Locked
Discussions in this board are limited to the original poster and Community Mentors
Is this a scam?
Summary: gamegeek8902 is frustrated with eBay due to unexpected holds on funds from recent auctions and confusing account notifications. They report being informed of a policy change delaying payment until three days post-delivery without prior notice, and receiving a marketing pitch for faster payouts at a fee. gamegeek8902 feels eBay is penalizing them for using a third-party shipping service, Pirate Ship, rather than eBay's own labels. mr_lincoln points out that new or low activity sellers might experience fund holds but suggests this is not due to label purchase choices. The discussion highlights ongoing dissatisfaction with eBay's processes and communication.
payout status for my 7 recently closed auctions, as well as clarification on a highly confusing sequence of account notifications I received surrounding these sales.
I want to highlight the timeline and nature of the messages sent to my account, which have created an unexpected barrier to my cash flow:
The Policy Shift: On Thursday, the exact day my auctions closed, I received a message stating I would not be paid in the standard 2-day timeframe, but would instead be paid 3 days post-delivery. No prior warning or notice was given before the auctions finalized.
Missing Disclosures: At no point in any official communication did eBay state that a 6-to-7-day post-delivery hold would be enforced on my funds. I only discovered this extended restriction by logging in later.
The Upsell Message: On Sunday, while my items were actively in transit, I received an unprompted system message offering to expedite my funds if I paid an extra fee for "Express Payouts." Receiving a pitch for a paid financial service while my earned funds were delayed without clear policy notice is highly concerning.
Tracking Contradictions: Currently, my Seller Hub explicitly marks 6 of my packages as "Confirmed Delivered" via the tracking numbers I provided. The 7th package was an international order for which I purchased an official eBay shipping label. While my online dashboard fails to update the tracking for this item past the initial scan, telephone support has manually confirmed that the package successfully reached eBay’s own global distribution center.
Because all 7 transactions have successfully reached their destinations or are physically in eBay's possession, the terms of these sales have been fully satisfied. It seems ebay is punishing me for not buying my labels from them and are therefore holding my earnings hostage while trying to deceive me into paying them more money to get my fuds quicker
I paid a premium to eaby for their services. The whole point is to sell and be paid for sales quickly and efficiently. I came home this evening in preparation to list 26 more auctions but the incentive to further use ebay has significantly declined.
mr_lincoln
Mentor2 weeks agoHi @gamegeek8902
You have only sold those 7 items in the last 90 days and a total of 34 items during the life of your account. New and low activity Sellers can have their funds held for up to 31 days so if eBay is only saying 3 days after confirmed delivery then consider yourself lucky ... Transaction holds | eBay
However, that hold of 3 days after confirmed delivery could change too just so you know. I certainly hope that it doesn't but it could.
gamegeek8902
OP2 weeks agoAh, ebay sent me a message after my auctions closed saying funds would be held for 3 days after delivery. They never said anything about 7 days until I went and inspected my delivered order statuses. I opened a new account to sell those original 27 items a year ago and didn't have to wait at all for payouts. I read the transactions holds policies after discovering my fund were being held. Ebay is literally punishing me for not buying labels from them, holding my funds hostage while not even providing current stats on the label I did buy from them and trying to sell me additional services that wouldn't even make a difference on my held payouts. Ironic
mr_lincoln
Mentor2 weeks ago@gamegeek8902
Did you ADD the tracking number to the sold items manually? That is for your protection and if you did that eBay is not punishing you for not using their labels. However, they have a new Seller protection when using their labels and shipping within your handling time, this is the basic explanation:
If the following criteria is met eBay will reimburse you if the package is eventually delivered after you have refunded a Buyer through an eBay claim that they did not receive their package AND delivery is confirmed through tracking on eBay. eBay launched this new Seller protection in late 2025.
1. Seller prints the shipping label through eBay
2. Seller ships and gets a carrier scan within their Handling time
3. Buyer files a claim through eBay that they did not receive their package AND the Seller refunds the Buyer through the eBay claim
4. The package is delivered later and after the Buyer has been refunded, eBay tracking confirms the delivery
gamegeek8902
OP2 weeks agoI used Pirate Ship for my labels because I can collect points on my credit card for shipping with them. Pirate Ship integrates with ebay and ports all the tracking info automatically. What exactly is the difference to ebay if I buy the label from them or not? If I ship an empty box with an ebay label and they payout in their 2 day timeframe, it's an empty box and I get paid. They frame it as if they cannot trust tracking if I didn't buy the same label from ebay. The difference to ebay is that by not buying the label from ebay I don't get points on my credit card to help off set the fact that ebay takes a percentage of what I pay for the label. Ebay essentially charges the buyer AND the seller for shipping. They only warn of a 7 day hold AFTER the item has sold and they try to deceive the seller into buying "faster payouts." It's seems pretty cut and dry when you consider everything.
gamegeek8902
OP2 weeks agoBecoming a Threat to eBay Shipping (2020)
The platform transitioned from a niche alternative to a major competitor during the 2020 e-commerce boom. It challenged eBay’s shipping dominance through a few key strategic moves:
Seamless API Integration: Pirate Ship released a direct integration that allowed users to link their eBay accounts with one click. The software automatically imported order details and seamlessly passed tracking numbers back to eBay. This eliminated the convenience advantage that previously kept sellers locked into eBay’s native platform. [1, 2]
Diversified Carrier Access: When Pirate Ship added deep UPS discounts to its platform, it directly challenged the discounted FedEx and USPS rates eBay relied on, offering a highly reliable alternative during peak holiday shipping backlogs. [1, 2]
Superior Dispute Support: eBay’s shipping tool historically offered poor customer service for post-shipping weight audits or carrier discrepancies. Pirate Ship capitalized on this by offering fast, live human support to handle carrier disputes. [1, 2]
The Lasting Impact
While Pirate Ship didn't steal eBay's marketplace traffic, it significantly chipped away at eBay's secondary revenue stream—the cut eBay makes from processing millions of shipping labels internally. To this day, a massive contingent of top-rated resellers bypass eBay's label page entirely, automatically routing their fulfillment workflow through Pirate Ship. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Sounds like punishment so Ebay holds your fund to collect interest while you wait...
mr_lincoln
Mentor2 weeks ago@gamegeek8902
eBay gives you a discount on ALL services except USPS Media Mail, nobody gets a discount on that service. Do you pay retail prices on pirateship or a discounted rate? I am just sharing what you get with using eBay. Where you get your labels and why is certainly your decision to make.
gamegeek8902
OP1 week ago · EditedPirate Ship is also discounted and when I compared, are the exact same price as ebay, down to the penny.
What you get with ebay is screwed if you don't buy the label from them. In fact the one label I did buy was for an international order, was mailed on the 31st and has been sitting in their consolidation center for the past 4 days, exactly 1 state away. The order status on that says I'll get paid out 2 days after delivery even though ebay is in physical possession of the package. Seems like they should paid out now since they have the item and are so confident in their service. Guess not though, Great service....