Anybody else frustrated with Paypal?

On Dec. 30, I'm surfing Ebay and find an auction for 200 old style Okies. I check my Paypal account (which I don't use very often) and I have $57 dollars available. I immediately request a funds transfer from my checking account to my Paypal account in case I want to bid. The transaction is immediate, meaning the funds were withdrawn or taken out of my checking account on the same day, Dec. 30.

The next day, I bid on and won the Okie auction. Ebay, through their automated payment processing system asks me if I want to make a Payment, which I do, for the full amount. Knowing that it will likely take some time before the funds transfer is complete and the auction bid was more than $57, (the buyer allowed up to 5 days for payment) I contacted the seller about the situation and when he/she could expect payment.

Today I received a note saying the funds transfer had been complete but the payment won't be made until Jan. 5. My question/rant is, if the funds were taken out of my checking account on Dec. 30, why does it take Paypal/Ebay six days to make the payment? I just feel kinda bad for the seller to have to wait that long to get the payment.

I guess the solution would be to not bid on anything unless the funds are already in Paypal but it just seems like a scam by them to keep onto your funds as long as they can for interest purposes.

The good news is I should have a bunch of old school Okies coming my way soon.

I back my Pay Pal account with a credit card. It has been instant and reliable for years.
Sounds like you're in a "check has to clear" mode.

Now PP demands that you "get verified" after supposedly having charged $10k to your credit card. This means they demand your bank account info even though there's never been an issue with your CC. I told them to F off and refuse to use PP or Ebay any more.

My paypal account is $0 and I never feed money into it. When I have to pay for something it just comes directly out of my checking unless I tell it to use the credit card associated with the account. As said before you probably don't have a CC on the account so it waits for that money to clear before sending it off. They prefer you have both a CC and bank account so that one backs up the other.
If you're the type that would rather not have your CC or debit card out there consider going to your bank and getting a separate CC just for use on line. Just tell them you only want a limit of $X amount on that card. Another way would be to get a prepaid card but the fees aren't worth it IMO.

Yeah, my account is setup up with the "check's got to clear first" scenario as I don't have have a credit card associated with Paypal but rather my debit card is directly linked to my checking account, but can be used like a Visa card. I'm no banker but once the funds have been withdrawn, hasn't the check cleared? Those $100 are floating around cyberspace for 6 days? I call BS.

If there was a better way to make payments for on-line purchases, I'd kick Paypal to the curb. But since it is so widely accepted, it sounds like I need to either keep enough funds in there for my occasional small-dollar purchases or revert to a credit card for instant funds.

The main thing is I'm a responsible guy and did everything I could to ensure payment was made within 5 days but as it turned out, it took six. It still seems ridiculous that the funds were withdrawn Dec. 30 but payment was not made till Jan. 5...that blows me away.

I would think that with the CC backup you have two layers of protection as well.
Using a debit on line does not, I believe, provide the same protection as a credit card. At least you're insulated by Pay Pal in this case.
I have had one bad Ebay transaction and Ebay Buyer Protection stepped in and forced a refund.
I lost shipping costs. Plan on that if you have a bad one.

A fool was selling customer-returned (used) reels and calling them new.
Always hide your email address and keep all correspondence within the Ebay message system.

Just using your CC anywhere you are protected but, if you have a CC, I have no idea why you would give PP your bank info just because they demand it. Tell them to go jump in a lake or else everybody will start demanding that type of info. Do a search about PP and "get verified". You'll find they pissed off a lot of people. Bad move IMO.

I wouldn't do it that way either, but if I had to, it would be a special Ebay account and nothing more other than a PITA.

PP asks me to link my checking account, but I never have and won't. I have a Visa credit card referenced in PP, and it always charges to that with zero problems to date.

I detest Paypal. If I want something I contact the seller and arrange
some suitable process for paying the dun. If the seller insists on Paypal
I don't buy. Not complicated.

Salmo, when you approach the magic number of $10,000 charged to your CC over the years you'll start being threatened with banishment unless you "get verified". It's idiotic. $10,000 without issue and NOW you threaten me? Go F yourself PP.

Not a fan of either PP or Ebay. They have my credit card info, you'll never get my bank account info regardless of how often they ask.
I prefer to buy things locally and in person anyway. The bidding process on Ebay makes people bid stupid numbers for things.

Well my "Echeck" cleared and payment has been made...Okies coming my way. This thread was enlightening for me. I plan on cancelling my checking account info with Paypal and using another form of instant payment using a credit card and a max limit.

Everybody wins I guess.