Buyer has paid but money is not in pending payouts?

[savage_inequalities]

Had something strange happen to me for the first time on eBay in over 1300 items sold. I will start by saying since I began selling on eBay, I have always and only used eBay managed payouts. Today, I was paid for an item that a buyer won yesterday. Like always, I received the email notification that the buyer had paid, and when I went on eBay, it notified me that the buyer had paid and now was the time to print my shipping label. 

However, when I clicked on the item (prior to purchasing the label) to see what my profits for this transaction netted down to, I could not locate that information (like I can for every other item that has been paid for). Then, when I went to my Payments page under the Seller tab, I was shocked to see that the money from the transaction was not in my pending payouts, but the eBay selling fees and eBay Promoted Listing fee that I used for this item, had been deducted! In other words, my total funds in pending payouts are in the negative (because the actual money for the item never spilled over, but the fees associated with the sale did)!

I called eBay, and a very kind representative acknowledged the very bizarre discrepancy. He put me on hold to speak to a higher up and see if this was unique to me, or if this was an issue other buyers have been experiencing lately. Apparently, he said it seemed to just be me and unique to this transaction. Regardless, he told me to hold off on shipping the item, and that he was going to file a report and have eBay IT work on the issue. He also notified me to keep an eye out for the next day or two to see if the money eventually does spill over, and if not, to call back (he said eBay would be aware of the problem, because he has reported the situation to the appropriate department). 

My question is: has anyone else ever experienced this? How did eBay resolve it? Did it resolve on its own (the eBay representative made it seem like that was also a possibility as it could be a temporary glitch)? If eBay is going to manage payments, they really need to take swift action when things like this go wrong. As I mentioned: the buyer has clearly paid, eBay has already deducted the selling fees and is telling me it is time to ship, but for reasons neither I or the eBay representative could understand, the actual payment for the item did not spill over into my funds. Like I said, I'll keep an eye on the situation, and continue to reach out to eBay as needed, but has this precise situation ever happened to anyone else? What was the outcome? 

[eburtonlab]

Thursday night is when eBay does server maintenance, and this can cause odd errors. Wait a bit and see if things look different in the morning.

[microb-376]

I had the exact same thing happen just the other day and thought it was very weird that it didn’t show up in pending payments so I held off on shipping the item. I’m still holding the item as I didn’t want to lose out money and the item, but I hadn’t heard anything from eBay yet. I told the buyer if it doesn’t process, I’d repost it and honor the price since it seems eBay customer service doesn’t always solve problems quick or perfectly. Would be curious to see what they tell you as well. 

[mam98031]

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@microb-376 wrote:

I had the exact same thing happen just the other day and thought it was very weird that it didn’t show up in pending payments so I held off on shipping the item. I’m still holding the item as I didn’t want to lose out money and the item, but I hadn’t heard anything from eBay yet. I told the buyer if it doesn’t process, I’d repost it and honor the price since it seems eBay customer service doesn’t always solve problems quick or perfectly. Would be curious to see what they tell you as well. 

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Oh this is a very dangerous thing to do.  It risks the health of your Selling account.  As a seller you are required to ship within your stated handling time.

If Ebay is telling you the item is paid for, then it will appear on your Seller Dashboard in the Order tile under Awaiting Shipment - Print Shipping label.

If it is NOT paid for, then it will appear in the same Tile, but under Awaiting Payment.

It is likely that if you go and look at the details of your Money, if the buyer paid it is likely under HELD funds.  You are paid, but your money is held as you have not been an active seller for awhile.

https://www.ebay.com/sh/fin/summary

Ebay has had a rule for many years that pertains to New Seller and sellers that have been away from selling for 90+ days. The following is the policy that outlines why you money is likely on hold.

https://export.ebay.com/en/fees-and-payments/payments/payment-holds/

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/getting-paid-items-youve-sold/payments-hold?id=4816&&...

[mam98031]

@savage_inequalities  it is likely your issue is the same as what I posted for @microb-376 .

[microb-376]

It’s been 2 days since they bought it so I’m still within the number of days that I have to get the item shipped. I also messaged the buyer and they are aware of the circumstances I’ve told here and it seemed like they understood.

That being said, and I’m assuming for both of our cases, but for sure in mine, the money is not even in the held or pending section. I’ve been going at this eBay thing consistently for the past 8 months so I don’t think I would be considered a new seller or someone who’s been away for 90 days either. 

I’m assuming it’s either some new scam that I haven’t seen before or just a genuine issue on eBay’s part, but either way, I’m not going to ship an expensive item without getting paid for it, so if that dings my seller rating, so be it. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

what do you consider 'expensive'?? 

Most items sold for around the $20 range; 1 item $105- is that the one? If so, it shows it was sold (just look at your 'sold' items, being signed out)

[microb-376]

It was $50 but took an offer for $45. Not crazy expensive but that plus what I paid for it initially wouldn’t be nothing to lose.

But if thats not showing on there, which wouldn’t surprise me, shows there’s still an issue at play as I have the notice to send it and that it has been paid for. If it’s not some sort of scam which I don’t really think it is, eBay will have to sort it out. 

[microb-376]

It finally went through so no worries, not sure if eBay had to do something manually or there was just a time it had to wait or something but either way, no scam, just a very interesting thing to have happen since I hadn’t seen it before. 

Thanks for the replies and information everyone as well.