Pre authorization charges are killing me

[blazeaglory714]

Several times now Ebay has essentially  "double charged" as some people have been calling it. It's actually a pre authorization charge like gas stations do, or used to do,  but hotels do it for non fixed payments. 

Anyways this is really hurting me because my account goes negative every time and I'm charged multiple fees. Luckily my bank waves them. Not only that but my cash is held up for a week when I need it the most it seems.  I've been selling/ buying from Ebay since early 2000s and this has only been happening recently. I forget that Ebay does this but I need to try and remember so I can go somewhere else and not get stuck with a negative account. Not everyone has tons of cash in their accounts. 

This is just one more thing Ebay has done to alienate ppl. 

[ittybitnot]

Now a quick glance at the account does show 2 debits - but look closer and you will see a credit at the same time.

@richard1rst 

As an extension of my post #15, the problem is that with eBay the preauthorization and  credit as you say DO NOT HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME. It is NOT a function of the bank, it is a function of the merchant.   There is some sort of lag that can last for days or even longer, making both amounts unavailable to the buyer. 

This was made apparent when eBay began requiring some buyers to submit a payment method BEFORE being allowed to make an offer.  Those put a hold on the money, and it was not released even if the offer was denied by the seller. 

In post #9 @valueaddedresource  shows that eBay supposedly "cleaned up this mess", no longer did the pre-authorization holds etc. etc. yet people are again reporting something similar going on.  It is not just for the "make offer" scenario, but when a payment is made through checkout. 

Here are some of the original discussions that went on when this first started in case you are interested: 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-got-charged-immediately-for-a-quot-make-an-offer-quot-that-wa...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/2022-Winter-Seller-Update/Question-thread-Reducing-unpaid-items/td-p/3...

[richard1rst]

---

@ittybitnot wrote:

It is the MERCHANT that dictates the "preauthorization" AND when the preauthorization is released.   It is not a function of the bank. 

 @ittybitnot 

OK, for the sake of discussion, let’s say you are right and it is the function of the merchant (which in this case would be eBay) and not a decision by the bank.

Then explain the following graphic. It is identical in processing to the Shell example I gave above,

A preauth was posted on 8/15 for a purchase I mad on eBay,

A final transaction was posted on 8/16

So, yes, that is 2 debits.

BUT there was also a credit issued also on 8/16 which immediately cancelled the original preauth. So at no time was I ever out any more than the $8.16 which was the amount of the purchase. So, either the bank did that as I suggested, or eBay did that as you suggest. BUT then that raises the question: Why are they doing it for me and not for you?

MAYBE you are seeing 2 debits (and therefore believe you are being charged twice) but you are not seeing or even looking for the offsetting credit as I have shown here.

[kensgiftshop]

---

@richard1rst wrote:

When I get gas using my debit card, they automatically put $300 on hold, not including the regular payment.

That hold isn't released until after the original payment has been processed and cleared.

So, if I want $10 in gas, I have to have the extra $300 to cover the hold and it could be a week until the hold is released

Then quite frankly you may be using the wrong bank.

This is what I see from a recent purchase at a Shell station:

It is clear that my hold is released at the same time the final charge comes in. There is no delay, there is no double billing and at no time am I out any more than what I am actually spending.

It's your bank's fault if you are being hoisted (and frankly yours for going along with it instead of shopping around and asking pertinent questions).

---

It's not the bank, it's the gas stations that puts the hold on the funds.

Since we only have 3 gas stations and they all do the same thing, don't have much of a choice.

[kensgiftshop]

---

@ittybitnot wrote:

Now a quick glance at the account does show 2 debits - but look closer and you will see a credit at the same time.

@richard1rst 

As an extension of my post #15, the problem is that with eBay the preauthorization and  credit as you say DO NOT HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME. It is NOT a function of the bank, it is a function of the merchant.   There is some sort of lag that can last for days or even longer, making both amounts unavailable to the buyer. 

This was made apparent when eBay began requiring some buyers to submit a payment method BEFORE being allowed to make an offer.  Those put a hold on the money, and it was not released even if the offer was denied by the seller. 

In post #9 @valueaddedresource  shows that eBay supposedly "cleaned up this mess", no longer did the pre-authorization holds etc. etc. yet people are again reporting something similar going on.  It is not just for the "make offer" scenario, but when a payment is made through checkout. 

Here are some of the original discussions that went on when this first started in case you are interested: 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-got-charged-immediately-for-a-quot-make-an-offer-quot-that-wa...

https://community.ebay.com/t5/2022-Winter-Seller-Update/Question-thread-Reducing-unpaid-items/td-p/3...

---

The lag time kind of sucks sometimes.

Not on Ebay, but as soon as my card is run at the gas station, they put a hold on $300.

