ago, so I'm very familiar with that process.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Ebay looks at past 90 days. You've sold 2 things in 90 days. In their eyes, you are now a 'new' seller (again) because with that lag your account could have been compromised.

Also- NEVER wait until you get the $ in your bank to ship. You ship the moment the items are show in the Seller Hub under 'orders ready to ship' (doesn't matter when you actually get the $). You can use 'pending funds' to purchase said shipping label (money from the sale, just need to choose that at the bottom). 

[blue-butterfly-10]

The info you're seeing about my sale record is incorrect.  I've never stopped selling.  I have to keep sales going.  It's how I pay my bills.  I talked to Ebay about this being inaccurate, but they couldn't come up with a reason why it shows this way.  Also, buyers only leave feedback about half the time.  When I first started selling with Ebay, I requested feedback from buyers through email requests.  One buyer was enraged that I would ask for feedback & told me to never contact them again or they would report me.  So I never ask buyers for feedback any more.  It's up to them.

At the very least, Ebay could have told me they were going to start holding my funds so I could have addressed this mess earlier.  It really caught me off guard & was very unexpected.  Also, for them to tell me after several conversations that there's nothing they can do shows were Ebay is today -- not caring about sellers. 

[ms.rodriguez*]

Ok. I wasn't trying to insult you but there have been posts here from folks that have been around a long time and never signed into Managed Payments.   I have read that sometimes ebay holds payments for 30 days on very expensive items and also in demand electronics.  Do you sell anything expensive recently.  Could any of the purchases been to a foreign country?    If you can't resolve this problem with any of the suggestions here from others and myself, have you tried contacting Facebook?  They seem to solve many people's problems and they speak English fluently.

[stainlessenginecovers]

You've received 1 feedback as a seller in the past year; you've sold 2 things the past 90 days (they don't show beyond that) and you currently have 7 items listed.

How 'OFF' are all these figures? Do you have more than 1 account and the 'other' account has all those 'sales' and 'feedback'? Because this one, both feedback, amount sold and amount listed all are VERY low.