I am fairly new to paypal so they hold my funds for some time. My question to all the veterans is this, even though my funds are on hold can they be used to pay for auctions that I have won or do I have to wait for the funds to become available? Thanks for any help.

You have to wait for them to clear. It sucks at the beginning, because it would be nice to have that money to invest. But it's a good protection so that people can't disappear with your money.

You have to wait till they become available before you spend it

Dang it you beat me to it

That's what I suspected thanks guys........I read that after a feedback of 100 they don't hold anymore is that true? Also when I transfer money from my PayPal to my bank account it takes 3 to 5 days....is it always like that or it this also due to the fact that I am a noob??

That's what I suspected thanks guys........I read that after a feedback of 100 they don't hold anymore is that true? Also when I transfer money from my PayPal to my bank account it takes 3 to 5 days....is it always like that or it this also due to the fact that I am a noob??

The bank transfer always takes a couple days to clear. I am with Wells Fargo and it's usually 2-3 days.

I wonder why? Surely it could somehow be done instantly don't you think?

Yeah, you will be under review in the beginning. Then, they gauge your avg amount that you take in. Then, when it shoots up by a large amount or substantially, you'll be under another review. Anything that looks out of the ordinary will raise a red flag to them. The Paypal holding period has nothing to do with eBay feedbacks. eBay is another beast with limits. With eBay, you simply start to sell and they set you monthly limits. If you feel that you want to sell more, you must provide a bank account and SSN. I think this maxes you out at 100 items and 5k monthly. If you want to sell even more and have them review your account, you have to call their customer service and they will take a look at your account and talk to you about it. The call is very short, simple and well worth it.

So there is no way to tell when they will stop holding my funds?

So there is no way to tell when they will stop holding my funds?

There should be a release date on the transaction, I believe.

Yeah there is......I was talking about knowing when they are not gonna hold funds anymore.

Yeah there is......I was talking about knowing when they are not gonna hold funds anymore.

I am not sure as to when they will no longer hold your funds. However, while you do need to wait for the money to clear before you spend it, you can still use paypal to purchase things on ebay, amazon, etc. Even though your paypal balance might still be $0 (because you're waiting for the other money to clear), paypal will just pull money from the account you have linked to your paypal account (your checking or savings account, or a credit card for example that is linked to your paypal account). As long as you have available money in your other account (your checking, savings, or credit card that paypal is pulling from) you can still use paypal to pay for items you're purchasing without being hit with a fee. Make sure that if your available paypal balance is $0, and you use paypal to buy something, say $100, that you have $100 available in your checking, savings, or on a credit card that paypal can pull from. If you do not, and paypal can't pull from your linked bank acount, then they will nail you with a fee. I hope this made sense, PM if it doesn't and I will try to explain it better.

Makes sense thanks!

In my personal experience it took about 3 months of successful selling before payments became available instantaneously. And it takes 2-3 days for a transfer to your bank account. I could be wrong, but I believe that in the past small movements of money (less than $100) back into your bank account was hit with additional fees. I'm not sure what the minimum is now to avoid these fees, but if you are moving smaller amounts, I would check it out.

Having your account frozen for an indefinate period for no real justifiable reason is just one of the many reasons I don't like PayPal. Add the fact that the company is not classified as a bank, which means the business only has to adhere to some of the rules that actual banks need to follow makes me trust them even less. Seriously, they can freeze anyone's account simply just cause they felt like it. And while your account is frozen, PayPal is slowly earning compounded daily interest from it and there is not a thing you can do about it until they feel like unfreezing it. PayPal can protect your money and make most transactions safe, but I still find the company difficult to trust, honestly.

Moral of the subject: PayPal ultimately sucks lol. They hold your money whenever they want which is NOT ok. Regardless if you're sketch or not. Fun Fact, PayPal has full access to your frozen money.

I think if a buyer leaves positive feedback for a transaction, funds are released whereas if normally funds are released 21 days after they are received (assuming the buyer does not complain).

This is correct but it still takes 5 or so days after the feedback is left.

Well its getting faster as I am selling more. My product was delivered Friday and the funds became available Sunday. Still reluctant to use the funds until positive feedback is left, just in case the buyer wants to be a scammer somehow.

This is news to me, but I started selling (small amounts) in 2004. Maybe things are tighter now. But when I sold more than

Maybe it depends on the bank? My transfers always take 3-5 days...........lame!!!

I think if a buyer leaves positive feedback for a transaction, funds are released whereas if normally funds are released 21 days after they are received (assuming the buyer does not complain).

if you upload tracking info to eBay, they go by when it says it was delivered. Remember some skeezer buyers never leave feedback.

if you upload tracking info to eBay, they go by when it says it was delivered. Remember some skeezer buyers never leave feedback.

Oh I had no idea; when I first started selling (just minifigures), I didn't know you could print shipping labels from PayPal, so I would just pay at the post office and funds would only be released if the buyer left feedback, which only like 25% actually do. I think once you reach a certain feedback level though you don't have to wait 21 days for the funds to be released.