E-bay Policy Change - Seller Funds Availability

[bcbgcbrcb]

I’m shocked that nobody has mentioned this here yet. Already effective, eBay has revised the time frame when they deposit seller funds into their bank account after a sale from 24 business hours to 3 days after confirmed delivery to the buyer’s address. This can easily mean a difference of a week or more in funds availability, even 2-3 weeks when it’s part of the Authenticity Guaranty program for sportscards. This is a huge difference and just might push me over the edge this time to stop selling on eBay.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

I’m shocked that nobody has mentioned this here yet. Already effective, eBay has revised the time frame when they deposit seller funds into their bank account after a sale from 24 business hours to 3 days after confirmed delivery to the buyer’s address. This can easily mean a difference of a week or more in funds availability, even 2-3 weeks when it’s part of the Authenticity Guaranty program for sportscards. This is a huge difference and just might push me over the edge this time to stop selling on eBay.

I wonder if they are trying to make money on the float period? Three days with millions and millions of dollars of interest might amount to something. Hard to understand, but Money is always the answer.
.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Leon

I wonder if they are trying to make money on the float period? Three days with millions and millions of dollars of interest might amount to something. Hard to understand, but Money is always the answer.
.

Exactly, but it will be presented under the guise of a more secure marketplace for all!

[sonnyu2]

Originally Posted by Leon

I wonder if they are trying to make money on the float period? Three days with millions and millions of dollars of interest might amount to something. Hard to understand, but Money is always the answer.
.

More than likely.

They are actually holding the money for an average of 7 to 10 days since the funds are not released to the seller until 3 days after confirmed delivery. So, the interest on that is probably pretty substantial.

I can totally understand if the policy was in place for new sellers, sellers with a track record of returns / problem transactions, or for other situations that merit the payment hold - But to make it a blanket policy even for well-established sellers in good standing, most likely means it is in place for eBay to make interest off the funds.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

I’m shocked that nobody has mentioned this here yet. Already effective, eBay has revised the time frame when they deposit seller funds into their bank account after a sale from 24 business hours to 3 days after confirmed delivery to the buyer’s address. This can easily mean a difference of a week or more in funds availability, even 2-3 weeks when it’s part of the Authenticity Guaranty program for sportscards. This is a huge difference and just might push me over the edge this time to stop selling on eBay.

I don't know that this is actually true, which would explain why no one has posted about it. I don't see anything on eBay saying this is the case.

[sonnyu2]

Originally Posted by CardPadre

I don't know that this is actually true, which would explain why no one has posted about it. I don't see anything on eBay saying this is the case.

100% true. eBay has been slowly rolling out the new policy to sellers in small waves since last year - most likely to not get an influx of complaints by doing it to all sellers all at once.

My account was switched to the new payment terms a few months ago with no warning at all. And the notification said ALL sellers will be switched to the new terms no matter what over the next few months.

There are countless other posts about the policy on other forums and the eBay message boards.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by sonnyu2

100% true. eBay has been slowly rolling out the new policy to sellers in small waves since last year - most likely to not get an influx of complaints by doing it to all sellers all at once.

My account was switched to the new payment terms a few months ago with no warning at all. And the notification said ALL sellers will be switched to the new terms no matter what over the next few months.

There are countless other posts about the policy on other forums and the eBay message boards.

If you have the notification they sent, would be nice to share it here.

[sonnyu2]

Originally Posted by CardPadre

If you have the notification they sent, would be nice to share it here.

Here are a few of the threads about it on the eBay message boards and Reddit that show some of the emails about the payment change. Sorry, don't think I have my original email as it was from months ago. Tons more posts about it out there on various forums.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Paymen...l/m-p/35217678

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Paymen.../td-p/35111257

https://www.reddit.com/r/eBaySellerA...leasing_funds/

https://www.reddit.com/r/eBaySellers...y_rolling_out/

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by sonnyu2

More than likely.

They are actually holding the money for an average of 7 to 10 days since the funds are not released to the seller until 3 days after confirmed delivery. So, the interest on that is probably pretty substantial.

I can totally understand if the policy was in place for new sellers, sellers with a track record of returns / problem transactions, or for other situations that merit the payment hold - But to make it a blanket policy even for well-established sellers in good standing, most likely means it is in place for eBay to make interest off the funds.

My funds are released before confirmed delivery.

I did notice a recent change in the timing of payouts. On average, it takes about one extra business day now.

[notfast]

I dont use ebay a ton and just sold my 4th card of the year on there Monday the 22nd.

Payment was in my bank account Wed the 24th.

$100 card.

[CardPadre]

Some people did post the notification they received. It may come to “all” sellers eventually, but it doesn’t explicitly say that. I don’t know that you can rule out that it’s only for some at this point.

[sonnyu2]

Originally Posted by CardPadre

Some people did post the notification they received. It may come to “all” sellers eventually, but it doesn’t explicitly say that. I don’t know that you can rule out that it’s only for some at this point.

Yes, it is being slowly rolled out in phases, but will go into effect for all sellers at some point.

I may have been wrong saying the initial eBay message said all sellers - but when I inquired with eBay reps about it they implicitly stated that it will go into effect for all sellers no matter what.

