Paypal is a b*tch.

[Smalleyster]

Perhaps we should email paypalsucks.com to request Bitcoin be listed as an alternative.  Currently that is linking to a CC processing service.

Interesting idea, but I think we need *far* superior merchant tools than we have available yet.

[ctoon6]

http://bitcoinjs.org/ is a good open source project to look into if you want merchant tools. it also looks nice and clean, UI wise.

[cypherdoc]

its interesting how Paypal is allowing RSantana's CoinedBits.com to flourish.

[Smalleyster]

http://bitcoinjs.org/ is a good open source project to look into if you want merchant tools. it also looks nice and clean, UI wise.

Ok...hmmm...I still don't see how a merchant gets usd in his bank easily and immediatly.

1) customer wants to buy

2) merchant sends quote

3) customer pays

4) merchant confirms *that* customer pays appropriate ammount

5) merchant delivers goods confident that usd will appear in his bank by the next morning

[airdata]

sounds like this is a case by case basis... I'd be pissed if i got this email.  I generally withdraw within a week or so of receiving funds.  No need to let paypal earn interest on my money.

[Meatpile]

So Longmarch what actually happened to trigger this? Did you have some kind of un-resolvable dispute with a customer or what?

Clearly something bitcoin related happened... or you wouldn't be posting it here would you?

[Littleshop]

They did the same thing to me recently and I have more then 300+ feedback on eBay and all are postive.
I have never had to have one of my transactions reversed or anything so they have no reason whatsoever to be cautious with my account transactions.
I honestly think they are just doing it to play with my money for awhile to make some extra $

The worst part is that they hold ALL of your payments, so if you are selling something that will cost a good amount for shipping, you have to pay out of your own pocket instead of using the money you actually made from selling it until they release their stupid holds.

Me too.  600+ feedback 99%+

[Exonumia]

Every... EVERY one of my PayPal accounts has gone through this process... it's automated at a certain dollar level. I had several small auctions never trigger it... but as soon as I sold an item > $300 it would then get the 21day hold flag.

Mine have always cleared before the 21 day period passes, usually when the the package I have sold arrives, or at the latest when the ebay buyer submits positive feedback.

They are just protecting themselves, and the buyers... if your account isn't tied to an ebay auction account I would be prepared to wait the 21 days... I am not sure of any way to get buyer feedback to them outside of the ebay system.

Hang in there.

[Bitcoin Swami]

I'm surprised you can have a domain called paypal sucks without being sued.  I had a domain with paypal in the name, it was going to be an exchange between paypal and epassporte, it was called paypal2epassporte.com (i think that was it).  I never did do anything with it, basically because epassporte was having problems.  A few months back I got an email from paypal telling me not to use it for anything.  I just ignored the emails, eventually the emails got more and more threatening.  The last one said a lawyer would be getting in touch with me.  I finially emailed them back and said I wasn't gonna do anything with it and i was just gonna let it expire, then they said ok this situation is resolved. 

Crazy stuff. haha

[bitrebel]

I'm surprised you can have a domain called paypal sucks without being sued.  I had a domain with paypal in the name, it was going to be an exchange between paypal and epassporte, it was called paypal2epassporte.com (i think that was it).  I never did do anything with it, basically because epassporte was having problems.  A few months back I got an email from paypal telling me not to use it for anything.  I just ignored the emails, eventually the emails got more and more threatening.  The last one said a lawyer would be getting in touch with me.  I finially emailed them back and said I wasn't gonna do anything with it and i was just gonna let it expire, then they said ok this situation is resolved. 

Crazy stuff. haha

Write them back and tell them you changed your mind.
hehe

[dlight]

All this gatekeeper mentality is exactly what Bitcoin is good for.

Now we need Bitcoin equivalents to Facebook(is it even possible? anonymous social networking?) and Apple/Itunes.

Its been far too long we're subject to their whims and fancies.

[imanikin]

As soon as all my latest receipts cleared to my bank, i finally closed my PayPal account!  No explanations or responses to their surveys! It's time to move on!

There was no sure way they cold have connected me to Bitcoin involvement.

If you are for "free markets," don't be PayPal's b*tchboys!

Vote with your feet and money against the entities that try to put the screws to you out of simple, unlimited greed! 

[piramida]

A few months back I got an email from paypal telling me not to use it for anything.  I just ignored the emails, eventually the emails got more and more threatening.  The last one said a lawyer would be getting in touch with me.  I finially emailed them back and said I wasn't gonna do anything with it and i was just gonna let it expire, then they said ok this situation is resolved.  

