Charged $10 cash advance fee for Ebay purchase

[ryryjedo]

I was recently charged $10 plus $1.50 in interest for a purchase made on Ebay with my credit card. The bank called the purchase a "cash advance". I've been using Ebay for 19 years and I've never had that happen before. I am in the USA and the seller is in the USA. The item purchased was a baseball card. 

I called Ebay and they said it the purchase looks like a credit card transaction, but I need to call PayPal. I called PayPal and they said it is a credit card transaction and the seller doesn't even have the option to make it a cash advance. PayPal said to call the bank. I called Bank of America and they said it is a cash advance, I spoke to a supervisor who said the same thing and they won't waive any fees for me. They said to call PayPal back. I called PayPal and they said the same thing they said the first time - it's a credit card transaction.

Has anyone ever had a credit card transaction get classified as a cash advance by the bank for an Ebay purchase? I'm 99% sure the problem is with my bank. I think I might just cut ties with BOA and use my other credit card. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@ryryjedo wrote:

Has anyone ever had a credit card transaction get classified as a cash advance by the bank for an Ebay purchase? I'm 99% sure the problem is with my bank. I think I might just cut ties with BOA and use my other credit card. 

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I haven't.

BOA? Run...run fast and far! Same with Wells Fargo, Cap One and any of the megabanks.  Go to a regional or local bank, or even better, a credit union.

[dastap9594]

I've heard of it happening with Amazon purchases, BOA has some sort of glitch that they refuse to fix, mostly because it makes them money

[reallynicestamps]

I'm in Canada so our regulations may vary, but our banks use "cash advance" in two circumstances that I know of.

First when the cardholder uses the card to get cash from a bank.  It's a short term loan .

• It might be relevant that when a business takes a credit card as payment, they are also getting a "loan" of sorts from the bank, and are charged interest (from 0.1% to 5%) on the transaction.

Second, when the credit card is maxed out, the card company may in some cases allow a purchase, but will charge an immediate fee on the card.

• I haven't seen this done in years, not since debit cards became available, which draw on a bank account not ephemeral credit.
  When it was done, as I recall, it would be something like a $50 purchase when there was only $45 credit remaining. The extra $5 was allowed and a whopping "cash advance" fee added to the amount owing.