eBay

beckerdap · ‎01-10-2020

A seller I am trying to buy an item from is unaware that their account can't receive payments. I have contacted the seller with the error and they believe the problem is on my end even though the error says, "one or more sellers can't receive payment at this time, please contact the seller."

When I contacted customer service at ebay the first person told me the seller (who has a top seller badge) needs to setup their email for the item and that it was probably typed in wrong (never heard of that, but maybe...). I asked if they could send an email to the seller to let them know and they said they do not posses the ability to do that (AT CUSTOMER SERVICE!). So I asked to speak to a supervisor because not being able to contact 'Top Sellers' or anybody with a problem when you are customer service from a massive computer company sounds EXTREMELY STUPID to me. I've work in management and with computer companies and I've heard some pretty dumb things said but that's just... i don't even know. So if you have a problem receiving payment ebay will not tell you, you're on your own. The supervisor, who was very nice and handled my frustration like a champ, looked at the error and said the users paypal account might be frozen. When he looked in to it he made no reference to an email problem at all, which begs the question had he even seen this error before and if not, why not escalate it, learn it, so the next time it happens it can be resolved quickly, or at least have an accurate answer as to what it cause the error.

Anyways that's what's been happening with this purchase, I wish there was another place to get this item because its very rare and a hard to find part for my car that keeps it safe on the road.

To EBay,

Customer service needs to be able to reach out to customers via email, ebay messages, or phone when the customer has a business and there is a problem with that business of selling on your online store. FIX THAT! That kind of break in communication should not exist in a company like yours.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎01-10-2020

@beckerdap

Hello tyler@ebay , Maybe you can assist or get them pointed in the right direction.

-Lotz

reallynicestamps · ‎01-10-2020

It's not hard to be a Top Rated Seller, and really the only perk is a 10% reduction in selling fees. No targeted customer service.

It would be unusual for a Paypal account to be Blocked from receiving payments, but easily overlooked problems like not updating the expiry date of a renewed credit card would do it.

he made no reference

There are privacy concerns of course. He may see things he feels unable to discuss.

Have you tried asking the seller to send you a Paypal invoice, bypassing the eBay system?

If you can pay that, the problem would definitely be on the eBay side, and not PP (or credit card).

When the seller marks the item Paid on eBay he will be charged his normal fees, and you will be covered by both Paypal's Buyer Protection and eBay's Money Back Guarantee.

It's annoying that workarounds are necessary, but better to use them than to stew over a solvable problem.

tyler@ebay · ‎01-13-2020

@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

@beckerdap

Hello tyler@ebay , Maybe you can assist or get them pointed in the right direction.

-Lotz

Thanks for the tag @lotzofuniquegoodies!

Hi @beckerdap - that definitely sounds like a frustrating situation, and I want to clear a few things up!

Our teammates should never be reaching out to members on behalf of trading partners. That includes this situation. It's a matter of privacy and something we take very seriously, so while it's upsetting to not get the type of support you expected, you were given correct information.

With that particular error message, I'm inclined to agree with the supervisor you spoke with: we see it most often with PayPal accounts that aren't able to receive money. Sometimes that's a currency block (a member hasn't stipulated they accept CAD for example), sometimes it's a hold from PayPal that the seller would need to resolve. In either case we'd want the seller to reach out to PayPal to have their account reviewed.

Thanks!

Tyler,

reallynicestamps · ‎01-13-2020

Wait a minute-- we can Block payments in certain currencies?

So if my customer were using a Freight Forwarder (generally a good protection) but paying with a PP account or credit card in Saudi dinars or Usbek rubles, that transaction could not go forward?

tyler@ebay · ‎01-13-2020

Hi @reallynicestamps - it should be a PayPal option - you can block certain currencies that would prevent someone from trying to check out with that currency. I don't have specifics on 'how' more than that I'm afraid.

Tyler,

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-13-2020

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Wait a minute-- we can Block payments in certain currencies?
So if my customer were using a Freight Forwarder (generally a good protection) but paying with a PP account or credit card in Saudi dinars or Usbek rubles, that transaction could not go forward?

That's not correct.

As far as I know, there is no place to block specific currencies. We can specify that we will accept certain currencies in our Paypal account and they do allow you to block the currencies that are not on the 'accept' list. However, that doesn't apply to ebay sellers as we are always paid in the currency that we list in. We are not actually accepting a 'Saudi dinar' we are accepting the funds in the listing currency.... US or Canadian dollars.

Some US sellers will block non US Paypal accounts but that just blocks the buyer from paying, not from buying.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎01-13-2020

@reallynicestamps wrote:
Wait a minute-- we can Block payments in certain currencies?
So if my customer were using a Freight Forwarder (generally a good protection) but paying with a PP account or credit card in Saudi dinars or Usbek rubles, that transaction could not go forward?

The following applies to a Canadian Paypal business account, personal accounts may or may not present differently.

In account settings the account holder may choose one of the following options.

I cannot say for certain but I believe these preferences should provide a seller the ability to block buyers using Saudi dinars to fund an ebay transaction in CAD. So far I'd rather have the sale and accept higher Paypal fees rather than think of blocking currencies.

Note some of the Paypal html would not paste here, the radio selection buttons did not paste.

Preferences for receiving payments

Allow payments sent to me in a currency I do not hold

This setting only applies to the currencies that you can hold in your PayPal account. Learn more

Yes, accept and convert them to Canadian Dollars. Additional charges apply
No, deny the payments
Ask me whether to accept or deny each individual payment

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-13-2020

@kawartha-ephemera wrote:
The following applies to a Canadian Paypal business account, personal accounts may or may not present differently.

In account settings the account holder may choose one of the following options.

I cannot say for certain but I believe these preferences should provide a seller the ability to block buyers using Saudi dinars to fund an ebay transaction in CAD. So far I'd rather have the sale and accept higher Paypal fees rather than think of blocking currencies.

Note some of the Paypal html would not paste here, the radio selection buttons did not paste.

Preferences for receiving payments
Allow payments sent to me in a currency I do not hold

This setting only applies to the currencies that you can hold in your PayPal account. Learn more

Yes, accept and convert them to Canadian Dollars. Additional charges apply
No, deny the payments
Ask me whether to accept or deny each individual payment

It doesn't affect ebay sellers. I don't know if I can see those options now but when they had the premium account available, I could see them and I had checked off 'ask me whether to accept...' In over 12 years I have sold many items overseas and have never been asked to accept or deny a payment in another currency. That's because I'm not being paid in that currency, I'm being paid in the currency that I've listed the item, not the buyer's currency. That money is exchanged before it ever reaches our accounts.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎01-13-2020

Good to know ... I've never felt the need to block currencies so have never tested these preferences.

I wonder, did ebay own paypal during the years you had the "accept or deny" preference selected?

It would have served ebay's self interest to overide blocks to complete as many sales as possible so I can see that happening ... but why then turn around and allow U.S. sellers to block non-us paypal accounts ... or is that not a real option either?

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-14-2020

Those options were there when eBay owned PP but the currency block didn’t affect eBay sales anyway.

Yes, the block non US PayPal accounts is a real thing. Perhaps it is an option so that sellers aren’t forced to pay a higher PP rate for international buyers that use shipping forwarders? Or perhaps blocks like that were specifically put in for companies that used PP but didn’t want to sell to anyone outside of the US. I’m just guessing.