If your payment is on hold or not available right away, PayPal will notify you via email or an alert on your summary page. Delaying funds availability is a common industry practice PayPal implement to help ensure the secure use of PayPal by both buyers and sellers.
By placing your payment on hold, PayPal is trying to make sure that there’s enough money in your PayPal account to resolve any issues that may arise with your account such as chargebacks or disputes. When subject to a hold, the money is temporarily not available to use.
If there aren’t any issues with your transaction or account, the payment will typically be released within 21 days after receipt. After your hold is released, it may take until midnight (but it’s usually sooner) for the money to appear in your PayPal account.
Here are some reasons your funds may be temporarily on hold or unavailable on PayPal:
1. You’re a new seller with PayPal or you’re an established seller but have opened a new account.
When you’re a new PayPal seller, it takes time to build up enough history to demonstrate a pattern of positive buyer-seller transactions. The good news is you can usually move out of this status by confirming your identity and building up a history of positive selling activity.
If you’re an established PayPal seller, but opened a new account, that account will be eligible for holds until a good history is established.
2. You haven’t sold in a while.
When your selling activity has been dormant for a long time, it will also take time to rebuild a history of positive buyer-seller transactions.
3. Multiple customers filed for a refund, dispute, or chargeback.
If multiple customers file for a refund, dispute, or chargeback, or if you receive many refunds, disputes or chargebacks in a short time, it can delay the availability of your funds. The best way to resolve this is to work directly with your customers to prevent, or solve, disputes and chargebacks.
Sometimes it’s possible that your customer filed for a refund, dispute, or chargeback because someone illegally used their PayPal account to buy something. PayPal ask that you hold off on shipping any items when this happens.
4. Your selling pattern appears unusual or has changed.
Unusual sales activity includes an increase in sales or a change in average selling price, business platform, or type of item being sold.
5. You’re selling higher risk items.
Higher risk items can include tickets, gift cards, consumer electronics, computers, and travel packages.