Over the next few days I will be listing approximately 25 items on eBay in an attempt to have a restriction lifted for withdrawing funds from my Paypal account from eBay auctions.  Anyone who buys the item(s) with be reimbursed for the selling price.  For those of you wondering why on earth I would do something like this, please read on.

I have had an active eBay account since 2003, and have it tied in with my Paypal account.  Both accounts have verified identity information, including credit card, bank account, and all of the usual things associated with the accounts.  I've sold 90+ items over the years, and bought even more.  That may not seem like a lot of items, but for the casual seller it is a decent amount.  Never once has anyone filed a complaint on anything that I've sold, asked for a refund, or otherwise had anything bad to say about my level of service as a seller.  Even two customer service reps at eBay and one at Paypal that I spoke with confirmed that my reputation is impeccable.  With all this in mind, there should be no reason why I should have to worry about any kind of restrictions or limitations on either of these accounts right?  Well, apparently that isn't the case, nor will it be the case for anyone who sells on eBay the same way I do.

Ebay bought Paypal back in 2002, and has tightly integrated it into the whole eBay buying/selling process.  So tightly integrated that as of an eBay policy change in 2008 it is virtually impossible to sell something on eBay and not take Paypal payments as the exclusive method of payment.  Because of this, eBay "double dips" in regards to the fees that they charge to sell something.  They charge an initial listing fee based on the features that you choose.  When the auction is over they charge you a percentage of the final selling price (a.k.a. the "Final Value fee").  Then you have to pay a fee to accept Paypal payments.  They force these conditions on a seller by the following paragraph located on their site at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/paypal-payments.html

"Sellers who offer PayPal as a payment option in their eBay listings (either via logos or through text in the item description) must accept card funded payments. Sellers must have a Premier or Business PayPal Account or be willing to upgrade from a Personal PayPal Account to a Premier or Business Account upon receipt of a card funded payment. Sellers may not communicate to buyers that they only accept account balance or bank account funded payments, or will not accept card funded payments."

So, in order to sell on eBay I have to accept Paypal payments.  In order to accept Paypal payments I have to acept ALL forms of payment including credit and debit cards.  To do that I have to upgrade to a Premier or Business account.  And in order to have such an account I am subject to a 2.9% to 3.9% fee for each transaction according to the fees page available at https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/paypal-fees.

Here's something better.  At any point in time eBay and Paypal can restrict your account by placing a "pending hold" on any funds.  The hold can last up to 21 days, but it is explained that the hold can be reduced by providing tracking information for any item that you sell.  The hold is then released 3 days after the item has been verified as being delivered.  They claim that this is in attempt to handle refund claims by dissatisfied buyers.

Fast forward to present day.  I havent sold anything on eBay since 2010, but have made quite a few purchases.  My account is still in good standing, with no issues on either buying or selling.  In April 2012 I list three cell phones of eBay because I was in the process of switching from AT&T to Verizon and had no use for the phones.  A few days later I receive an email from Paypal that they are restricting my account and placing a hold on any future incoming funds for up to 21 days. After logging into my Paypal account I saw the following banner at the top of my Account Overview page.

Two of the phones sold immediately, and the funds were already in my Paypal account.  The auction for the last phone had not yet ended, so the funds were never sent.  Fortunately I was able to withdraw the funds for the first two, but the last one was indeed held.  In my case it was held for the full 21 days even though I provided the tracking information.  So why was my money held, and what would make eBay and Paypal do this to someone who has an impeccable history for the last 9+ years on buying and selling on eBay?  I called the customer service number for Paypal and asked that exact question.  What I found out makes me seriously reconsider selling anything on eBay.

The Paypal representative listened to me, and took a look at my account.  She stated that she saw absolutely no reason why my account had been restricted.  She said that it must be something eBay placed, so she transferred me to them.  The representative that I spoke with from eBay informed me that the reason was because I did not sell 25 items in the last year, and therefore failed to meet their requirements for un-restricted selling and withdrawls.  After explaining to her, and her verifying my history, I stated that what they were doing was completely uncalled for, unfair, and borderline blackmail.  After speaking with another representative claiming to be a suprevisor in some capacity, he instructed me that once I meet the 25 transaction count that the restriction will automatically be lifted.  Essentially what they are saying is that unless you pay them money they are going to hold yours for up to 3 weeks.  For those of you who don't see this, refer to my previous statements regarding the fees that we are charged to list an item and complete a transaction including payment.

So, the bottom line is this.  According to eBay's policy for selling you have to have to satisfy all three of the following requirements:

• You must complete at least 25 transactions per year.
• You must have at least $250.00 in total revenue based on all of your transactions.
• You must not have created your account within the last 90 days. 

So according to these requirements, even if you sell 25 items for $5.00 each you still have not fullfilled the requirements, and are subject to having your funds held for up to 21 days.  Likewise if you sell 3 items (as in my case) for almost $1000.00, your account is subject to the same restriction, regardless of the history that you have as a reputable seller and member of the eBay community.

As a direct result of this, I will be posting approximately 22 eBay listings (I already sold 3 cell phones towards my 25 count) where I am selling insignificant items (i.e. pencils, erasers, paperclips, consulting services, etc.) just so I can get up to my 25 transaction count and have the current restriction lifted.  If you are looking at one of my auction listings, and have any reservations about why I've sold such items, you can now rest assured with a clear understanding of the reasoning, and can bid in complete confidence that you will receive exactly what I am listing in the exact condition that is described.

Additionally I am asking for your help.  If you would kindly go out to my eBay site at http://www.ebay.com/sch/cg1997/m.html?item=150806905589&rt=nc&_trksid=p4340.l2562 and buy any item that you see that is less than $5.00 I will refund your payment back to you plus any fee that you are charged for accepting the money.  I am doing this simply to procure my 25 transaction count, and have the restriction lifted.  Since eBay doesn't let you post "multiple identical items" I'll need to spread this out over the next few days as each active listing ends.

** UPDATE **

It appears that my voice has been heard (or at least read) somewhere.  I received another email from Paypal stating that the restriction has been lifted, and that funds from all future transactions will be immediately available.  I'm not exactly sure what prompted this, but I have a feeling it was from the links that I put in each of my listings pointing to this blog post.  I'll never be able to confirm that for sure, but at least I can go about my business without worrying about this type of unfair action.

It's sad that people need to go to these types of "extremes" to be treated fairly.  I understand that businesses need to protect themselves, as well as others that you may interact with, but to place unfair restrictions on people who have never given reason for such action to be taken crosses the line.  I will continue to use eBay and Paypal because I truly believe in the concept of both.  I just hope that I, nor others with similar circustances, have to deal with this situation again.

Thank you PayPal and eBay!!!