ISRAPDA

Its to do with buyer protection. If a buyer does not receive their item or it was misdescribed etc and the seller refuses a refund then paypal have to refund the buyer and go after the seller to try and get reimbursed.

 

So as a business to protect themselves from loads of refunds they put a hold on new sellers until they have a proven good selling record.

 

Payments as a new seller are held for 21 days UNLESS when you send an item the buyer leaves feedback OR if you send the item trackable and that item shows as delivered + 3 days then email paypal and they will release the funds sooner.

 

Payment holds occur because:

 

You have been selling on eBay for less than 90 days

You have an eBay feedback score fewer than 100 and have not yet established a record of good performance

You have received fewer than 20 Detatiled Seller Ratings on eBay in the last 12 months or your eBay seller performance is below standard

You have a high rate of customer disputes or a low eBay feedback percentage

You have been a PayPal member for less than 6 months and have limited selling activity

You have a sudden change in selling activities (e.g. suddenly selling expensive items, selling large numbers of items, etc.)

You happen to be selling in a high risk category such as tickets, travel, gift vouchers, computers, electronics, mobile phones, etc.

Depending on the circumstances, paypal may set aside payments for a single transaction or for all payments to sellers who meet the criteria above.