PayPal
Payment Held on eBay Sale Despite Tracking, 21 Day Policy

EMBEZZLE - The wrongful or willful taking of money or property belonging to someone else after the money or property has lawfully come into the possession or control of the person taking it.

I have been selling on eBay since 2004. I have been accepting PayPal payments since 2004. I have 100% positive feedback from my customers. I have never had any negative remarks, complaints or disputes from anyone regarding my eBay/PayPal transactions. And yet PayPal has held my payment from my customer since 5/30. I shipped without being paid to keep my customer relations intact. The tracking number I provided to PayPal shows the item is currently in transit to the customer. I have made numerous calls and emails to PayPal since 05/31 regarding this. The bottom line? The holding of payments is at the sole discretion of PayPal. They take what they want, when they want.

PayPal, Inc., a money transmitting service, has decided to do as they please with money from eBay transactions processed through their service. Standing behind their new "policy," PayPal has recently begun interrupting the completion of transactions between eBay sellers and consumers. Normally, a consumer purchases goods from a seller on eBay, then chooses to pay for the goods via PayPal, trusting PayPal's claim that this is a quick, safe and easy form of online payment. The payment is to be transmitted by PayPal from the consumer's credit card, bank account or own PayPal account to the seller's PayPal account. The seller receives payment, then ships the goods to the consumer.

However, PayPal's new "Possession is 9/10 of the law" policy prevents the completion of that transaction for as long as 21 days. The consumer has no idea that their payment never made it to its intended destination, because PayPal does not inform the consumer of this. PayPal intercepts the payment, deducts their fees (of course), and then puts a hold on the remaining amount in their own interest bearing account. The seller then sees on their account that the payment has been made, but they have no access to the money from that payment. Instead, the seller gets a note. It states: "PAYMENT ON HOLD: SHIP NOW! Make sure to ship the item right away, so you'll have access to the funds sooner. We'll release the hold in 21 days unless you receive a dispute, claim, chargeback, or reversal on the transaction subject to the hold. We may release the hold earlier if either of the following occurs: the buyer leaves you positive feedback on eBay, or we confirm that the item was delivered.* We can confirm delivery if you ship the item with USPS, FedEx, or UPS, and either use PayPal shipping labels or upload tracking information from the transaction details page. This applies to transactions within the United States."

Breaking it down:
Legally, the money is still the property of the consumer because it never reaches the seller.
PayPal is now earning interest on the consumer's money.
PayPal has already charged the seller for receiving the payment.
The seller has not yet received payment.
The seller is instructed to send the item before being paid, or the seller will not be paid.
The seller is expected to front the money to ship the item.
eBay policy states that the seller does not ship prior to receiving payment. So the seller does not ship, the consumer gets no goods and files a complaint, the seller's reputation is tainted, and the payment is refunded to the consumer. Who is happy? PayPal. They just became richer without investing a penny of their own money.

Company: PayPal
Country: USA
State: California
City: Palo Alto
Address: 1840 Embarcadero Rd
Phone: 6502511100

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