PayPal 21 Day Hold Policy & Will Amazon Take Money out of my Account?
February 17th, 2012 | 
Author: Dear eBay Queen:
I received an email from PayPal yesterday, and I thought it might be a spoof email. After doing a little research, I’ve figured out that it is very real. Here is what I received:
“We’re writing to let you know about a change to your PayPal account.
Starting 2/15/2012, money from payments you receive will be placed in a pending balance for up to 21 days. By doing this, we’re making sure that there’s enough money in your account to cover potential refunds or claims.
Even though you can’t access the money right away, please ship orders quickly and communicate with your customers. After 21 days, you can withdraw money from each payment as long as the customer hasn’t filed a dispute, chargeback, claim, return, or reversal.
The money may be available sooner if:
- 1. We can confirm that the item was delivered.
- 2. Your buyer leaves positive feedback. (Applies only to eBay items)
This change isn’t necessarily permanent. We’ll review your account every 35 days and re-evaluate if we should continue to hold your payments. If we decide to stop holding payments, we’ll email you to let you know.
Why are my payments being held?We reviewed your account and determined that there’s a relatively higher than average risk of future transaction issues (such as claims, or chargebacks, or payment reversals). We understand that it may be inconvenient to have your payments temporarily held but please know that we didn’t make this decision lightly.
Before deciding to hold payments, we consider many factors. These factors include account and transaction activity, the rate of customer disputes, the type of business a seller runs, average delivery time frames, customer satisfaction, performance and history.
Questions? Let us know We understand you’d like to have immediate access to the money you
receive and we’re here to answer your questions about this change to your account.
For more information and tips on what you can do to avoid having your future payments held, please see our Frequently Asked Questions. To speak to a Customer Service representative, log in to your PayPal account and click “Contact Us” at the bottom of any page.
Thanks,
PayPal”
Is this something new with PayPal? Do I have any recourse? I have sold since 1999 and I have 100% feedback. How would you handle this situation?
Dana
Dear Dana:
I am very sorry to tell you it is real. I contacted PayPal about this policy. They couldn’t comment on your case, but said there were a variety of reasons a seller would be subjected to the 21 day hold policy. Most commonly it’s because the seller is new, sells in a high risk category or has had issues with refunds and returns in the past. The PayPal rep even confirmed that sometimes a hold is put on funds if a sellers numbers change.
For more information on the PayPal 21 day hold policy go here.
Dear eBay Queen:
Yesterday I had one of my Amazon buyers email me asking where he book was that he purchased on 2/5. Nice guy, not rude. I checked the tracking and it shows delivered on 2/11. So, I sent him the tracking details (which he already had access to). I looked the address up on Google and it was a single family residence w/ an individual mailbox out front.
I mentioned that given the size of his mailbox, the package would not have fit and suggested he check where other over-sized packages are left, including around his front porch behind the side bushes, etc. (Nicely, of course)
He wrote back that he had already seen the tracking info, but despite it showing as delivered, he never received it. He had received other books, but not that one. He asked if I’d call the post office.
I’m going to take the tracking number and ask the clerk when I’m there today; do you know if Amazon will do anything since they marked it as delivered? Do you know what Amazon will do if he disputes delivery with them and I provide the tracking #?
Jill Palmer, New York
Dear Jill:
I would contact Amazon immediately to let them know what is going on. It’s been my experience that they will refund the buyer the funds out of your account, even if the item shows delivered, but by contacting them you will not receive a strike against your account.
I think you are on the right track by contacting their post office. It could very well have been delivered to a neighbor that has forgotten to take it to them. I hope they find your package!
Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 110774756328 (enter this
number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.
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Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul, Kansas.
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