Item delivered, payout withheld for 30 days | Payment processing on eBay

elkesommer · 2026-06-10T11:14:44.205000Z

I listed a high-priced item and also made it available to the EU. A buyer from the EU bought the item on June 1. The item was delivered on Monday, June 8. The amount is shown as delivered in the dashboard and in the same widget as »Payment on hold – not yet delivered«, which is contradictory to begin with. In the FAQs I read that payment is usually available 48 hours after delivery, provided there are no complaints. I had a similarly straightforward experience with a high-priced sale last year. I first write my concern in the AI chat, the item is found there and the payout is suddenly stated there as 8 calendar days. There is nothing about that in the FAQs, and the other cases for withheld payments due to possible past complaints or suspicious account-level behavior, etc. do not apply to me. I call eBay customer service, of course have the conversation recorded, and there they suddenly tell me that the payment hold runs until July 2(!), i.e. 30 days, and that I will only get the money after that. The reason given is that I am listed there as an inactive seller (last sale November 2025), and I simply need to sell more to get rid of that status. However, this status is neither shown to me anywhere in advance nor explained in the FAQs as a potential delay. I then asked the employee whether this could be resolved satisfactorily for all sides by asking the buyer to confirm that everything was fine with the purchase, whether there are options to shorten the incomprehensible hold. But there was no answer or solution to that either. As an eBay user, I naturally wonder who is actually supposed to be protected here? Apparently neither the buyer nor me. On top of that, a transaction fee in the triple-digit range was suddenly charged for the sale, which had not been clearly disclosed in advance. I would like to know why, based on a clean sale, delivery, and customer satisfaction, there is no way to shorten the unjustified hold? From my point of view, this is customer deception: one moment I’m told payout is possible in 8 days, and then suddenly 30 days. The reason is once because of the high price of the item and then because of alleged inactivity (how is that measured?). In short, it seems as if reasons are being sought to keep the money for as long as possible, but no solutions are offered that are aimed at customer satisfaction. Why do I have to ask eBay for this information proactively and learn nothing about when the money will be released from the sales overview?I will definitely not sell on eBay again. So far I have not found any way to contact them through a contact form in order to submit a written complaint about the case. The AI chats provide me as a user with the same added value as a personal conversation with the call center – namely none at all. If there is a possibility or a link to a contact form, or any ideas where one could turn, I would be very grateful for that.

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Item delivered, payout withheld for 30 days | Payment processing on eBay | eBay Germany