Is the seller paid at the time I use paypal or when he or she ships the item?

[femmefan1946]

Yes and no.

If your Paypal account is backed by a credit card (the most efficient and secure for you), then the payment is instant.

If your account is backed by your bank account, in effect you have written a cheque and it has to clear both the Canadian and the US banking systems which can take up to 10 days before the seller is paid.

The seller can't even print a shipping label until the e-cheque has cleared.

If the seller is new, selling in a high value/ high fraud category, or has Violations on his account, your cleared payment may be Held by Paypal for up to 21 days against his good performance.

In Holds, the seller is still required to ship within 7 days since you have paid.

He can print a shipping label from the cleared payment even though the rest of the money is on Hold.

If your seller is refusing to ship because of the Paypal Hold, open an Item Not Recieved Dispute.

[osemate50]

Thank you femmfan1946 for a very comprehensive answer.

[aubreyclay56]

i never ship till the e check clears and i doubt very much any one else should either,if you do and the person doesnt hve the money in his or her account then you are out the money and the item,id sooner hve a not recieved case than out the money and item.