PayPal eChecks? 0

[Brock]

I sold a copy of Batman: Damned #1 on eBay on September 23... The buyer used Buy it Now and took it at $89.99. My eBay account only allows PayPal payment, so I figured all was good.

Then I got a note saying that the buyer had used a PayPal eCheck, and I would have to wait for it to clear... The estimated date to clear was October 1.

Now it's October 2, and the payment still has not cleared. I haven't shipped the book, but if I have to resell, it's likely to end at a lower price than before.

I'd never heard of a PayPal eCheck, and was hoping for some help:

• Are these common?
• How long do they usually take to clear?
• Does anyone know a way to set my eBay or PayPal settings to not accept eCheck payments in the future?

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome!

[lizards2]

In my experience, Paypal eChecks occur when the credit card that backs up the account expires, which they do with some frequency.

[electricprune]

I've had it happen a few times. They are slow, but you I've never had an issue with the payment.

[Buzzetta]

They are also common when someone has a paypal balance in their account buy does not want to use it and opts to do a bank transfer instead. 

Edited October 2, 2018 by Buzzetta

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, Brock said:

I sold a copy of Batman: Damned #1 on eBay on September 23... The buyer used Buy it Now and took it at $89.99. My eBay account only allows PayPal payment, so I figured all was good.

Then I got a note saying that the buyer had used a PayPal eCheck, and I would have to wait for it to clear... The estimated date to clear was October 1.

Now it's October 2, and the payment still has not cleared. I haven't shipped the book, but if I have to resell, it's likely to end at a lower price than before.

I'd never heard of a PayPal eCheck, and was hoping for some help:

• Are these common?
• How long do they usually take to clear?
• Does anyone know a way to set my eBay or PayPal settings to not accept eCheck payments in the future?

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome!

Echecks can take awhile to clear. Because paypal initially projected Oct. 1st as the estimated clearing date, that's not written in stone. It can clear on the 1st, the 2nd, the 3rd, or not at all, but the echecks usually do clear eventualy, or so I was told by a seller I asked about 10 years ago, unless the process has changed. To sum up, the echecks are typically good, and do clear, but paypal's estimated clearance date is sometimes wrong.

[stock_rotation]

The other comments in the thread are correct. An eCheck is when the buyer pays from a bank transfer, as opposed to using a credit card or Paypal balance. Generally, buyers can skip eChecks when doing bank transfers by linking a debit card for their bank account with Paypal instead of a checking or savings account number.

eChecks are like real checks though, in that there is a possibility the eCheck won't clear if the buyer doesn't have the funds in their account and they don't have some sort of overdraft protection. That's kind of rare, nowadays, as most banks would be happy to clear that $90 check and whack the account owner with a $35 overdraft fee.

[FN-2199]

Ditto all above. I've never had an issue. Sometimes I've paid in e-check because I've clicked the wrong button. Never had a problem other than the delayed payment. Just hold the book until eBay/PayPal tells you the payment cleared and it's time to ship.