PAYMENTS ON HOLD

[jahbarty]

Hello community. So why would  eBay put peoples payments on hold . I would understand if there was something wrong but I couldn't do anymore than I have done already. Now I can't ship any items and have 5 buyers who I had to message to tell them I can't ship anything so dispatch is now late , 1  buyer wanted a refund . It's ironic how eBay do this and end up ruining peoples experience and also making me look bad as buyers want their items . And shocking communication , takes up to 5 working days but I'm sill waiting 5 days and 6th day tomorrow. No contact from them or any request for any credentials . Shocking!

[papso22]

I strongly suspect that was just a coincidence.

[friendsip]

Although my experience with eBayers has been great, I am very frustrated with eBay for witholding funds.

The job of a company like this is to trustfully hold buyer money and then pay seller when everyone is happy (buyer's got their good and is happy for seller to get the cash). Recently this process has extended to take over a month! You have ONE JOB eBay 😂!

I have been with eBay a super-long time, so I remember when this was managed by PayPal - they were fantastic, often paying funds to sellers before the item was even delivered and ensuring the buyer was also safe.

There seems to be a lot of people defending eBay - they don't need defending! They made 2.75 Billion profit last year - they're doing fine. I am not anti big companies, but they should make their money in an ethical way, not profit by withholding funds that don't belong to them.

[friendsip]

It's not that straight forward, you can be the perfect seller, send on time, 100% feedback and they still withhold funds. And if they do, there is absolutely no recourse - they have taken your money hostage and sellers are powerless to do anything about it. 

[friendsip]

I completely agree - this is your money! Trustfully paid by the seller, who would assume you got the cash. eBay is 100% in the wrong to withhold seller's money. 

[dougbat20]

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@friendsip wrote:

It's not that straight forward, you can be the perfect seller, send on time, 100% feedback and they still withhold funds. And if they do, there is absolutely no recourse - they have taken your money hostage and sellers are powerless to do anything about it. 

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 But sellers are not completely powerless. If funds belonging to them are not paid out in a suitable time frame (for this, I would say maximum 60 days) then the seller in question can write a letter before action to eBay, followed then by a small claims court case should they not pay up. It may negatively affect account standing but if you've got money owed that isn't paid (especially large amounts) then the priority is to get paid what you are owed, with anything else being a secondary objective. 

[*help_no_brakes*]

"not profit by witholding  funds that do not belong to them".

eBay do not have the funds to make a profit.

The payment provider has the funds.

[theelench]

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@*help_no_brakes* wrote:

eBay do not have the funds to make a profit.

The payment provider has the funds.

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But who employs the payment provider and under what T&Cs.   We all know that when money disappears into a black-hole in a financial system, someone is always making money.  How the spoils are shared out is what we don't know.

The biggest problem most sellers have is how opaque ebay's policies are, how erratically they're applied and ebays refusal to give any concrete time-scale for release.

Despite what ebay says, it's not always "New or infrequent" sellers hit with Holds.  Just on the last couple of pages we've seen sellers' payments on Hold 

"four months down the line".  

Having sold "40-50 items with no problems".

Tracked delivery doesn't release funds.

Buyers leaving positive FB doesn't release funds.

Just because, as someone pointed out earlier, it's in ebays T&Cs that they can put a Hold on payments at any time, doesn't make it right.  A seller has to have some expectation of prompt payment on a defined time-scale and even some entitlement to that?

Private sellers sell to raise, sometimes urgently needed, cash.  Ebay should do better than run a lottery of a payment system, where they are effectively left guessing when they might be paid.

That they don't is one of the reasons private sellers are choosing not to sell on ebay.

[*help_no_brakes*]

I'm quite sure that eBay pays a commision to Adyen & I'm equally sure Adyen earn interest on held funds. It would not be smart business to not do do.

I do agree with most of what you say.

However expecting quick cash on any online sale is fraught with danger.

Buyers have many months to iniate a chargeback etc.

Fortunately this is not always the case.

[theelench]

Yes, long gone are the days when ebay used "List it, sell it, get paid" as it's slogan to entice private sellers through its doors.

Charge backs might be possible months after a sale but it's mostly ebay that has put up the barriers to prevent that slogan being used today.

True, ebay can't do anything about such things originating outside ebay, but most of these threads are not about external problems.  They're about the problems that ebay cause with their own Holds policies,  the seemingly random way they are operated and the lack of any way to get them lifted even when ebay says that they will be if certain conditions are met.

The overall impression that many sellers have is that in many cases (apart from those where new sellers or sellers returning after a lengthy absence are involved) is that the Holds are unnecessary in the first place and then prolonged without any good reason, for as long as possible.  Just so that, whoever is making money out of them, can get the maximum benefit.

