1st and 2nd Class Post - Payments on Hold for 31 Days

[santlache_sales]

This is really taking the P...

Apparently now if you send an item 1st or 2nd Class Post, no tracking, eBay will put the funds on hold for 31 days as it can't be shown as being delivered.

They won't release the money even when the buyer has left you Feedback

I sell Medal Wallets, Ten for £2-79 + £1 Postage Second Class.

Minimum Royal Mail Tracked 48 Postage is £2-95, so nobody is going to buy with the postage costing more than the item, yet eBay now won't release the money for 31 days. *bleep* !

This needs to stop asap, I am a business who has been here almost 25 years and now they are doing this !

So basically you can not sell on eBay now unless you send it tracked, so no small ticket items are viable anymore as you'll have to wait 31 days for your payment, even though the buyer has left you feedback and are happy, eBay system is so rubbish it can't work this out.

Anyone else have this problem which has only just started apparently ?

[custom-giftsuk]

I was told this as well, and was told in no uncertain terms that this was happening and I do mean "no uncertain terms". The member of the payments team I spoke to from Dublin was very insistent I understand this as the "new norm". 

Methinks it's to do with the rise in "fraud" that showed up on the eBay spreadsheets in the global Q3 figures specifically blaming fraud for the jump in losses. 

You can find out here

Re: eBay Transaction Losses Up 19% In Q3, Mostly D... - Page 3 - UK eBay Community

[santlache_sales]

Have ebay only just worked this out ?

ebay's Flagship Policy, "Your item or your money back guarantee" is so open to abuse and fraud that people here have been saying this ever since they introduced it....

Yet ebay have just woken up to it, and because of this they are now punishing good exemplary sellers by holding your money for 31 days before releasing it.

Time to ditch this platform as a business

[custom-giftsuk]

 Its been that way for a long while. This new thing, is down to evri/simple delivery mess and the increase of people on the take, mainly because they see it on social media and try to take advantage.

It's either tracked or its gonna be held in escrow by ebay for the time being. Yeah it doesnt help at all, it sucks, but if you think about it from ebay's point of view. They get to hold your money and get a small interest from it (every little helps), and they can put their hand on their heart and say "they are doing it for the buyers", which it also kinda is as well. Its a win/win for ebay and thats what matters to ebay.

Yeah it sucks but its understandable from their point of view.

[krafty-kreations]

Doing what for the buyers?

As a business seller if an item is not received and untracked we refund, not sure why they need to hold the money for 31 days.

The only INR i have had recently is a tracked item showing delivered. 

[santlache_sales]

This is just another money making scam from eBay, holding onto a good few thousand pounds of sellers money. This is almost up there with the 10% fee on P&P charges scam, money for nothing for eBay.

[santlache_sales]

"Its been that way for a long while."

No it hasn't, I've sold plenty of of low ticket items and last week was the first time the money was put on hold, which it remains today. That's hardly a "long while".

[tegeus-cromis]

"because of this they are now punishing good exemplary sellers by holding your money for 31 days before releasing it."

That's the way anti-fraud measures work across the board. The inconvenience and intrusions are borne by the law-abiding whilst for the fraudsters it's business as usual.

[custom-giftsuk]

It has been that way for a long time. It's just that now ebay are tarring everyone with the same brush. There are lots of posts that show this going back months and years. ebay have always had this option and have used it many times. Just because its now affecting you now, doesnt mean it didnt exist before. It has always been there and now ebay are looking for any kind of excuse, even if one doesnt exist to roll this out. 

[theelench]

There is another thread about this on BSB  P.2   "New Payout Rules For Business Accounts".

It's worth a read but it's still inconclusive about what is going on.  It can't really be anything else with ebay spreading confusion by saying different things to different sellers. 

[bzmotman]

In some other cases its been because of INRs, poor feedback etc but as far as I can see that wouldn't be the case here.

I would try a complaint to eBay Commerce UK Limited. This should take you to the relevant page https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/payment-policies/file-complaint-ebay-payments-brokering-financi...

If not do a help search and the page & link should come up. Among the things they cover are "Some examples of payment-related complaints include but are not limited to delays in the disbursement of funds, blocked payouts, and account verification.". If nothing else you may get given a reason as to why your funds are being withheld. If you are not satisfied with the response you are able to go the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I had to use them when Managed Payments came in and I found them knowledgeable & helpful.

This supposed "new policy" only seems to be applied to the odd seller which makes me think its not a new policy at all but something else perhaps yet another Ebay computer glitch.

[santlache_sales]

I have just spoken to eBay again.

The reason eBay are doing this is apparently down to "Community Standards" whatever the hell that is.

No other explainantion offered, except that is "Community Standards".

What a joke, I had a message from eBay the other day saying I can get £4600 advance loan from eBay, fine I don't want it, but they'll give me this loan yet they are still witholding my payments.

eBay, you have become a joke !

[the_book_seekers]

I've just had a trawl through ebay's payment t&cs and their help pages on payments on hold and saw no mention of 'community standards'. 

These are the reasons ebay gives for a payout hold 

Payout holds

Payout holds are when we hold funds payable to a particular seller, and usually require further seller action on the account.

• Registration holds: We may hold payouts if we identify a discrepancy with the information you provided at registration. If your account is restricted, we'll notify you with a request for additional information. For more information on how to verify your identity, see our article on registering as a seller
• Compliance holds: We maintain policies and procedures to protect buyers and sellers while complying with applicable laws. If your account has a payout hold or restriction for compliance reasons, we'll notify you and may request additional information from you
• Performance holds: We hold your payouts if we identify unusual activity associated with your account, such as increased customer claims, a sudden change in your selling activity, late deliveries, or negative buyer feedback
• Invalid payment method: We may put your payouts on hold if we can't deduct your selling fees and other costs from any of your on-file payment methods. In this case, you’ll need to add another payment method

It would help sellers if customers services used the same terminology as they do in their help pages or perhaps they have no idea what the hold is for and came up with community standards.

[typo_lee]

This started months ago bud. We had it applied back in July but they have just put us back to 24hr payouts thankfully. Never gave us a reason at all why they put us on 31 day holds 

[typo_lee]

Sorry you’re wrong. It’s NOT the norm. We had it applied to our account back in July and had an email from eBay 3 days ago along with many other sellers I know had this done to them saying we were back to 24 hour payouts 

[typo_lee]

Correct buyers aren’t gonna wait 31 days if their item hasn’t arrived. A refund and INR will be requested so the 31 day holds is bull 

[typo_lee]

We got offered a Youlend loan to help ease our cash flow when they held all our money. Sounds like another misselling scam on the cards to me

[santlache_sales]

What is so screwed up about this is I've had several sales since for over £250 and £100 and they get paid out straight away, and this payout is before I've even added a tracking number.

Yet they hold a payment of £3-61  even though the buyer has left me Feedback - work that out if you can !

[typo_lee]

What triggers this payout hold is of for example you normally sell low cost items say for a fiver then suddenly sell something for £200. 

[santlache_sales]

Not me, most of my items and sales are much higher and I have items listed up to over £1,000, so that is not the reason here.

"Community Standards" is the reason, what a joke and it is a joke as the eBay CS Rep could even tell me what this meant, and he was from Ireland.

Cheers