Ebay/paypal problem - money lost in the ether

hairycob

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Anybody had this problem before? This transaction is really glitchy

Sold a rug last week. Hadn't received payment by yesterday morning so messaged buyer saying to pay by 8pm last night or would relist. Got home jst after 8 - no response & no money so raised an unpaid item case. A bit later a message came through from buyer -BUT the time on it was hours earlier! She said she had paid by Paypal but it was showing on her PC as payment pending. Checked ebay & paypal - nothing so messaged back that I hadn't received it.
This morning payment is showing on ebay but if I click to view the transaction in paypal it says that the transaction ID is invalid & there is no receipt showing.
I can't speak to ebay until this evening as I can't access ebay from work & the phone number details give you a one time code to use that is only valid for 15 mins so I couldn't even write it down to use.

Buyer is a getting miffed because she has paid & it's a system problem. I'm not sending the item until I have the money. It's a really nice show rug BNIB & I wouldn't be surprised if it's a Christmas present just to add to the stress.

TBH I wouldn't normally check through to Paypal once it says paid on ebay, but working in finance I know that once a transaction gets 1 glitch it's usually a problem all the way.

Thought it might be a good idea to see if others had had the same problem before & how it got sorted so I can be as efficient as possible when I phone ebay or would it be best to contact paypal.
 
Have you actually logged into Paypal as the "invalid transaction" often shows until you go through to your Paypal account?
 
Logged into Paypal & the last received transaction was mid November when I sold some breeches. OH is checking paypal account again later this morning to see if it comes through (we both use the same account)
 
I had this once, if they pay paypal but 'cheque' rather than cash (not too sure how they do it!) but it takes up to 8 working days to 'clear' so the buyer thought they had paid and I had a greyed out £ sign on e-bay showing payment pending.
Could it be something like this? It is a ebayer with lots of feedback that knows how the system works or a new ebayer who's bought the rug?
I certainly wouldn't be sending anything until the cash actually came through - lesson learned the hard way on that !
 
I had the same issue and figured out that my eBay account was linked to my dads PayPal account as he had sold something threw my eBay account and had changed the details over so it was showing in my eBay as payment pending because I hadn't verified my account when I had switched it over!
 
Been using the same ebay & paypal accounts for years, so not that. It's a good job my big meeting got cancelled this morning, means I can keep checking this thread for ideas. Oh is checking whenever he can between clients, but nothing yet. Haven't had the email to tell me funds have been received.
 
Check the email address you have set up in paypal and the one set up in the actual auction. I have had this problem when I stupidly used a wrong email addy on the auction page and payment went there. The buyer had to recall their payment and resend to the correct email address.
 
In the transation details on your ebay summary does it show the payment as having a timer showing? If so, just cancel original transaction and raise an invoice for it. Dont send until funds received and dont take any hassle from buyer either. You cant contact ebay online as well, so no need to wait until you get home.
 
I had this once because a full stop had been put in my email address, that shouldnt of been there, so they had paid into an account that didnt exist, and I never got the money, but they took out a complaint thing against me saying they had paid but not received, (which was true, but not into my account) so had to send the item.
 
Have you had an email through from either Ebay or Paypal to say funds have been paid? I sold something off Ebay recently and got an email from Paypal saying purchased by Echeque and they'd email again when it was cleared but not to post until I received that. Think it was over a week before funds cleared. Lady who bought item said she couldn't understand why payment had gone through like that but she had registered a new bank card with them so perhaps that was awaiting checks? I phoned Ebay when I have had probs in past with problem transactions they are pretty good at sorting things. I def wouldn't post until I knew funds were cleared with Paypal. They charge the earth to deal with transactions so should get things right!
 
Can't get on ebay at all from work so can't contact by email either. Some employers are so inconsiderate! I ought to feel guilty about coming on here this morning but yesterday spent 11 hours preparing papers for a meeting, came in this morning & it was cancelled so I don't.
No email received from Paypal (will know when it comes through as will go to OHs phone, so he will let me know). Don't think there was a timer showing. Haven't changed any accounts or email addresses for at least 2 years so at a complete loss to think what can have gone wrong.
I use paypal far more for buying, I've only sold a few things through ebay so I was rather hoping someone would tell me I just needed to click on some process that I didn't know about. Doesn't look like it's going to be that easy.
 
Echeques happen when the money comes from a bank account rather than paypal funds or via a credit card linked to paypal.

Your buyer could have put in the wrong email address. If payment has gone to an account that doesn't exist then the buyer can cancel their payment. If payment had gone to an account that does exist but isn't your account, buyer would need to get refund sent from owner of that account to get their money back.

The paid bit in ebay that's just a box the buyer ticks on their transaction page I think. Doesn't mean they've actually sent any payment ;)
 
Found the money! It had gone to the wrong email address so I ended up opening another paypal account for that address to get the money. Don't know how as I sold some breeches last month & it went to the usual paypal email. Never mind, at least I can post the rug tomorrow.
I can also spend money via paypal now without OH getting an email - always a silver lining!
 
I had this once, if they pay paypal but 'cheque' rather than cash (not too sure how they do it!) but it takes up to 8 working days to 'clear' so the buyer thought they had paid and I had a greyed out £ sign on e-bay showing payment pending.
Could it be something like this? It is a ebayer with lots of feedback that knows how the system works or a new ebayer who's bought the rug?
I certainly wouldn't be sending anything until the cash actually came through - lesson learned the hard way on that !

^ This.

I've done it before and seller told me to cancel and resend. Still don't know how I did it, but apparently I pressed the wrong button.

I wouldn't send either until cleared.
 
Found the money! It had gone to the wrong email address so I ended up opening another paypal account for that address to get the money. Don't know how as I sold some breeches last month & it went to the usual paypal email. Never mind, at least I can post the rug tomorrow.
I can also spend money via paypal now without OH getting an email - always a silver lining!

Ooh, strange :confused:

But definite silver lining :D
 
Hi. Had very similar problems just last week. No money transferred to PayPal account & eBay account was just shoeing payment pending all the time. Apparently there was something wrong with the email link between the two accounts - apparently said hormail
 
Hi. Had very similar problems just last week. No money transferred to PayPal account & eBay account was just showing payment pending all the time. Apparently there was something wrong with the email link between the two accounts - apparently said hormail!!!! not hotmail. Couldn't sort this out so in the end asked buyer to cancell the transaction in eBay and sent invoice direct to buyer via PayPal which worked a treat. Still don't know exactly how the problem happened as sold other items since without problems.
 
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