Wife needs help with ebay sale (need advice-is this a scam?)

[Piston]

We have some things laying around the house (mostly a TON of old clothes my wife never wears) and she figured instead of throwing stuff out she would try selling some stuff on ebay. 

She has a paypal account and sold some practically new scrubs (nurse outfits not scrub planes ;D) on ebay.  She just received a reply that says:

Hello Loren,
Your funds are pending - please process this order
You received a payment from  (buyer name).
This money is being temporarily held in your pending balance.  It will be held for up to 21 days. While it's being held, it won't be available for withdrawal.
We'll move the money to your available balance after 21 days as long as your buyer hasn't reported a problem. It may be available sooner if we can confirm that the item was delivered or, if this is an eBay item, your buyer leaves positive feedback.
To get access to this money more quickly, please process this order right away and communicate with your customers early and often.
Payment details
Amount (pending): $115.00 USD
Transaction ID: ****************
Buyer's email:  ************
Ship to address:  *********
***************
Sterling Heights, United States

We recommend that you:- Log in and go to the Transaction Details page to see if you're eligible for seller protection on this payment
- Ship to the buyer's address on the Transaction Details page
- Use a shipping service that offers signature confirmation
- Save all tracking information or other proof of shipment
- Let your buyer know their item shipped by adding tracking information on the Transaction Details page

I also just realized that the shipping address just says "Stirling Heights, United States" and it doesn't give a state? 

Is this normal or some kind of scam?  I just don't want her to get screwed over on ebay, she is doing good and has 100% feedback.

[OldSaws]

Hello, piston:
I don't know that I can help with your question since I've only been an eBay buyer for six years, never a seller... I've had a Paypal account for six years also. I spent over $5000 through Paypal last year and they tell me I am one of their "Preferred Members" and offer me various kinds of perqs... including telling me they are on my side in any disputes with sellers... (!!!)

Since eBay bought Paypal a year or so ago, I've noticed changes... One of those is that they now charge a transaction fee to my Paypal account whenever anyone sends me money. I am a professional beekeeper and, naturally, sell honey. Paypal used to allow me to receive up to $500 a month in payments through my personal account without any fees. No longer. It seems eBay is now using Paypal to get every possible dollar they can from any transactions. I will no longer accept payments through them.

I've recently heard various sellers complain about the new practice which you mention of holding funds until after the buyer leaves positive feedback. Even though I'm not a seller, this seems wrong to me.

Many people do not know that large money-handling institutions such as banks, savings & loans, credit unions, credit card companies and express companies (UPS, FedEx, Western Union, eg.) or virtually anyone who regularly holds large amounts of money in financial institutions accounts, can earn interest on their large accounts through what is known as "overnight deposits". If you have an account with $100,000 or more in it, you can deposit it "overnight" with a large bank or the federal reserve and they will pay you a small percentage interest rate on it for as little as 12-24 hours. You can do this and still have daily access to your money.

Ebay/Paypal routinely handles millions of dollars daily, paid by buyers like me for items bought on eBay. If they hold that money as little as 3-4 days, they can earn significant money through "overnight deposit". If they can hold i 14-21 days, they can make a lot of money on it.

I'm sure if MasterCard told Montgomery Wards that they were going to hold money paid for purchases with MC cards for 21 days, that MW would have MC in court with a bunch of corporate lawyers really quickly... and ask for not only immediate payment of their money for goods they sold, but some damages also.

Unfortunately, eBay sellers are thousands of individual people, like you, and most likely not organized enough to resist eBay/Paypal's policies of greed.

It seems you may be able to get your money released sooner by showing proof of delivery, so, if you continue to sell on eBay, by all means use UPS, FedEx, and USPS proofs of delivery. Or, as I see many sellers doing, state in your auctions that you accept USPS money orders as payment.

Finally, Go into eBay's Community Forums and into one of the forums for sellers and see what other eBay sellers are doing to address this new policy.

