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Heads up on new PayPal payment hold policy

Paul2660

Well-known member
During a recent transaction on my website, I noticed that my payment from the customer was not sent to my account, instead placed on a 21 day hold. Upon inquiring as to why this was done, I was told that PayPal can place any incoming payment in such a hold. When I asked what is necessary to remove the hold, I was told that you need to provide the tracking information into PayPal, then wait for the package to be delivered, then wait for the tracking number to show the item was delivered on paypal's system.

You can input the tracking number into the transaction, but there is no guarantee that PayPal will follow up.

Paypal, will hold your money for 21 days, thus they are making interest on your funds, not to mention the up front fee they are taking. Also note that the fee has been taken as soon as the transaction occurred, so PayPal is not waiting to get paid.

If you dig into the rules regulations etc. PayPal notes that they can do this for any transaction, but they mainly are interested in new vendors or customers without a long positive history with PayPal.

Myself, I have been a member in good standing for close to 20 years, and have used PayPal for my website business payments for over 10 years. I have NEVER had a payment held before, however after taking to PayPal, they implied this is something that happens all the time.

I want to make others aware that I asked PayPal how this effects eBay purchases, and they told me that they can and will hold a payment from a eBay transaction also.

Not sure how others handle their eBay purchases and sales, but I have always shipped the item after the payment was made. Now you have to assume that PayPal will release the funds and go ahead and ship your item to the buyer. Not sure I want that option either, but for sales of used camera equipment, not sure how many other ways are available.

Just wanted to pass this on for others who are using PayPal for a e commerce.

Paul Caldwell
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
I wish I could say that this is relevant to me, but they locked my account a couple of months ago after more than ten years of relatively unproblematic use, claiming that there had been activities on my account not according to the user agreement. The amount on the account is on hold for 6 months. What will happen then I don't know.

I opened a new account with another email address, but they locked that too before there had been any transactions giving the same reason. Still, after the account was locked, they accepted an amount into the account that they are now holding for 6 months as well.

They are not answering emails and I'm locked out of any communication with them. It looks like a business run by 6 year olds, but of course that is not the case. It's all about making and keping money, and "business ethics" is an expression totally unknown to them. Unfortunately, they have established what is more or less a monopoly on internet transactions, and for some kind of payments, like payments from microstock agencies, there aren't really any alternatives, or the alternatives are even worse.

And I used to think banks were greedy :wtf:
 

DougDolde

Well-known member
I like Square myself they automatically send payment directly to my bank account after one day
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Naive!

BTW, they are a bank!
Yes and no. For many practical purposes, they are a bank. However, most banks have to relate to a set of regulations issued by the governments of each country. As far as I know, no such regulations exist for entities like PayPal, and I don't think they define themselves as a bank, probably because they want to avoid being subject to regulations.
 
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Vivek

Guest
I think in the EU (atleast in the Netherlands), the rules for paypal like entities are tightened even more than conventional banks about a year ago.

(I do not offer that as a reason for their practices or behaviour.)
 

algrove

Well-known member
I like Square myself they automatically send payment directly to my bank account after one day
Just curious if you sell used camera gear or photographs remotely, how to you get the buyer to pay to your square account? I thought Square was mainly for crecit card processing. Do you have an account number or just an email address to tell buyers to pay into?
 

algrove

Well-known member
I think in the EU (atleast in the Netherlands), the rules for paypal like entities are tightened even more than conventional banks about a year ago.

(I do not offer that as a reason for their practices or behaviour.)
Vivek
This OP is from the US so Dutch banking rules have no meaning for him.
 

DougDolde

Well-known member
Just curious if you sell used camera gear or photographs remotely, how to you get the buyer to pay to your square account? I thought Square was mainly for crecit card processing. Do you have an account number or just an email address to tell buyers to pay into?
Sometimes I sell in a gallery where I have to do the transaction. I have the Square iPhone app and their Bluetooth chip reader so I can take credit cards.

You can also invoice people I dont think they can just send the money to your email address like you can with PayPal
 
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Vivek

Guest
Vivek
This OP is from the US so Dutch banking rules have no meaning for him.
True. Until a few years ago, they operated under US regulations here. Things have changed.

I was replying to Jorgen’s post, BTW.
 
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