Seller says that Paypal is holding my payment for 21 days...

[izarate]

...and that I must leave positive feedback for the payment to be released. He says he won't ship until payment is confirmed.

I've had more than 170 successful eBay transactions in over 4 years and I've ever heard about something like this from any seller.

Some details:
- Seller is in the US and me in Mexico but it's always that way.
- I recently registered a new shipping address at eBay/Paypal because I learned that I had the wrong zip code before (never had a problem though since the wrong zip code is adjacent to mine). The address linked to my credit card is the same but with the incorrect zip code. Anyway, I've bought 10 or so items since then without problems.
- The transaction details page at Paypal doesn't say anything about a holdup.

So the question is: is him pulling my leg? He has good feedback (98%) but almost every negative seems to be from an international buyer.

Of course I wouldn't ever leave positive feedback without having the items in my hands, so if what he says is true I guess I'll desist.

Sorry if this isn't the appropriate forum to ask. Seemed to be the right one.

[megasdkirby]

Not too sure, but I remember reading something like this on the Ebay Message Boards.

So maybe there is some truth after all. Not too sure, though.

I would like to know this as well.

[Cornelius]

I didn't think paypal cared about eBay feedback at all. I've read about people losing claims even though positive feedback was left for them.

What kind of shipping did you pay for? My guess is the seller doesn't want to ship First-Class because they can't get tracking, so they are hoping if you leave positive feedback they can avoid an Item not Received claim.

[izarate]

What kind of shipping did you pay for? My guess is the seller doesn't want to ship First-Class because they can't get tracking, so they are hoping if you leave positive feedback they can avoid an Item not Received claim.

In this situation Priority Mail because that was the only shipping option offered.

I usually use First Class and Priority occasionally for more expensive/rare items. I know about Global Express but the rates are ridiculous. I once shipped an SNES cartridge to a Gamefaqs user at Seattle by EMS (Express Mail Service) from Mexico and it was $13. Global Express is about thrice than that, A.F.A.I.K.

He can't do that. In fact, it's against eBay's rules for him to hold onto your item until the payment is cleared - usually, they have access to the money when they provide a tracking number, but of course, he can't do that 'cause you're in Mexico. Yes, it sucks for sellers, but that's how it is. Furthermore, him saying "I won't ship this until you leave a positive" is feedback extortion, as defined by eBay's rules.

He can't ask this of you. The only thing I can suggest is that you go to eBay's forums and ask for help, but I would report his ass ASAP. :P

He's giving me the option to wait until 21 days have passed...which is undesirable at least since that would be so close to the 45 day limit to file a claim.



I'll try to work it out. If the seller doesn't budge what would you recommend?

[mobiusclimber]

Priority Mail from the US to Mexico DOES have tracking. It's the number on the customs form. He can use that. He doesn't need to withold anything, and you can tell him this. At any rate he CAN'T withold sending out your item. If he continues to after you inform him of this, just wait and file a claim with Ebay.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Priority Mail from the US to Mexico DOES have tracking. It's the number on the customs form. He can use that. He doesn't need to withold anything, and you can tell him this. At any rate he CAN'T withold sending out your item. If he continues to after you inform him of this, just wait and file a claim with Ebay.

IT. DOESN'T. WORK.

The customs form number is NOT A VALID TRACKING NUMBER ACCORDING TO PAYPAL.

[Kitsune Sniper]

He can't do that. In fact, it's against eBay's rules for him to hold onto your item until the payment is cleared - usually, they have access to the money when they provide a tracking number, but of course, he can't do that 'cause you're in Mexico. Yes, it sucks for sellers, but that's how it is. Furthermore, him saying "I won't ship this until you leave a positive" is feedback extortion, as defined by eBay's rules.

He can't ask this of you. The only thing I can suggest is that you go to eBay's forums and ask for help, but I would report his ass ASAP. :P

[ryborg]

So the question is: is him pulling my leg?

Nope, it's real. It's still pretty ridiculous, but he's not making stuff up. The only way this would be a valid excuse is if the seller truly needed the funds from the payment to ship because he has no other money, which is possible.

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/.../index.html#27

IT. DOESN'T. WORK.

The customs form number is NOT A VALID TRACKING NUMBER ACCORDING TO PAYPAL.

Thank you. Some of the misinformation spread around here is ridiculous. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't post.

[izarate]

30. What can I do to avoid having eBay item holds?
Your payments WILL BE NOT HELD if you meet all the following requirements:
eBay Tenure: Greater than 6-months
Total Feedback score: More than 100
Dissatisfied Buyers %: Less than 5%
Or if you meet all the following requirements:

Detailed Seller Rating: Greater than 4.5
Total Detailed Seller Ratings Received: More than 20 in the last 12-months

According to that, shouldn't his payments NOT be held? Here are his stats:

Positive Feedback (last 12 months): 98.8%
Member since: Mar-01-08 in United States

DSRs:
Item as described 4.9
Communication 4.7
Shipping time 4.5
Shipping and handling charges 4.7

1 month 6 months 12 months
Positive 255 1166 2324
Neutral 11 26 32
Negative 15 27 29

[izarate]

Ok, apparently the seller is relying on this sentence for asking me to give positive feedback:

"Will usually ship within 1 business day of receiving cleared payment."

Once you click on the link:

"The handling time is the number of business days the seller will take to ship the item after receiving your cleared payment. A payment is considered "cleared" after the money from the buyer has been deposited into the seller’s account. If the buyer pays by PayPal, the payment may clear immediately. However, in categories where permitted, if the buyer pays by check, money order, or eCheck, it may take several days."

may??? ugh....


I checked an auction that I won last week and had the same legend in the "Shipping and Payments" section. Still the seller didn't had any issues about shipping to Mexico even though his auction stated "US Only" (I arranged a deal with him previously by email).


From the look of this it seems that he won't budge.

[ryborg]

I checked an auction that I won last week and had the same legend in the "Shipping and Payments" section. Still the seller didn't had any issues about shipping to Mexico even though his auction stated "US Only" (I arranged a deal with him previously by email).


From the look of this it seems that he won't budge.

Yeah, it looks like he's not violating any ebay policies or anything. I guess you're just going to have to wait and hope for the best.

[izarate]

Yeah, it looks like he's not violating any ebay policies or anything. I guess you're just going to have to wait and hope for the best.

No way I'm going to hope for the best on $78. I'll hit the eBay forums as Kitsune Sniper suggested and take off from there.

If it really comes to hoping the best I guess I'll just cancel the transaction.