Immediate payout changed overnight to "Amount available within 2 days after delivery"
Summary: A seller on eBay expresses frustration over the sudden change in the payout policy for proceeds, which now says payouts should only be made two days after delivery, but in practice it takes even longer. Although all tracking numbers are properly entered, the problem persists, with eBay offering neither a satisfactory explanation nor a solution. Another seller shares similar experiences, despite complete tracking and a long, positive history on the platform. Both participants are concerned about the impact on their businesses and the lack of support from eBay.
Hello,
we need to vent a bit here, because things are really starting to get out of hand.
To our case:
We suddenly received an email from eBay saying that we should clarify all open issues to prevent a restriction. (there were no open cases with customers or anything like that, everything was tip top).
We were supposed to enter tracking numbers for (I think) 8 items, after that everything would be fine again. Until then, the money from eBay had been paid out immediately and was in the account the next day.
Since then it has said: "Amount available within 2 days after delivery"
We enter tracking numbers for every item sold, so why we should suddenly do this explicitly for these items, no idea.
Anyway, no problem, everything done.
Then we received an email with the following content:
"Hello 3d-druckzauber,
You have resolved all open issues. Therefore, your selling privileges have been restored. We thank you for your cooperation."
Great, then everything should work and run as before again.
As if...
We still do not receive our money immediately; instead it still says "Amount available within 2 days after delivery".
The funny thing is, it’s not 2 days, but at least 4 AFTER delivery. Once the customer has received their parcel, there is a date for the withheld payments, and that is always at least 4 days after receipt.
If a customer is not at home when delivery happens and has to pick it up, we wait that long for confirmation until the customer has collected the parcel. Since this is not uncommon, we even wait over 7 days for our money.
And that really cannot be right.
If a parcel is delivered late by DHL for whatever reason, eBay automatically blames us. What can we do if DHL needs more than 1-2 days for delivery?
Furthermore, we also have many freight deliveries, and that not everything always goes smoothly there is nothing new either; who is to blame? Us... What can we do about that? Also, a freight delivery is not quite as easy to track as a DHL parcel, so who gets the blame? Us... eBay is making this pretty easy for itself...
We are a start-up, we did not begin with a six-figure sum in the account, we simply depend on being paid for our goods in a timely manner.
Above all, so far no one has been able to give us a sensible reason. So far we have been told:
- "I understand that you would like to receive the proceeds from your sale as quickly as possible. I can personally assure you that these holds are only temporary and comply with industry standards." - And no, this is not standard in the industry, even though I’ve been told that a few times now. We also sell on other platforms and in our own online shop; there are no such restrictions anywhere else, we receive our money IMMEDIATELY on every other platform and in the shop!
- "As soon as you have submitted the required tracking data and all orders have been delivered, we will review your account and take the necessary action. We look forward to receiving your appeal and resolving this issue." - No one ever got back to us about that either.
- "I can certainly understand how concerning this payout hold/selling restriction is for you, since you have invested a lot of time in your sales, received a large number of ratings, always shipped your goods on time, have nothing to hide, have never cheated a customer, and operate on a cash-flow basis. Please be assured that we have no mistrust whatsoever regarding your intentions. You have been both a committed seller and buyer with us, and your intentions have always been genuine. The account history and your activity are clear evidence of that." - If eBay knows that, why these restrictions then?
- "Please note that as we continue to evolve as an online marketplace, we may change existing policies and introduce new ones to strengthen our commitment to all our customers. We have revised and updated the policies for releasing funds to all sellers to ensure that we treat all sellers, whether new or experienced, fairly and consistently." - What is that supposed to mean?
On top of that, every email contains a different answer; they don’t even address the actual problem, and then documents are demanded two or three times over, etc.
With 529 sales we had 2 disputes that were resolved to the customer’s satisfaction, we have 100% positive ratings, no open cases, all invoices paid, and above-average service. What else does eBay expect from a seller? EVERYONE received their purchased goods, no ifs or buts. There has always been a tracking number for every item so far.
There has been no clear statement as to why and for what reason our funds are no longer paid out immediately, from one moment to the next.
And there has been just as little statement as to when all of this will be switched back.
By now we are waiting on over €6000 as a start-up... eBay is quite literally playing with people’s livelihoods here...
Best regards and thank you.
modellautos-hessen
·1 month agoAddendum:
We have always only shipped with a stored tracking number as a parcel; we do not offer any other shipping method. ,
we only ship within Germany, have always bought our DHL labels through eBay, no parcel leaves us without a tracking number.
and yet our business was mercilessly crippled by eBay.
modellautos-hessen
·1 month agoHi
Exactly the same with us,
We have been an Ebay member for 30 years, we have 100% ratings, 0 defect entries, we have our own packaging logistics, daily pickups at our premises, and we pack around 500 parcels a month.
For about 2 months now we have been selling strongly again, and since 2002 we have been selling regularly through this account with around 45,000 positive ratings, completely without problems, until suddenly on 17.06.2026 this email came too, saying that payments would be withheld and that our money would be transferred 2 days after delivery.
After our phone call with customer service, who put us through 6 times and then, after the conversation with the incomprehensible employee, we asked for an employee who actually knows what they are talking about.
The employee actually called back the next day and of course played everything down, saying it was only a review, everything would then be set back to normal, etc.
Not a word about how long, or why, or anything at all.
We then deleted all our ongoing auctions, deleted our newly booked Ebay shop again, effectively resetting everything to zero.
In addition, amounts are still being withheld without reason and in breach of contract.
