First of all, there’s the obvious fee that eBay charges for listing an item, both before the sale and after the sale.

Then, the equally-obvious fee that PayPal charges for collecting the payment for that sale.

But – and this is the kicker – eBay/PayPal then sits on those funds (no matter whether you call it the buyers’ money or the sellers’ money) – the amount of time they do so ultimately determined at their sole discretion – all the while COLLECTING SOME KIND INVESTMENT RETURN on those monies, don’t you know – until they get around to releasing them!

Yeah. Just *think* about the enormous sum of money that passes through their machinery on a monthly basis. They are NOT total morons (other comments here notwithstanding), so there can be little doubt that that final item proves to be a significant source of income for them. A shrewd bunch…a seriously shrewd and crafty bunch!

Monroe publically said some time ago that they were considering releasing the shipping money right away, but as usual, any upside or seller-friendly policies never come to pass. And Griff wonders why sellers think eBaY is out to purge them… Its a pattern of conduct.

If I buy, which is rare here anymore, and my seller communicates that they have a hold, we usually just do the deal outside of ebay and cancel the transation. The overwhelming frustration is not something I want to heap on a seller either.

We ship when we receive payment.

We do not ship when we do not receive payment.

I sell 1000+ items per month and I now notify customers that ebay and paypal have their money, won’t release it and since we cannot be paid, we’re not shipping.

I then help them file a complaint with the states atty generals office against ebay/paypal since this is in fact not allowed under the laws of many states.

[Sentence edited: see Comment Policy]

I ship when I get paid. When you steal or hold my customers money, I help them to go to the police against you.

I then sell the transaction outside of ebay and both I an the customer are perfectly happy.

The end result is that YOU, eBay loses again and misses the whole point.

So far this month, we’ve helped our customers file 7 legal actions against Paypal in four states and we will continue this policy until you issue a formal apology and reverse this insane policy.

Next week we’re making the same service available to our UK customers where you’ll be brought before the trade boards to explain yourselves. Fail to do so and you’ll really be stepping in it.

Thanks for all your support, with a business parter like ebay and paypal, I need no enemies.

[Sentence edited: see Comment Policy]

http://trends.google.com/websites?q=ebay.com%2C+amazon.com&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

As a 5 year ebay member with 100% positive feedback that have been hit with 21 day hold for a server CPU sale (low risk specialty item, I sold 3 identical items in the last 6 months, and the funds were not held), I think I know why now.

Even if no major competitor to ebay emerges, the management will run this company to the ground with their policies designed to help shareholders and to alienate seller community. They think BIG sellers are their friend. WRONG. Google product search combined with Google checkout is BIG sellers friend. You will see in 33-5 years.

My original post was:

The problem I have is eBay not communicating technical issues on their site and how this can lead to buyer dissatisfaction.

I had enough technical issues with my account – from emails not being received by my customer or me as well as Paypal payments showing as PENDING for days when they actually cleared that it made my 5% dissatisfaction get to 5.1%

- ALL THE WHILE MY TOPSELLER MANAGER, POWERSELLER SUPPORT AND TRUST AND SAFETY SAID THAT MY ACCOUNT WOULD NOT BE AFFECTED. I SPENT MY MONEY OUT OF MY POCKET ON FASTER SHIPPING TO MY CUSTOMERS BECAUSE OF EBAYS DELAYS. JUST TO HAVE EBAY PLACE 21 DAY PAYMENT HOLDS ON MY ACCOUNT.
I WAS A SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL DROP SHIPPER FOR 6 YEARS UNTIL 2008 POLICY CHANGES.
WITH 30 DAY CREDIT TERMS THE 21 DAY POLICY HOLD ENDED MY BUSINESS.
21 DAY HOLD PLUS IT TAKES 5 – 7 BUSINESS DAYS TO TRANSFER MONEY FROM PAYPAL TO MY CANADIAN BANK.
28 DAYS…….WHAT ARE YOU THINKING EBAY?

YOU ARE AFFECTING MORE THAN 5% OF SELLERS TOO BY WAY.
I THINK THEY SAY 5% – IF THEY WERE SAYING 8% THEN THEY WOULD HAVE 8% SELLER DISSATISFACTION WITH THEIR POLICY.
THAT WOULD BE MORE THAN EBAY’S STANDARD FOR SELLERS.
SEE WHAT I AM TRYING TO SAY?

I TRULY BELIEVE EBAY POLICY CREATED IS BASED ON HOW IT WOULD AFFECT A USA SELLER AND NOT SELLERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. NOT TO SAY THAT POLICY DOES NOT AFFECT A USA SELLER – I JUST DON’T THINK EBAY CAN COVER HOW BANKING, SHIPPING ETC WORKS IN EVERY COUNTRY THEY MAKE THEIR SERVICES AVAILABLE TO.