Bitcoin Forum

Successfully sold over 3k USD worth of bitcoins on eBay...

Then I get this:

PayPal previously required accounts that were operating as a currency
dealer or exchanger to obtain prior authorization before utilizing PayPal
services. Your account did not obtain such authorization at that time. We
have since decided to dissociate ourselves as a payment processor for
transactions involving a currency exchange. Per our current Acceptable Use
Policy for Money Service Businesses, PayPal may not be used to operate a
currency exchange, bureau de change or check cashing business.

Due to your failure to comply with the previous policy and the high risk
associated with currency dealers including the sale of electronic media of
exchange (such as electronic money or digital currency), PayPal has made
the decision to sever its business relationship with you. While we wish you
the best of success in your future business endeavors, we respectfully ask
that you seek another method of payment for your online business.

Your PayPal account has been permanently limited and there will be no
appeals to the decision. Any remaining money in your PayPal account balance
will be held for 180 days from the date of the limitation. After 180 days,
the money will be available for you to withdraw.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.

Sincerely,

PayPal Compliance Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

Did you not understand how Pay Pal works?  I think you bent yourself over.   :-*

Yup.  You effed yourself in the A.  Don't use PayPal.

What I don't understand is how someone with 3k+ on eBay is able to get away with it and I can't. Call me an idiot if you want, but it's not like I'm the only one that took the chance.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUANTITY-ONE-1-BTC-BITCOIN-DIGITAL-ELECTRONIC-CURRENCY-BITCOINS-BIT-COIN-COINS-/110966373038?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item19d61c7aae

Did you have many chargebacks filed?

I had only 3 - mostly I just processed alot of refunds for people I thought were scammers (and most turned out to be).

Sorry to hear that.

There is nothing fair about it.  It's their website site/service and they can do what ever they want when ever they want.



This Agreement is subject to change by PayPal without prior notice (unless prior notice is required by law), by posting of the revised Agreement on the PayPal website.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/terms-outside.

What is the person who is doing that actually works for PayPal, cuz then they can do whatever they want.
Or maybe because they have such a long verification process.

I am sorry to hear that your account got put on hold though.  :-\ I try not to keep a big amount of money in PayPal just in cases like that.

When I saw the title, I asked myself "WTF? People still use Paypal to sell Bitcoins?"

Then I saw who the poster was, and was no longer surprised.

+1

And not everyone who infringes copyright gets caught for it, either.  So what?  "But they did it too" is the defence of school children.

PayPal has acted against people selling BTC often enough in the past that users who read these forums should be well aware of the risks involved.  If you knowingly take that risk, you don't have much cause for complaint if you get caught - you knew it could happen.  And the other BTC sellers won't have any cause for complaint when they get caught either.

The other seller you linked doesn't only sell BTC, which may allow him to argue that he's not operating as a currency dealer or currency exchange.

How, exactly, were you selling them?  Physical on paper, or just digital delivery?

The auction was for a penny ( snail mailed), the bitcoins were free (digitally delivered).

I'm pretty sure there was another user here who was doing a similar thing with paper clips instead of pennies and they got shut down by PayPal too.

You should have sold an item with it that wasn't money. Enjoy the six month hold on your funds.

Did they ban your ebay?

Someone reported you probably.

No, they see the sharp increase in funds in the account, that flags you. If I were you I would have them do all sorts of updates on the account, call them and talk to reps and ask them to tweak the mailing address or whatever. This will push you into a different status (I have done it before when they put a hold on my account.) and you will get an email saying you will be notified when the funds are available. And that 180 days will become 45.

I was the one doing the paperclip thing. I did get a few chargebacks, but I actually won a dispute for $120 or so. The only difference with that scammer was that he left me positive feedback on eBay after I sent bitcoins. That may have worked in my favor during the dispute process, or it could just have been a fluke. I must emphasize: it was the ONLY dispute case I won. I haven't sold bitcoin on eBay in almost a year. The prices reflect the risk. You may sell a bitcoin for $20, but factor in all your scammers over time and you're not making $9 profit, but maybe $1 or $2.

I am genuinely sorry to hear of your recent incident with PalPal.

There is a way to sell BTC on eBay. Without all the fees. Especially without PayPal (and the concomitant risk of chargebacks and fraud, since PayPal is the #1 choice of financial criminals worldwide).

Create listings in Everything Else>Test Auctions>General. There are guidelines for test auctions, that make your listing invalid; nobody bidding on it will get you assessed fees or any liability. Make the listing title start with "TEST- " and in the listing itself, put "TEST - DO NOT BID". Disable PayPal in the payment options, and check some other electronic payment method (that you don't necessarily need to have), as well as Pay On Pickup.

