Did something change in PayPal and eBay that prevents paying with a balance that you have in your account?  Do I need to transition to PayPal Cash account to be able to do this?  Anybody else seeing this?

i used my balance to partial pay just yesterday without a hitch. 

Must be on my end, I'll keep hunting around for the right button to press.

a few months back, i had to verify my account, providing an ssn, to use my balance to pay

That could be it. 

I had to add a card since the last one I had changed hands.  I chatted with them and they told me to confirm it, which I thought I had done, but I tried that and will see if it works.

23 hours ago, hankdelsi said:

a few months back, i had to verify my account, providing an ssn, to use my balance to pay

This fixed the issue if anyone else is having this problem.

The lady in chat said they had been sending notifications about this for a year. I told her they must have gotten lost in all the credit card offers.