My eBay account is Top Rated, seller since 1997, perfect feedback of over 18,000, and steady sales between 10k to 20k a month (until the policy change) with little to no problem transactions per year. The reps said it had nothing to do with seller performance.

I have spoken to a few other “bigger” eBay sellers I know and the policy went into effect for their accounts as well with no warning.

If it hasn’t happened to your account yet…it eventually will.

[raulus]

Well, that sounds like good fun. Hasn’t kicked in yet for me, but it sounds like it’s coming.

Luckily for me, it’s not a big deal to wait a few more days simply because I don’t sell that much on eBay. If I were a dealer where eBay sales were an important part of my business, then this would definitely bite.

[Smanzari]

Originally Posted by sonnyu2

Yes, it is being slowly rolled out in phases, but will go into effect for all sellers at some point.

I may have been wrong saying the initial eBay message said all sellers - but when I inquired with eBay reps about it they implicitly stated that it will go into effect for all sellers no matter what.

My eBay account is Top Rated, seller since 1997, perfect feedback of over 18,000, and steady sales between 10k to 20k a month (until the policy change) with little to no problem transactions per year. The reps said it had nothing to do with seller performance.

I have spoken to a few other “bigger” eBay sellers I know and the policy went into effect for their accounts as well with no warning.

If it hasn’t happened to your account yet…it eventually will.

Right there with you, 16+ years for me; 41,500+ Positive Feedback; consistent monthly sales a little less than yours (volume-wise, probably 500 cards/week now as I've been winding my store down due to this policy change), and I've had this hold thing since the end of May. It really stinks as the system doesn't work the best with Standard Envelopes and due to this, I'm noticing those shipments sometimes take a month to process

[D. Bergin]

The squeeze continues.........

[todeen]

My two recent sales under this policy:

SALE 1: Buyer paid September 1, item went to authentication, item was delivered September 18.

**item had attempted delivery to Authentication on Saturday the 6th. No one was available to accept delivery and waited in USPS warehouse over the weekend. Item was delivered end of day the 8th. It was finally authenticated on the 15th.

SALE 2: Buyer paid September 8, item went to authentication, item delivered September 22.

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

[Yoda]

Pretty tough now for a small company/ Ebay seller to manage cash flow with this new policy.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Try when this is your only source of income outside of setting up at a few card shows during the course of the year (under 10).

[bcbgcbrcb]

Just putting two and two together, my other eBay post from last night (which has gotten zero responses thus far) regarding the recent uptick in AG delays goes hand-in-hand with this thread regarding the delaying of funds availability for eBay sellers. It is very obvious to me now that eBay’s whole intention, as several of you have stated, is to hold funds in their “bank” as long as possible to make money on the float. Not sure there is anywhere to go in an effort to police/control this other than to stop selling on eBay. eBay has no one to report to like the banks have the FDIC/Regulators/State Banking Commission as I know all too well after my 30+ years in retail banking.

[Eric72]

They *might* be encouraging sellers to use their Express Payout feature.

[Jobu]

Quite possible.

I also wonder who currently gets left holding the bag for an item that was lost during shipping. If it is eBay in a significant number of cases, holding the money allows them to issue a refund for these items instead of having to take a loss.

Originally Posted by Eric72

They *might* be encouraging sellers to use their Express Payout feature.

[Brian Van Horn]

I stopped selling on eBay because of the 1099K nonsense which was corrected on July 4 of this year. Now, the verification process is good. Other things such as this......

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by raulus

Well, that sounds like good fun. Hasn’t kicked in yet for me, but it sounds like it’s coming.

Luckily for me, it’s not a big deal to wait a few more days simply because I don’t sell that much on eBay. If I were a dealer where eBay sales were an important part of my business, then this would definitely bite.

^^Pretty much the same for me.^^

I figured the sellers would be way more up in arms about buyers now having 7 days to pay.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by bnorth

^^Pretty much the same for me.^^

I figured the sellers would be way more up in arms about buyers now having 7 days to pay.

When listing a BIN item, eBay sellers can choose, “require immediate payment.” If a buyer wishes to purchase an item, it remains listed (and available for anyone to buy) until they’ve completed payment.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Agree, Bryan. When I first heard the news from eBay that was my first thought and although I didn’t like it, was willing to accept it because of that. However, the simultaneous delays regarding their authenticity guaranty program put things in a different light entirely. eBay just being greedy and making more money on the float while they hold other people’s money as long as possible. That I can’t accept and, in fact, makes me sick to my stomach.

[prestigecollectibles]

Doesn't seem to be affecting me, at least not yet.
I've been selling on Whatnot a lot more than eBay recently.

I was using their express payout on occasions for only a $2 fee.
PayPal charges 1.5% I think.

[bcbgcbrcb]

After two email exchanges back and forth with eBay’s Office of the President, nothing has changed and, of course, they preach that these changes are being implemented to make the platform safer for both buyers and sellers and NOT to increase eBay’s revenue stream via interest earnings on seller funds being held back. At least they are acknowledging that this was not their PRIMARY goal anyway.

And pigs can fly…..