Buyers will ideally just send you eBay messages to work out payment offsite, or you can insert an image with your contact details on it. Face-to-face, cash in mail, and Liberty Reserve are the most secure options for sellers to accept payment.

Here's an example: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230868571478

So, even when you provided shipping information for the paperclip, you lost other disputes?

Did you ever sell outside of eBay, but using paypal?

read two posts above douchebag.

Thanks for the tip - to be honest I'm not really worried about it. I'm thinking about it as an investment in a CD with a 6 month turnaround at 100%. Not so bad when you think about it like that =)

Awesome, thanks brother. Much appreciated!

Yeah I agree, same way I looked at it, havent taken the time to verify another account either. BTW Paypal does not officially check any documentation you send them. They have asked me for proof of ownership from my supplier for things I have sold from around my house before, I just scanned a target receipt and sent it to them and they approved it. Its all for posturing and finding ways to hold onto your funds longer nothing more.

Lol that is ballsy.

I assumed as much about them holding onto funds.

Best pic related to this subject I ever found.

http://www.amitbhawani.com/blog/Images/P/Paypal-Sucks-Problems.JPG

In the years I have gotten paypal accounts verified, then gotten myself frozen, limited, whatever so many times, and ebay always loves me forever. I think the only business paypal gets now days is from older people who dont know of other options and scammers. If they ask you for documentation though, just send it and save yourself the headache. You gotta remember they cant contact these companies you submit documentation relating to you since they are not the person who the accounts belong to so privacy laws protect you. The people who work there are pretty lazy from what I have seen and just pushing it through the system seems to make them happy since you get off the phone.

Got my account closed to day, too. What a bunch of morons they are.

I've got like something left there and they say it will be available in 180 days. But I've read controversial posts. Some say they return, some say they don't. Any ideas?

Don't use PayPal?

Funny. I mean the 180 day thing. Sure thing I won't use them again. Looking for a good alternative now

What exactly did you do?

Sold bitcoins for PayPal. I had no chargebacks, however a couple of transactions were on temporary hold by PP for reviewal. One was released because the buyer confirmed it.

The very first transactions were probably the reason as some buyers wrote their bitcoin addresses in notes. After those I asked them to write that they were payments for SEO services, etc. So I didn't reallt do anything super bad.

You didn't do anything "bad" at all. PayPal's just assholes. You can try that trick earlier to change the account around to shake the money lose, but that's the only suggestion I have for you.

Here is a good alternative to Paypal. (http://bitcoin.org)

Dont you risk your egay account to be suspended?

Ebay will still let you use the site, just paypal stops letting you use them. Which is stupid since its the same company, but anyway, they always give the money back ... eventually. Just make sure you check in on it after 6 months.

I would think less chance of it than the people who sell BTC in the non-test categories.

The chance doesnt seem to be that slim: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230868571478
[Item 230868571478 is no longer available]

What do you think of this PP alternative? http://www.pppay.com/demo.htm

Still there for me, too.
Btw, this line is hilarious: "I accept cash in mail, or Liberty Reserve (fee $1.43 for all 8 BTC), but absolutely no PayPal - the #1 choice of financial criminals worldwide."

Sorry for being harsh. Apparently everywhere but the U.S. was excluded from shipping, so it hid the listing from all non-U.S. IPs. It should be visible now.

OP  who was paying PP fees in your transactions

buyer or seller

just curious.

I paid them

...hmmmm

I wondered if they hummped you because they were't getting their share!

Nope... just assholes.

I think there are two reasons:

1. Squashing the competition (they have no interest in seeing bitcoin thrive)
2. High maintenance account: I likely had a much higher ratio of chargebacks and fraudsters come through my account than 99% of other paypal accounts.

Welcome to Paypal, we are now accepting your deposits for interest free loans for 45 days or 6 months.

we shouldn't be trying to find ways to mesh paypal with bitcoin. We should make paypal obsolete with bitcoin.

That's what they're afraid of. Why do you think they keep kicking us out?

For me, Btc is quickly making Paypal obsolete. Why be forced to deal with poor service -and-held pay for it? There was a time when PayPal was a great device,  but that time is no longer today for me.

wow OP that sucks im sorry

Which will actually lead to pretty much any financial service provider/payment processor dumping you including your credit card acquirer and your bank.

If paypal was smart they would just allow people to use bitcoin as well.

Paypal are total doosh bags..