Why is the money in my pending balance rather than in my available balance?
Your payments may be placed on hold in your pending PayPal balance because:
- You’re a new seller with PayPal (whether on or off eBay) - It takes time to build history to demonstrate a pattern of positive buyer-seller transactions. By building a positive selling activity, your funds may become available immediately.
- You have a “Below Standard” seller rating on eBay - The percentage of refunds, disputes, and chargebacks compared to sales on your PayPal account seller performance. Having performance issues increases the likelihood of received funds being temporarily unavailable.
- The payment you received may be considered unusual for your selling pattern - You may be selling higher risk items such as tickets, gift cards, electronics, or travel packages. An unusual sales activity would also show a recent spike in sales, a change in average selling price, or a change in business model or type of item being sold. Also, if you had been selling on eBay but are now selling off eBay, this would be new activity.
- You were previously an inactive seller-You may not have sold something for a while and you have now begun selling again.
- You’ve been selling for a while but opened a new account-If you’re an established merchant, but opened a new account, that account will be eligible for holds until a good history is established.
To help ensure a successful transaction, we always encourage sellers to adhere to the following best practices:
- List successfully by including clear photos with detailed, accurate descriptions of items
- Be clear about shipping and handling time, costs, and methods. Ship promptly and upload tracking.
- Define your return policy upfront
- Communicate with your buyers and respond to inquiries quickly and in a professional manner.
Here are some tips that may help make your payment available sooner:
- Provide tracking information (UPS, USPS, or FedEx) with delivery confirmation. Your payment should be available 3 days after we can confirm delivery.
- If you don’t upload tracking, but mark the item as shipped on the Transaction Details page, your payment should be available 7 days for domestic or 14 days for international shipments, after the item is marked as shipped.
- Buyers can also mark the item as received in the Transaction Details page, which will release the payment three days afterwards.
- Mark the payment as processed if it was for a service, and your payment should be available in 7 days for domestic or 14 days for international payments.
- If you fulfill the order, but don’t provide any shipping information, your payment should be available after 21 days, as long as your buyer doesn’t report any issues with the transaction.