posted 05-13-2010 12:16 AM                       

quote: Tony Bandiera Jr

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Paypal is going to place a HOLD on ALL payments made to my account, until THEY verify that an item I sold was received AND satisfactory to the buyer

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posted 05-13-2010 10:42 AM                    

quote:

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EBay Persuades Judge to End Auction ‘Monopoly’ Suit by Sellers
March 06, 2010, 12:03 AM EST
By Andrew M. Harris

March 6 (Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc., operator of the most visited U.S. e-commerce site, no longer faces a lawsuit by three sellers claiming it monopolizes the online auctions market and the means to pay for goods bought there.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose, California, ruled the sellers failed to show that they -- or anyone else -- had been injured by EBay’s alleged behavior.

“Plaintiffs have not drawn the court’s attention to any actual proof of antitrust injury caused by EBay,” Fogel said in his March 4 decision throwing out the case.

EBay was accused in the suit of anticompetitive behavior, including the acquisition of the PayPal peer-to-peer payment service in 2002. Paypal, bought by San Jose-based EBay for $1.18 billion, processed more than 40 percent of the $52 billion in merchandise sold on EBay in 2006, the year before Michael Malone of Texas first filed the lawsuit.

Malone was forced to pay “artificially inflated and supracompetitive fees to EBay,” according to a consolidated complaint filed in May 2007.

The sellers sought class-action, or group status, and a finding that EBay violated antitrust laws and illegally restrained trade, plus an award for unspecified money damages.

“We are gratified that the court rejected plaintiffs’ claim as baseless,” EBay Deputy General Counsel Mary Huser said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. “With this meritless suit behind us, we can continue to focus on our core business of providing platforms that bring buyers and sellers together to transact online.”

Michael McShane, lead attorney for the sellers, didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment yesterday.

No Line Crossed

“Plaintiffs challenge virtually everything that EBay has ever done,” the company said in court papers asking Fogel to throw out the lawsuit. “Every one of the acts identified by plaintiffs crosses no antitrust line.”

The case is In Re EBay Seller Antitrust Litigation, 07-cv-01882, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

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posted 05-13-2010 04:52 PM                    

quote: Tony Bandiera Jr

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I got an email from Paypal today which has me astounded to say the least.

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quote: Tony Bandiera Jr

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Allison, you would be getting that notice as a message when you log in to Paypal, it originates from them.

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posted 05-13-2010 09:26 PM                    

quote: From Paypal's site

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PayPal Payment Holds

We're committed to providing you and your customers with a fast and secure payment service while keeping our prices competitive. To keep ourselves on track, we've established a Funds Availability Policy.

We might be throwing some new words at you here, but we promise to explain them in full detail. As part of our Funds Availability Policy, "reserves" may apply to certain accounts. A reserve is a percentage of your payments that'll be released at a later date. A related term is "payment hold." A payment hold is a type of reserve in which 100% of the funds received are held for a specified amount of time.

Payment hold - a longer definition

A payment hold is an amount of money that belongs to you, set aside by PayPal, while we make sure that your customers are satisfied. The payments received are held temporarily as a pending balance in your account, and released after a given timeframe. The funds may be released early if PayPal determines that the transaction has been fulfilled and your customers are satisfied.

Please note: Although not available for use, the funds are yours and will be reflected in your pending balance and eligible for money market dividends* for eligible accounts.
Why does PayPal hold payments?

Payment holds ensure that sellers have sufficient funds in their account if, for example, a customer files a dispute. This allows PayPal to provide a fast and secure payment service to you and your customers while keeping our prices competitive.

We know this is a change in the way we do business with you and we hope you understand that, if your payment is held, you haven't done anything wrong. In deciding whether to hold payments, we review many factors including transaction activity, business type, and customer disputes.
When do payment holds apply?

Payment holds may be applied to some or all transactions in your account. Here are some common reasons for holding payments:

* You have limited history or selling activity with eBay and PayPal
* You have an eBay feedback score of less than 100 or received fewer than 20 Detailed Seller Ratings in the last 12 months, and do not have a record of good performance
* If you have low Detailed Seller Ratings or other indication of below standard performance on eBay
* You have a high rate of customer disputes, claims or chargebacks
* You're selling in a high risk category or industry such as, but not limited to, tickets, travel, gift certificates, computers, consumer electronics, or cell phones
* Your payment activity is inconsistent. For example, you have a spike in selling activity or you started selling in a new category without an established history in that category
* The account information you have provided is incomplete or inaccurate

If your payments are held, PayPal will provide you with notice specifying the terms. The terms may require that the amounts received into your account are held for a certain period of time. PayPal will re-evaluate your account periodically and contact you when we stop applying payment holds.

If your payments are held, the funds will be shown as "pending" in your PayPal balance.

When does PayPal release the payment?

Payments will be held in a pending balance for a certain time period. For example, if you receive a $100 payment (after fees), the $100 will be held in a pending balance for the specified amount of time. After the hold is released, the money will be available for withdrawal.

The money may be released sooner if:

1. We can confirm that the item was delivered**
2. Your buyer leaves positive feedback. (Applies only to eBay items.)

To get access to this money more quickly, please process this order right away and communicate with your customers early and often.

What can I do to avoid payment holds?

Here are some things you can do:

* Improve your DSR feedback rating
* Avoid buyer disputes, claims, and chargebacks.
* If you have a buyer dispute, resolve it quickly.
* Process your orders right away and ship quickly using a service that provides tracking and delivery confirmation
* Communicate early and often with your buyers
* Make sure you confirm your address and phone numbers and keep them up to date
* Verify your account and keep your financials up to date

I'm a new seller. Will payments I receive be held?

Not necessarily. If you're a new seller with PayPal, we may hold your payments until you establish a record of good selling performance.

I'm a tenured PayPal seller. Will payments I receive be held?

Not necessarily. If you don't have a record of good performance or have limited selling activity or other indication of potential performance problems, your payments may be held.

Can held funds be used to pay for shipping?

If you print labels and pay for shipping through PayPal or eBay, the cost of shipping will be released from your pending balance shortly after purchase. Printing labels on eBay and PayPal is free. You're charged only the cost of shipping.

* For US customers, if you are enrolled in the PayPal Money Market Fund, you will earn interest on your held funds.

**We can confirm delivery if you ship the item with UPS, USPS or FedEx and either use PayPal or eBay shipping labels or upload tracking information from the transaction details page. This applies to US domestic shipments only. Once the tracking number reflects the shipment is delivered, PayPal will review and may release the Hold after 3 days elapses. This provides enough time for the buyer to review the shipment and file a dispute if necessary.

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Bold added by me.

The tone of this policy is slightly softer than the tone of the email, which is kinda understandable since the email was a bit shorter.

It seems to me this is a somewhat punitive action because I don't have great sales volume and don't have established DSR's yet. Since joining eBay though I have made close to 80 sales and ALL have been 100% positive feedback with no complaints or issues.

The first bold point is the one that pisses me off the most, as my Paypal is linked to my bank account already to cover any shortfalls in my Paypal account, so that's a very weak excuse IMHO.

I knew when Paypal was bought by eBay that it was only a matter of time before the hit the fan.