I wonder if ebay compiles stats. on how many sellers are never seen again on ebay, after having their cash held for reasons that in so many cases seem, to them, to be flimsy at best or, at worst, entirely invented to hang onto their cash for as long as possible.

[davena034]

hi what do I do if my buyer didnt recieve the parcel,l so requested a refund, which I did, he got his refund, trhen a few hours later he recieved the parcel, so how do I now get the money back off the buyer? he has told ebay he has now  receiveed the parcfel, but as far as ebay think at the moment a refund has been done so case closed, but I am out of pocket at he moment?

[papso22]

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@davena034 wrote:

hi what do I do if my buyer didnt recieve the parcel,l so requested a refund, which I did, he got his refund, trhen a few hours later he recieved the parcel, so how do I now get the money back off the buyer? he has told ebay he has now  receiveed the parcfel, but as far as ebay think at the moment a refund has been done so case closed, but I am out of pocket at he moment?

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All you can do is try and get the buyer to pay outside ebay, or return the item at your expense.

Ebay won't get involved now.

[friendsip]

Ayden absolutely earn interest, and eBay benefit from this.

When Adyen processes payments, there is usually a period between when the buyer’s payment is captured and when the funds are settled to the seller’s account. During this period, known as the "float," Adyen holds the funds. Adyen places these funds in interest-bearing accounts or invest them in low-risk financial instruments, thereby earning interest income. Adyen also use treasury management practices to optimize the use of funds they hold temporarily.

Whenever a company benefits financially from something that's incidental to their main business, there will always be a pressure internally and from shareholders optimize this for the sake of profit.

A slight change in the policies or tweak in the AI that manages this could easily earn the millions. 

In other words, a decision to withhold funds from trusted sellers for an additional 4 weeks, for example could save a quarter. 

But it's a short-term policy. Because although there's a number of people, for example in this chat, that will just parrot the PR lines from eBay, a number of other capable business people using eBay will recognize that they're being played. 

[friendsip]

I completely agree; well put.

[friendsip]

You are correct. "most of these threads are not about external problems. They're about the problems that ebay cause with their own Holds policies, the seemingly random way they are operated and the lack of any way to get them lifted even when ebay says that they will be if certain conditions are met." By tweaking the conditions of how soon payments reach sellers, eBay and their payment partner reap significant rewards.

[jercho42]

It is frustrating.I need a clear explanation for why I had to mail my watch to a buyer without getting paid for it. I would understand if I were new to eBay, but I've been using the site for years and have unquestionably brought and sold items there in the past.

[61stephenuk]

Payment holds are explained here

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/default/default/payment-holds-sold-items?id=4155

Your payments are being held as you are an infrequent seller not having sold anything in over a year.

Have you fully signed up to eBay Managed Payments and had your bank account verified recently?

Without this eBay will not be able to send your payment when the hold clears.

[friendsip]

As you can see from the posts above, sellers have frequently had their funds put on hold without *any* of those criteria applying. 

The link you gave does not deny that eBay benefits financially from this service. 

The way it works is this:

eBay use a third party to process funds; Ayden.

Ayden earn interest on the money held back, and eBay benefits from this.

This is how:

When Adyen processes payments, there is usually a period between when the buyer’s payment is captured and when the funds are settled to the seller’s account. During this period, known as the "float," Adyen holds the funds. Adyen places these funds in interest-bearing accounts or invest them in low-risk financial instruments, thereby earning interest income. Adyen also use treasury management practices to optimize the use of funds they hold temporarily.

[friendsip]

The explanation is greed from eBay and the fact that they've lost sight of their original role as a trusted partner to help sellers sell stuff and get paid. Instead, they focus on profit because they think they are too big for you to use another service. They may be right. But it isn't ethical. 

[friendsip]

"The overall impression that many sellers have is that in many cases (apart from those where new sellers or sellers returning after a lengthy absence are involved) is that the Holds are unnecessary in the first place and then prolonged without any good reason, for as long as possible.  Just so that, whoever is making money out of them, can get the maximum benefit."

- I completely agree. It's like economists say, it starts out as a good idea (holding funds for security reasons for example) but then the profit becomes too tempting and start to drive behavior (https://freakonomics.com)

"I wonder if ebay compiles stats. on how many sellers are never seen again on ebay, after having their cash held for reasons that in so many cases seem, to them, to be flimsy at best or, at worst, entirely invented to hang onto their cash for as long as possible."

--- good question. 

[5216elisabeth]

If you phone eBay up they should refund you the money.  Alternatively if the package was tracked and delivered late then you can submit a claim to the courier service.