invoice payments suddenly being held

[Michelle]

as of today, my payments for any invoices that i send over a certain amount has been getting held by paypal

they want me to either:

Spoiler

im not sure why this is suddenly happening and what to select in these cases as invoices are for digital goods and they don't really provide an option for it 

[Aiko]

Just now, Michelle said:

actually, a few more questions for the topic  :

1. should i even continue with invoices then? if they send payment as 'goods and services,' i dont think the payment gets held

2. will the holding of invoice payments eventually stop? 

 

 

Is this a newer PayPal account? They've started holding funds for new seller accounts to ensure that the seller is legitimate. There was a way to mark it as a digital good at one point, but they keep changing it. 

 

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, continue to use invoices. It's the best way to protect yourself and it creates a paper trail of sorts. However, I would add to the invoice a seller agreement which states that by submitting payment, the buyer acknowledges that the product is a digital good and that no physical product will be shipped to them. You can also include your own shop rules regarding refunds, ToS, etc. 
2. Yes. If it's a newer account or you've recently started using the account again, the holds are temporary and will stop once PayPal "verifies" your account. 

Have you attached a bank account at all to your PayPal? That typically helps speed up the process as well. 

[Michelle]

@ Robin

how long has paypal been holding ur invoices qwq

 

@ Aiko

thank u 

ilysm, ur so helpful 

[Michelle]

@ Pey

yes ! regardless of whether we click that, when they hold it, they ask for the 3 options i have in my original post

just have to check it off again by saying the order was completed ig qwq

[Pey]

My PayPal has the option to say that they don't need anything shipping. Do you not have this underneath the person's email in the invoice section? If you untick this, it's saying that the items don't need to be physically shipped. 

@ Robin  @ Michelle

[Robin]

yeah no they were really vague and no help at all so we just gotta wait ):

[Michelle]

@ Robin

would be lovely if u could

glad there will be an end tho LOL

 

@ Aiko

NOO, u were so helpful, no cringe 

[Aiko]

9 minutes ago, Michelle said:

@ Aiko

i still have msgs w u regarding invoices when i first started them too LMFAO 

 

LMFAOOOOOOOO, there's prob old cringe messages too jfdkslaJKFDLSA

 

[Robin]

Update from PayPal responding to me, but they say its just the practice for new accounts. I asked them if there's a way to verify me w my old account by the same email address, but I suspect not so we just gotta be patient sadly. Will update again if you want uwu

[Michelle]

@ Robin

mine is also april LOOOOL

GG, i hope we're freed soon 

 

@ Aiko

i still have msgs w u regarding invoices when i first started them too LMFAO 

[Aiko]

3 minutes ago, Michelle said:

@ Aiko

thank u 

ilysm, ur so helpful 

 

You're welcome bb! 

ilysm2! I'm glad I can be of some service uwu 

always here to help u 

 

1 minute ago, Robin said:

@ Aiko yeah there's no option for that, just order status and then 'tracking info not needed' checkbox. idk how else to add seller agreement unless you mean directly on invoices since I mainly use paypal.me. i don't mind using invoices tho and have in the past, and might do that until funds are released and my account is all verified for future payments.

 

Oh yes, it's available on invoices only, sorry! Although I would recommend switching to them since it creates an actual "receipt" for the transaction and a sort of "paper trail" you can easily reference if you ever have to. 

[Robin]

@ Michelle

Just today so far since I just got paid. It's apparently a maximum of 21 days (rn they think it'll process on april 5th which is ridiculous, but I believe once they process my account a bit more/verify/etc. that'll go down to max 2 weeks maybe idk)

 

I think it might be 7 - 14 days for you since yours is an old account, but it should say the estimate date you will have the funds, and the offer ways to speed the process up.

 

@ Aiko yeah there's no option for that, just order status and then 'tracking info not needed' checkbox. idk how else to add seller agreement unless you mean directly on invoices since I mainly use paypal.me. i don't mind using invoices tho and have in the past, and might do that until funds are released and my account is all verified for future payments.

[Aiko]

1 minute ago, Michelle said:

@ Aiko

i havent used it in 3 years, but its the same account that i did all my previous transactions with, so that would make sense 

im in the process of linking my bankk; ill def add the seller agreement/shop rules tho 

thanks so much, this has been rly helpful 

 

That would be why then! It should stop after a few transactions, especially after you add a bank account. 

Yes! For sure add a seller agreement. If anything ever happens and a dispute is filed, you can state that your invoices make it clear that the product is digital only.

If you really need the funds, I believe you can contact customer support as well and sometimes they'll have your customers verify the purchase sooner than the 2-3 days @ Chet  mentioned. They usually send an email notification to the customers that asks them to confirm they've received the product. 

 

5 minutes ago, Robin said:

shakes hand

i'm going through the same stuff since i recently moved countries and needed to remake my account

it's super stressful but i'm pretty sure it's a waiting game. i've message paypal about it since there are no other verification options i myself can add

 

i just update the invoice/payment and add 'shipped', then dm the customer letting them know the issue and stuff (i personally require upfront payment so shouldn't be an issue), but i'm not entirely sure how fast the process becomes from this.

 

there should be a 'no tracking information needed' option.

 

This! It's so frustrating because it used to be there and an option to add the no tracking or to mark it as a digital product. I don't know why they've removed it since a lot of people use PayPal for digital goods and services. Not just artists either.

I would advise you to add the seller agreement too so that although you're marking it as "shipped" your invoice makes it clear that it's a digital good. It will make it harder for buyers to try and claim that they never received what they paid for. That's not to say it'll happen, but it's a good safety measure and ensures you're getting their seller protection!

[Robin]

shakes hand

i'm going through the same stuff since i recently moved countries and needed to remake my account

it's super stressful but i'm pretty sure it's a waiting game. i've message paypal about it since there are no other verification options i myself can add

 

i just update the invoice/payment and add 'shipped', then dm the customer letting them know the issue and stuff (i personally require upfront payment so shouldn't be an issue), but i'm not entirely sure how fast the process becomes from this.

 

there should be a 'no tracking information needed' option.

[Michelle]

@ Aiko

i havent used it in 3 years, but its the same account that i did all my previous transactions with, so that would make sense 

im in the process of linking my bankk; ill def add the seller agreement/shop rules tho 

thanks so much, this has been rly helpful 

[Michelle]

actually, a few more questions for the topic  :

1. should i even continue with invoices then? if they send payment as 'goods and services,' i dont think the payment gets held

2. will the holding of invoice payments eventually stop? 

 

[Chet]

3 minutes ago, Michelle said:

@ Chet

oh, i see 

so, if anything, i should finish the order and ill let the buyer know to confirm the order ? 

Yes!  PayPal will usually allow them to confirm the order after 2-3 days.  

[Michelle]

@ Chet

oh, i see 

so, if anything, i should finish the order and ill let the buyer know to confirm the order ? 

[Chet]

1 minute ago, Michelle said:

as of today, my payments for any invoices that i send over a certain amount has been getting held by paypal

they want me to either:

  Hide contents

im not sure why this is suddenly happening and what to select in these cases as invoices are for digital goods and they don't really provide an option for it 

In my experience,  the buyer has to confirm that they've received the order.  I think the best bet is to confirm the order status!