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…..

[NATCARD]

I had to chime in on this even though this thread is about 1 month old. This corsses the thread on the main page of PSA 50,000 packages a day. I have an order that i sent that needed to go through EBay authentication. It was shipped to them on October 27th and Received on November 1st. This is the 1st time I have had $$ held back by EBay awaiting authentication. With the crazy backlog of packages this will take time to get through the authentication process due to that alone and the fact they have no idea what they are looking at in the first place. The item is a set of SGC graded progressive Topps proofs. Hold my money because you cannot handle the business you have. Kneel down before the gods of grading!

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by NATCARD

I had to chime in on this even though this thread is about 1 month old. This corsses the thread on the main page of PSA 50,000 packages a day. I have an order that i sent that needed to go through EBay authentication. It was shipped to them on October 27th and Received on November 1st. This is the 1st time I have had $$ held back by EBay awaiting authentication. With the crazy backlog of packages this will take time to get through the authentication process due to that alone and the fact they have no idea what they are looking at in the first place. The item is a set of SGC graded progressive Topps proofs. Hold my money because you cannot handle the business you have. Kneel down before the gods of grading!

How did a “set” get the authenticity guarantee program, did you list them separately as individual cards?

[CardPadre]

And for a different “funds availability” experience, I just sold a $3k raw card on Saturday and it arrived at the authenticator today, 2 days later, and my funds are available and being sent to me.

[raulus]

In some cases, I get paid before I ship. Or at worst within a day or two of shipping, but long before it gets to the authenticator, including from sales in the last few days.

[bnorth]

I haven't had funds held yet. I sold 2 items for $150 and $200 on Friday and had the money from both sales before I mailed the items out this morning.

[NYYFan63]

After they started this, I had a couple cards I sold where I waited to receive funds until delivery to the buyer. However, my last three sales, eBay has sent my payout the day after the card was authenticated. Not sure what drove the change.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NATCARD]

Since a progressive proof is a set of the same players cards, i always list them this way. I have never had any hold up on authentication of money in the hundreds I have sold.

[steve B]

Sort of a strange policy. Many stamp sellers just mail a single stamp in a stock card in a regular envelope. No DC, nothing.
For a while back when I was doing ebay I used greeting cards I'd found on clearance.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by NATCARD

Since a progressive proof is a set of the same players cards, i always list them this way. I have never had any hold up on authentication of money in the hundreds I have sold.

So you sent 9 SGC slabs to the authenticator as one sale that was listed as a trading card single. At least you use the proper entitled old man verbiage of "I always do it this way."

But these will be rejected by the authenticator as "miscategorized" and probably sent on to the buyer but with the caveat that they were not authenticated. So you've created an unnecessary delay for your buyer while also clogging up the authentication queue with an item that will not be authenticated and should not be sent there.

[NATCARD]

After selling 100's of progressive proofs authenticated by SGC who is now owned by PSA, This item was rejected as not being able to authenticate and is being returned to me. How can a company not authenticate an item they slabbed? STUPIDITY is the reaseon. Between EBay and PSA its amazing to me how this can happen.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by NATCARD

After selling 100's of progressive proofs authenticated by SGC who is now owned by PSA, This item was rejected as not being able to authenticate and is being returned to me. How can a company not authenticate an item they slabbed? STUPIDITY is the reaseon. Between EBay and PSA its amazing to me how this can happen.

That's actually hilarious, the best possible outcome. Did you not read what I wrote above? That was a trading card lot, not a trading card single. It's not the type of listing that's eligible for the authenticity guarantee. Maybe you'll learn a lesson, but sounds like that's a long shot.

[premiercardcollectors]

They don’t hold my funds for delivery. I would contact them and ask them why they are doing this on your account. The only time I see funds holds are either when a buyer says they didn’t receive an item or when the item is going to the PSA vault they hold for authenticity first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bcbgcbrcb]

Geoff:

As I said previously, they are rolling out the program over time, Yours and everyone else's time will come. They just know how much backlash they would have to deal with from every seller at once. Started during the second quarter of 2025 and only hit me in September.

[NATCARD]

I have been selling these like this for over 10 years. I have been in this business for 47 years and am only 57, Not an old man. Not to have a battle of wits that you cannot win, but this is how progressive proof sets are sold. Something I am sure you know nothing about. I have sold these as recently as 2 months ago and they passed the authentication process, no problem. This is just a case of unknowledgeable people trying to do something they are entirely incapable of.

[Exhibitman]

How is this going to match up with the "limited" (crappy to none at all) tracking on an eBay standard envelope? A decent percentage of those sales never show any tracking at all. I guess the funds are held forever??? What am I supposed to do, sell a $5 card and charge $5 to ship it USPS ground advantage?

They are taking this to the point of killing the market for cheaper cards. Burn the village to save it.

[CardPadre]

Originally Posted by NATCARD

I have been selling these like this for over 10 years. I have been in this business for 47 years and am only 57, Not an old man. Not to have a battle of wits that you cannot win, but this is how progressive proof sets are sold. Something I am sure you know nothing about. I have sold these as recently as 2 months ago and they passed the authentication process, no problem. This is just a case of unknowledgeable people trying to do something they are entirely incapable of.

I guarantee....guarantee you did not get a set of cards to pass the ebay authentication process as a transaction that was listed as a "trading card single". GUARANTEE this did not happen. At best they forwarded your screw-up to the buyer with a note that it was miscategorized.

So you're absolutely full of shit as well as dense. Feel free to post any proof of it. I don't even think you comprehend what we're discussing here, you've shown no sign of it.

[NATCARD]

That's funny.