You gave up too soon. Learn how to deal with legal threats here: http://thepiratebay.org/legal
And in that particular case, you would be completely in your own right to run that business, just don't tie it to US-registered entity.

[error]

They did this to me last year or so. It was highly inconvenient to say the least. But they stopped after a few successful transactions.

[Longmarch]

So Longmarch what actually happened to trigger this? Did you have some kind of un-resolvable dispute with a customer or what?

Clearly something bitcoin related happened... or you wouldn't be posting it here would you?

No, I'm guessing it's bitcoin related.  I don't know anything for sure.  My account's been pretty idle lately.  Maybe that's what triggered it.

My record with paypal/ebay is pristine except for the chick who bought a baseball card from me and got cranky because I used delivery confirmation.  That was 2 years ago. 

But it all comes down to this:  I never wanted to use paypal in the first place.  Or ebay for that matter.  But I gotta display my wares  in a high-traffic area or they won't sell.  At this point though, it looks like I'm going to have to shell out for server time and set up my own shop with every payment option available except paypal. 

Paypal/ebay were only ever successful because they got to the market first. 

[MilkMan]

Check out this bologna:

We're writing to let you know about a change to your PayPal account.

Starting 7/24/2011, money from payments you receive will be placed in a pending balance for up to 21 days. By doing this, we're making sure that there's enough money in your account to cover potential refunds or claims.

Even though you can't access the money right away, please ship orders quickly and communicate with your customers. After 21 days, you can withdraw money from each payment as long as the customer hasn't filed a dispute, chargeback, claim, return, or reversal.
The money may be available sooner if:

   1. We can confirm that the item was delivered.
   2. Your buyer leaves positive feedback. (Applies only to eBay items)

This change isn't necessarily permanent. We'll review your account every 35 days and re-evaluate if we should continue to hold your payments. If we decide to stop holding payments, we'll email you to let you know.

Why are my payments being held?
We reviewed your account and determined that there's a relatively higher than average risk of future transaction issues (such as claims, or chargebacks, or payment reversals). We understand that it may be inconvenient to have your payments temporarily held but please know that we didn't make this decision lightly.

Before deciding to hold payments, we consider many factors. These factors include account and transaction activity, the rate of customer disputes, the type of business a seller runs, average delivery timeframes, customer satisfaction, performance and history.

21 day hold = paypal is useless to me

I haven't sold anything on ebay in months.  I suspect that this is related to a couple of bitcoin transactions I've made.  Though I haven't sold bitcoins, so the question of chargebacks is arguable.   

I wonder if they're just going through their records and crippling everyone who's got any involvement with the BTC?

Hey PayPal has been giving me a lot of guff lately too. They threatened to close my account and will not accept MoneyPacks. I understand they don't want fraudulent activity going on on their site, but some help full customer service would be nice. PayPal pretty much does whatever they want too. Stay away from PayPal if possible.

[GeniuSxBoY]

Are you a verified user?

[MilkMan]

LOL I've been a verified users for 6 years

[sergio]

ebay and paypal are not the only ones attacking bitcoin.

I was selling a bitcoin using webstore, and accepting only money order or dwolla (dwolla at the time was claiming no charge backs) so that I would not get scammed. guess what. My new account at webstore was eliminated without any word from them, I opened a support ticket and they never replied why the account was shutdown, I have never bought or sold anything with them, a single bitcoin action got my account with them closed which is fine, since I was testing them for bitcoin friendlyness without the risk of being burned.

On ebay there are a few scammers, most buyers are honest persons, but the scammers even though they are few, they change id and on a normal basis continue to scam sellers, and with the help of ebay they clean their rotten feedback, since if the comment has the word scammer, ebay will clean the feedback for them, ebay by faking the feedbacks  is going to screw themselves, since no one will believe in their feedback system.

Lesson to be learned, do not rely on ebay feedback it is useless, do not sell bitcoin with payment processors that have charge backs.

The bitcoin is actually pretty good for testing new action sites, try to sell a bitcoin and see how they react, it avoids a lot of problems in the long run to know how are the sites you are dealing with.

We should create a list of sites that are pro and against bitcoins.

[spruce]

If someone does list companies on a website, do show the date that some action for or against bitcoin occurs. It could well happen that a site will change its policy as bitcoin becomes more popular.