Dreaded PayPal Holds Are Targeting Longtime Sellers

by: Ric

Before the split of eBay and PayPal, payment holds were a more common occurrence.  Back then, sellers assumed that those holds were perpetrated by the company so that they could inflate their cash on hand balances and improve their appearance of profitability to Wall Street.

Now, after the split, PayPal appears once again to be ratcheting up the number of transactions they are placing holds on.  

Now, as it was then, it can be assumed the practice is being engaged in so that PayPal can once again bamboozle Wall Street analysts and investors who are all too keen at accepting the numbers PayPal fakes then feeds them.

by: donald

I remember when Pay-or-else-Pal treated both buyers and sellers the respect they deserve and after ebafia bought them it all when to hell.

by: Moonwishes

Is this happening only with ebay purchases or any venue that the seller accepts PP?

by: The End

I sell through a venue that forced PayPal on me.
If I experience ONE HOLD I'm leaving.
I have several real world job opportunities.  

by: Marie

In my experience this is something PayPal has always done.  They randomly select a transaction and place it on security old.  There is no reason for this other than to test the system.  

I think what has happened to the sellers now reporting this issue is merely because they were never randomly selected before.

It is a really easy thing to fix for the seller.  All they need to do is call PP.  Don't email, take the time to call.  In my history with PP it has happened to me 2 or 3 times.  Ebay time I've called, politely asked them to release my funds and they have always complied.  

While I'm sure it seems alarming to those that have never dealt with it, it really doesn't have to become a big deal, but calling them is the key to resolving the issues quickly.

by: Sierra

I've also had my PayPal account for 16 years, but have not yet been subject to any holds. Glad to read that they will release funds if asked to!

by: comet

Paypal  is MUCH  easier  to deal  with  than eBay  ever has been;  usually a promptly  answered phone call will clear  things  up--none  of this No Speekee Englush  crap  either.  I  have  had Holds  and other  things  cleared  right away  just  for calling.  

by: glaspak

This transaction was strictly a buyer using PayPal to pay for a purchase on the 1 third party site we offer it on. The buyer was furious at PayPal and requested we refund and immediately paid with his credit card, as we do not ship without payment. We have removed the PayPal quick link, but have left it for now as a payment option.  

by: Philip Cohen

"At the end of March [2016], customers of PayPal held more than $13 billion in accounts at the online-commerce company. Compared with the most similar type of bank deposit, the figure would put PayPal just behind TD Bank, the U.S. unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank, or Capital One Financial Corp., according to data provider S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"Under U.S. law, PayPal isn’t a bank, and those funds aren’t deposits, but cash that sits without earning interest for consumers, ready to spend."

http://on.wsj.com/1TXRkG4

$13 billion! One assumes that all the little people, who naively leave this $13 billion with "PreyPal", are not concerned about the safely of their money because such “deposits” are not covered by FDIC insurance; if "PreyPal" fails or someone skips with all the funds, PayPal's depositors are on the end of the queue as unsecured creditors ...

PayPal putting holds on punters' money is simply an indication that business is not running as smoothly as they would have everyone believe—LOL ...

by: FEEbay

Nothing on our end..... Definitely NOT a fan of Paypal, but we have not had any issues with them for quite awhile.  

by: Barbbie

Paypal has not held my balance but my account is probably 16 years old. They did delay several payments for a buyer who made many separate purchases.  He was a drop shipper, but have not seen him lately so they may have succeeded in putting him out of business.

by: toolguy

No holds here!

The seller should've called instead of emailing. . .

If I get a hold I'll be the 1st to report it here :-)

by: Jester

I am wondering if the high risk is because of the buyers past charge-backs and not the sellers.

by: Ming the Merciless

Within the last month, I sent a four figure amount of money to a friend though Friends and Family.

I immediately received an email from PayPal informing they'd put the payment on hold. TWO minutes later I received an automated call from PayPal asking me to confirm that I'd sent the money.

Five minutes later the hold was lifted.

This had never happened before.

by: Bidderboy

Is not John Donahoe now running Paypal? Let the destruction and disruption begin. We should expect just about anything that can pad his bottom line at the expense of users.  

by: bitbybit

Anyone seeing a connection between the recent technical issues and payment holds? Other users emails in their Paypal accounts, etc....  

by: comments

24 hour holds have nothing to do with the seller. They are from payments flagged as a risk. Given the number of glitches from paypal lately, this is probably just another.

Rolling reserves and 21 day holds is a different story. 24hr ones though are on the buyers end....or a glitch.

by: Marie

What the OP has noticed is NOT a recent thing.  PP has done this for years.  Some of you may not have ever had it happen, while others have.  It isn't new and it isn't due to any glitches.  It is something they have just done for years.  Easy to solve with a phone call too.  Emailing them on the subject just makes the process longer.

The 24 hour holds may or may not be because of the buyer.  Sometimes PP just runs a random security check.

by: sickandtired

This is OT, but on another thread I outlined the nightmare I had recently being unable to access the PP site - their known issue, not mine - for over a week.
I hate being forced to take PP by ebay. Since PP is not regulated users have no defined protections, only whatever rules PP decides to impose.

by: RKTOYS

I've also had a lot of trouble with Paypal lately.  I went to pay for some stuff with a withdrawal from my bank.  PayPal somehow bungled it, disconnected my "closed" bank account, and left me a few hundred bucks in the red with collection threats incoming.

So I go to reconnect my valid bank account and keep getting "unknown services error."  Their developers should be fired.  So, fine, they can wait while eBay sales trickle in.  Except two whole seconds into every month, eBay locks all accounts with a negative balance.  Almost made it with the remaining listings but, as usual, too many penniless watchers.

So I call PayPal, only to have them accuse my bank of kicking out an error code and placing a hold on my account.  Call the bank again, that code doesn't exist and there's no hold.  Call PayPal again, this time they claim I need to settle the debt first.  Right, you won't connect a bank account and you expect to be paid how?  No, you're not getting another bank account, credit card, or pre-paid card.  Finally they send me to another agent and, surprise, the lock's on PayPal's side (so it turns out doing what the second mook wanted wouldn't have worked anyway).  30 seconds later, it's turned off and we're back in business.

Now they're dragging their feet for the full five days on a deposit to bring the account back up to zero, during which time I can't pay eBay fees or anything else.  Idiots.