I read that such reviews can take up to 31 days or longer.
Ebay has taken this measure completely without reason or justification, WITHOUT any explanation whatsoever as to why or what for.
It seems to me that Ebay is short of money and has to work with our money; after all, that amounts to a few days of interest-free credit, just like that.
We'll wait and see how this develops; if nothing changes in the foreseeable future, we will sue Ebay, demand default interest, and claim damages.
Ebay entered into a contract with us, and in that contract DAILY payout is clearly stipulated, and Ebay broke this contract without reason.
Ebay has the right to take such measures if there is justified suspicion, but not with customers where no incidents whatsoever have occurred.
Up to now I have always been pro Ebay, but now Ebay has fallen very far in my esteem.
Where is the selling experience supposed to be here that we sellers are meant to have on Ebay.
Regards from the extremely annoyed
mia@ebay
·1 month agoHello @3d-druckzauber ,
many thanks for your post. I’d be happy to clarify what happened and how this challenge can be solved.
As a commercial seller, entering the tracking number should not be an option, but something that is always entered. The tracking number allows your buyer to easily follow the shipping status, which buyers really appreciate, because it keeps the purchase transparent. You have proof of timely shipping, and payments can be released after the delivery confirmation. In addition, shipping without an entered tracking number may put your seller protection at risk.
This is not a change; it has always been a fixed part of ensuring the safety of the community. At the beginning, small amounts can sometimes be paid out without proof of delivery. However, I currently see many deliveries here, some with high amounts, that are still open in your customer account without tracking. You can recognize these under Payments - All transactions - Status: Withheld. Here; there are simply too many sales, and this automatically poses a risk for buyers, but also for you. Not only is the money missing from your account, but in the event of a dispute you initially also lack the necessary evidence to be able to close a buyer protection case directly in your favor. We cannot verify whether the item was shipped on time or whether delivery took place at the correct location. So the money is withheld for now.
Please go through the list and enter the necessary tracking number for your sales. If you can no longer find a tracking number for a sale, the withholding may unfortunately take up to 30 days. For sellers with a stored tracking number, the status of the sales should change by tomorrow if delivery can be tracked via the tracking number. I can understand the effort this takes for you, but otherwise the amounts will continue to be withheld.
For the future, you should check whether you want to buy shipping labels automatically through the eBay system, because then the tracking number is automatically stored with the purchase. You can also find more about this here. If this option is not suitable for you, you should make sure that the tracking numbers are inserted directly. This will prevent such difficulties in the future.
@hasjana - Thanks for the tag
Kind regards
Mia
3d-druckzauber
OP1 month ago · EditedHello Mia,
many thanks for the feedback.
For us, a tracking number is not an option. As we clearly stated, every item we sell has a tracking number; we never ship without one!
We sell several items every day, including high-priced ones. The high-priced items are delivered by freight carrier, which of course means shipping cannot take place within 2 hours. The customer is informed of this as well, and in the end it is also stored on eBay.
If you look into our account, you will certainly see the shipping time for the items mentioned.
For normal items, the tracking number is stored on eBay at the latest 24 hours after purchase.
Please take a look at our transaction lists!
We can’t sell an item and have a tracking number for it within 5 minutes. We sell too much for that, and in the end that is not part of it either.
Please check for the items that do not have tracking, when they were sold and by when they were supposed to have been shipped.
But that wasn’t even what this was about.
That still does not solve the problem of why there is no immediate payout, when there was before.
And why it first says 2 days after delivery, but then it takes at least 4 days until payout, and why we are basically being held responsible for the customer not picking up their parcels and us therefore not receiving our money, and then supposedly having to wait almost 2 weeks for payout; you should also be able to see the specific customers and cases in our account.
Then today we receive an email from eBay:
"Good day 3d-druckzauber,
we are contacting you regarding your recent interaction with our customer service.
This interaction was documented as a complaint. Your reference number for the complaint is 2-106440082455.
An eBay expert carefully investigated the matter and determined that you received the correct information in accordance with our policies and that the appropriate outcome was reached.
As no further action is required from eBay at this time, we would like to inform you that your complaint is now closed.
We hope that you are satisfied with the outcome. If you still have questions or would like to contact us, please send us an email at ebay-eu-management@ebay.com. Please include the reference number in the email. We will be happy to help you.
Thank you for your understanding and patience in this matter.
Kind regards
eBay Customer Service"
Are you serious?
What information did we receive exactly?
We were not told why a sanction was imposed.
And we were not told what we did wrong.
We were not told how long this sanction is supposed to last.
We were not told why we previously received our payout immediately and now have to wait at least 4 days for payout for a longer period.
We were also not told what we can do so that we can receive our payouts immediately again.
We were merely told that we are doing everything right, we are a perfect seller and everything should actually be fine…
Sorry, for us this complaint is not closed.
And on the topic of shipping labels, nice offer, but we have our own DHL contract.
And what good does it do us and the customer if we have a parcel number right away, but it still cannot be tracked at all? We print our shipping labels during the packing process and not 5 minutes after purchase.
Would also be something entirely new if, as a customer, no matter where, I order something and 5 minutes later I already receive the parcel number, which anyway doesn’t help anyone.
We also value clear transparency, which is why there is only a parcel number when it is packed and handed over to DHL, not automatically directly after the order.
It’s a shame that no position was taken on many other topics here or that we received information.
Please comment on that too!
Kind regards
hasjana
·1 month ago@3d-druckzauber
that probably requires deeper insights into your account - maybe @mia@ebay can take a closer look at it sometime