[DR Buck]

I've been an active ebay seller and Paypal user for a number of years.   This could be legit if you are a new member.  Paypal and ebay have both put in protections to keep buyers from being scammed by new sellers with no positive history.  This is most likely because of the value of the transaction.   If it was a few bucks, there probably wouldn't be a delay.  If she logs directly into paypal (paypal.com from the address bar) and not through a provide link she can check the status  against her account.   If it's listed there, it's probably a legit action.  I wouldn't like it either but as I said, if she's new it's probably required.

I've never had to deal with this type of delay as it was all put in place after I had become established.   

[fuzzybear]

like DR_Buck said go directly to the paypal sight. NEVER follow links on an e-mail.  She should contact ebay directly through their site.  I got cought up in a scam through ebay . I received an email that looked legit, I had a small feeling there was something wrong so I contacted e-bay and the seller directly,  they both responded that it was a scam...a very convincing scam. 
   Since that (along with being ripped off by another seller) I no longer do business on ebay. Their servers are NOT secure.

[bill m]

Since the shipping address just shows "Sterling Heights, USA" and no state is given it sounds like a scam to me.

[timberfaller390]

I got the same email after selling a hedge trimmer on ebay without any feedback. I would contact the buyer and ask for the shipping info and also contact ebay directly to let them know that your buyer's profile doesn't have a shipping address. That way you are covered in the event the buyer complains about a tie delay or something. ebay really doesn't offer any protection or recourse for the sellers.

[easymoney]

i have never heard about the money being held by paypal. i have  bought and sold quite a few things through ebay over the years. always the money was avaliable for me to withdraw as soon as the buyer made a payment. i think that ebay has started to really insist that you use paypal. i think that the bigger sellers would really scream if their money was held for any significant time. also any shipper would probably not want to accept a shipment without a street adress. if they claimed to pay by paypal i would not ship the order until i had confirmed that the money was in my account. and i do not let any money sit in paypal for long i clean it out within a couple of days of recieving it. i have sold a few large ticket items that was so large that the buyer picked them in person and they always paid me when they picked them up.

[Ianab]

From the Paypal site.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/securitycenter/sell/SaferPayments-outside

So I suggest

Go to your paypal account.
Make sure the $$ have been credited to your account, but are just on hold.
If it all checks out, send the stuff.

Then decide it you want to be a paypal customer anymore.

[DR Buck]

It's all about feedback rating.  Log into Paypal directly as I mentioned earlier and see what's posted there.  If the message is there and the $$ are credited, then it's a legit message.

[Piston]

Just want to thank everyone for your advice and opinions.  She contacted the seller and it seemed ligit, she went through with the sale and everything worked out and she now has her money so she is happy  ;D

If she's happy I'm happy!  Thanks again.

[boobap]

make sure the site is secure: https://  make sure that "s" is in there

[Warren]

This is a legitimate ebay/paypal rip off....  I sold a number of hydraulic cylinders on ebay a few months ago.  About every third or fourth transaction had the "funds held".   Initially, it was because I had never sold anything previously in this category.  Then it was because I had less than 100 positive feedbacks as a seller.  Don't try to talk to a PayPal customer service rep.   Even if you get someone who speaks English as a primary language, they will talk you in circles.  I could never get a reasonable explanation why only every third or fourth transaction was held up.  At one point, one rep said it was a "random" check.  But I could never get a good explanation of "how random" or "what percentage".

Best remedy is to work with the buyer to flag the item as "received" and leave positibve feedback as soon as they get the item and confirm "O.K."   

All of this nonsense is supposed to be to "ensure the buyer has a good ebay experience".  However, when I had the issue last month with not receiving the pre-paid shaft and bearings from an ebay seller, it felt like I was on the wrong side of the same night mare all over again....

I agree with the "over night" deposit theory.   Most multi-billion dollar corporations have someone in their A&F "Cash Management" group whose sole responsibility is to manage over night transactions.  These individuals typically earn the corporation several million dollars a year by placing "unneeded" cash in short term investments.

-w-