The real payment might not show up for a day or two, so I have that $300 setting there that I can't do anything with.

[ittybitnot]

BUT then that raises the question: Why are they doing it for me and not for you?

@richard1rst 

As suggested upthread, eBay was supposed to fix the issue that the temporary hold would be released when the final charge came through.  From the dates on your graphic that looks like what happened in your case.   Imagine if you did not get credit for the "temporary hold" on your graphic for a week after the charge came through.  Though yours is only $8.26, it might be of real concern for someone who paid $500. 

What we are trying to do is figure out if the "lag time" regarding  release of the pre-authorization or temporary hold is somehow back in operation again since there have been posts about this showing up.    In the past, the original temporary hold was NOT being released in a timely fashion.  

[natalieportmanfan]

I've just had this issue myself on a Vanillia Gift Visa debit card I recieved as a gift.

I was at checkout when I went to purchase and the eBay pre-authorization both stopped the purchase completely, and still currently has my money on hold on the debit card, since 09/21. It was an amount in the hundreds as well. This pre-authorization has rendered the card completely worthless until the hold is over, which is who knows when, as well as made me not want to use eBay.

Because why would I run the gamble of having my card be completely inoperable for potential weeks on end everytime I go to checkout on eBay, instead of simply using other sites.

This is a huge issue and needs to be addressed as fast as possible by eBay.

[devon@ebay]

---

@valueaddedresource wrote:

devon@ebay  during the Spring Seller Update discussion, seller_update@ebay said that funds should no longer be pre-authorized or held on offers that require a payment method.

While there was an issue with that occurring several months ago, this should no longer be the case at all. We do not perform pre-authorization holds. A Buyer's card or PayPal account will be charged only if a Seller accepts. If a Buyer has chosen PayPal, there would be a "pending" order on their account but no money is held (regardless of if the funding source was via credit card or checking account).

https://community.ebay.com/t5/2022-Spring-Seller-Update/Question-thread-Expanding-efforts-to-reduce-... 

However, reports kept coming in that people were still seeing preauthorizations. So I asked Velvet about it back in May and she said

We aren't pre-authorizing payments for offers. You should not see a charge of any kind unless the seller accepts your offer and at that time, the payment will go through immediately.

If you are seeing otherwise, then I would encourage you to contact Customer Support to get that reported. They'll most likely need the item numbers and screen shots showing where we pre-authorized/held funds for these offers. You can black out account/private info in the screen shots, but the tech team will need to see where we actually held the funds on the offers you made. 

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/I-got-charged-immediately-for-a-quot-make-an-offer-quot-that-wa... 

And yet, here we are in September and people are still seeing pre-authorizations so....what's going on here?

Were the answers previously given incorrect and buyers should expect to see preauthorizations or is this *still* an ongoing technical issue?

---

Hey @valueaddedresource! I can reach out to the correct team on this and once I hear back from them with an update I will be sure to share that information. 

[fimuki]

Made purchases on Sep 29, 2022, eBay still holding an equivalent sum of pre-authorization on my bank account. Used PayPal linked to a debit card and obviously payments were handled immediately. EBAY,  seriously do something about this. This is not acceptable at all. Are you doing this on purpose to alienate consumers from your service? Order numbers 07-09161-28511 and 07-09161-28510.

[valueaddedresource]

devon@ebay  - just flagging this as still an issue for you. Any updates from the team?

[devon@ebay]

---

@valueaddedresource wrote:

devon@ebay  - just flagging this as still an issue for you. Any updates from the team?

---

Hey @valueaddedresource! I have not heard back on this but I will be sure to reach back out to the correct team to see if they have any updates on this. 

[fimuki]

Reporting that the pre-authorization has now disappeared from my bank account and usable balance is once again correct. I do not know whether any particular activity was carried out by eBay in regards to this, but nevertheless immediate situation is cleared. I won't be using a debit / PayPal method anymore unless there is absolute certainty that this situation would not re-occur.

[southern-finds]

Do you even know what a pre authorization charge is? Apparently not.. If OP has $100 in bank account and uses debit card on ebay for $50 purchase, ebay puts a pre authorization hold for $50, it will show as "pending " until the $50 transaction is complete, which takes anywhere from 2-4 days, so instead of having a $50 balance, they have a $0 balance,  once complete the hold is removed and the $50 is released back into account. 

[southern-finds]

"We aren't pre-authorizing payments for offers"

Did you not read this before replying? 

[southern-finds]

The merchant is the one that places the pre authorization hold, not the bank! 

[evry1nositswindy]

The merchant places the hold to be sure they get their money.   I used to work at a bank.  Overnight when all the checks and debit card purchases came through, the pre-authorized debits took precedence.  They were taken from the balance first.