Monroe Labouisse, the director of PayPal’s business on eBay in the US and Canada sat down with eBay’s chief Blogger Richard Brewer-Hay and sketched out this post explaining the policies behind eBay Item Holds.
An eBay Item Hold is when eBay asks PayPal to hold a payment in a seller’s PayPal account for up to 21 days. This occurs as a “buyer protection” when eBay believes the transaction is more likely than the average transaction to be fraudulent.
They say this only happens less than 5% of the time normally. Sellers are warned on the “Sell Your Item” form or through listing software if that’s how the seller lists, in the payment section:
Paypal has all of the details in the policy section for item holds:
When Does PayPal Hold a Payment?
– You have been an eBay member for less than 6 months, and you sell an item for more than $100, or
– You have an eBay feedback score of less than 100, and you sell an item for more than $100, or
– You have a Buyer dissatisfaction percentage** 5% or greater than 5%, or
– You have an average Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) of less than 4.5, or
– You have received fewer than 20 Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 12 months, or
– You are listing your item in a high-risk category such as gift certificates, video games, cell phones, computers or consumer electronics.
PayPal Says it Doesn’t Hold Payments if you meet the following:
– You have been an eBay member for 6-months or more, and
– Your total Feedback score is 100 or greater, and
– Your Buyer dissatisfaction percentage** is less than 5%.
Or
– Your average DSR is 4.5 or greater and
– Your have received 20 or more DSRs in the last 12-months
– Your buyer dissatisfaction percentage is less than 5%
eBay claims that the item holds only occur a very small percentage of the time. As an eBay seller, have you experienced this in the past? If so, has it happened often?