PAYPAL: Money Transfer troubleshooting

[Ron_Tomkins]

Ok, please bear with me if this seems like an obvious question. This is my first time using Paypal.

I've been broadcasting myself on Twitch and yesterday I received two donations. One for 2 dollars and one for 3.

I went to the Paypal main page, which showed both transactions as "deposited"

So I clicked on "Transfer Money to your Bank" and it took me to a separate page where it prompted me to enter the amount. I decided to do it as two individual deposits as opposed to one 5 dollar deposit. So I started by entering two dollars and depositing in my account.

Everything went all right. Then I went back to the main page and clicked again on "Transfer Money to your bank", this time with the intent of transfering the other deposit for 3 dollars. Only instead, this time it took me to a page that says "There's nothing to Transfer right now. Try again when you have a Paypal Balance"

Why is it saying I have no paypal balance when I still have the three dollars that were deposited to me? (And yes, the deposit already went through. It's not pending)

 

[baron]

I'm not a regular Paypal user on account of them being a bunch of crooks, but I recall when I first set up my Paypal account I received a small payment from a third party (around £200 IIRC) and despite the site saying it had cleared, it didn't appear in my balance. After a couple of days I rang up support and they said it was on hold 'for checks'. I asked how long it would be on hold for and they said something like two or three weeks. I told them if it wasn't displaying within 24 hours I was closing my account. It showed up the next morning together with an email apologising for the 'error'. The upshot is, if it doesn't look right ring them up and tell them to get their act together.

 

[mikado]

I use paypal daily for my business.
sometimes theres glitches in the system.
contact them and ask is my advice, I have found them to be excellent.

 

[theprestige]

If you haven't even talked to PayPal yet, you are wrong.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

I'm not a regular Paypal user on account of them being a bunch of crooks, but I recall when I first set up my Paypal account I received a small payment from a third party (around £200 IIRC) and despite the site saying it had cleared, it didn't appear in my balance. After a couple of days I rang up support and they said it was on hold 'for checks'. I asked how long it would be on hold for and they said something like two or three weeks. I told them if it wasn't displaying within 24 hours I was closing my account. It showed up the next morning together with an email apologising for the 'error'. The upshot is, if it doesn't look right ring them up and tell them to get their act together.

Damn, this sucks. I guess I'll wait a day and if it still doesn't work, I'll have to call them and go through annoying automated machines.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

...

Everything went all right. Then I went back to the main page and clicked again on "Transfer Money to your bank", this time with the intent of transfering the other deposit for 3 dollars. Only instead, this time it took me to a page that says "There's nothing to Transfer right now. Try again when you have a Paypal Balance"

Why is it saying I have no paypal balance when I still have the three dollars that were deposited to me? (And yes, the deposit already went through. It's not pending)

Go to your account page and see if it says, 'transaction completed'. It could be the $3 is only in the process but not yet received.

 

[rjh01]

Also Paypal fees are huge for small amounts.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

Go to your account page and see if it says, 'transaction completed'. It could be the $3 is only in the process but not yet received.

Actually, I notice that on the main page, the 3 Dollar Transaction appears as "Pending", but at the same time it says "Payment Received". So if it's pending, how can it have been received? Also, how come the other payment made on the other day has already been processed and this one is still pending after 3 days?

 

[paulhutch]

Actually, I notice that on the main page, the 3 Dollar Transaction appears as "Pending", but at the same time it says "Payment Received". So if it's pending, how can it have been received? Also, how come the other payment made on the other day has already been processed and this one is still pending after 3 days?

It could be due to a difference between payment received and payment cleared. This can especially hold for credit card payments. With a credit card payment the payee has the capability of contesting the payment with their card company who will promptly take the funds right back out of PayPal's account (it's part of the deal you make to accept credit cards). PayPal may wait to transfer funds to you until the credit card company can no longer simply reach into their account and take it back without asking. By waiting they can avoid the potential issue of you taking the cash out of PayPal's reach and then having the credit card company take it back from them leaving them out the cash until they can get you to give it back.

 

[Ron_Tomkins]

It could be due to a difference between payment received and payment cleared. This can especially hold for credit card payments. With a credit card payment the payee has the capability of contesting the payment with their card company who will promptly take the funds right back out of PayPal's account (it's part of the deal you make to accept credit cards). PayPal may wait to transfer funds to you until the credit card company can no longer simply reach into their account and take it back without asking. By waiting they can avoid the potential issue of you taking the cash out of PayPal's reach and then having the credit card company take it back from them leaving them out the cash until they can get you to give it back.

Hmmmm..... so in other words: Wait a bit longer and see what happens?

 

[mikado]

it actually may be an e cheque, which i think is if it's from a bank account rather than a credit card account, they get held for a few days

 

[theprestige]

What does PayPal support say?