The dreaded email - We need information regarding your paypal account

fernendo · #1 01-26-2019

Hi guys a month after lifting the £1900 EU Receiving Limit with some help from here I've got a damn PayPal limitation (My ebay is currently fine)

I can still receive and refund money but I cannot withdraw :( I'd like to try and resolve this although I'm not going to hold my breath.

It's an account I've had since October 2015 so fairly aged (although I've only been actively selling on it for about a year or so)

I sell only digitally delivered software on this account (high risk I know I know) it's important to note though that these products are 100% Genuine (not counterfeit or pirated in any way)

I've heard that calling PayPal can sometimes provide better results but I'd like some help from the people here before I do.

They have requested the following information:-

Upload Photo ID - No problem as I can use the same document I used to remove the £1900 EU Receiving Limit

Provide Proof of Fulfilment - There is 1 transaction where I need to provide proof of fulfilment - There is an option to provide proof of digital fulfilment so I can provide a screenshot of the ebay message that contains the download link and a screenshot of the professional keysender.co.uk automatic delivery system that shows the ebay message was generated and sent (I am not sure if this is acceptable but it should be because how else you do provide proof of delivery for a digital item)

Provide information on account activity - This shouldn't be a problem as I just need to explain what each payment was for

** Provide purchase receipt from supplier ** - This is tricky as I make the products myself. Basically I take Open Source software that anyone has the full legal right to distribute and charge for I then make this software easier to use by creating automatic installers, writing user manuals or instructions and providing free technical support, scanning the software with multiple Anti Virus products to verify it's clean etc. Basically I take the open source software and provide valuable extras and charge a small fee for the software on ebay such as £2.97. I also make donations to the software writers to support them so everyone wins.

I feel the buyers get good value as technical support alone can cost a lot of money not to mention the other benefits.

My current plan is to provide everything requested except the supplier invoice then simply call PayPal and explain why I cannot provide this and see what happens. Hopefully honesty is the best policy even with PayPal?

Alternatively I can send them "creative" invoices but I think they will probably see through that as it's impossible to buy Open Source software.

What I am selling should be fully within ebay / paypal rules. In fact I have confirmed in a live chat with an ebay agent that what I am doing is within all the rules. Yes I know digital items are high risk but they are great for me as I can 100% automate the selling process which is fantastic and worth the extra risk (I have another account that only sells physical products with no digital delivery so I have a "safe" account (physical software only) and a "risky account" (digitally delivered software) to try and balance out the risk. I have kept my "safe" account for about 5 years so I must be doing something right)

Any help you advice you can give me would be very much appreciated.

TL;DR Should I provide everything except invoices then call PayPal and tell them I don't have supplier invoices as I sell open source software and hope honesty is the best policy or should I send "creative" invoices that show I have purchased the rights to resell the software.

Kind Regards

ddm50 · #2 01-26-2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernendo

Hi guys a month after lifting the £1900 EU Receiving Limit with some help from here I've got a damn PayPal limitation (My ebay is currently fine)

I can still receive and refund money but I cannot withdraw :( I'd like to try and resolve this although I'm not going to hold my breath.

It's an account I've had since October 2015 so fairly aged (although I've only been actively selling on it for about a year or so)

I sell only digitally delivered software on this account (high risk I know I know) it's important to note though that these products are 100% Genuine (not counterfeit or pirated in any way)

I've heard that calling PayPal can sometimes provide better results but I'd like some help from the people here before I do.

They have requested the following information:-

Upload Photo ID - No problem as I can use the same document I used to remove the £1900 EU Receiving Limit

Provide Proof of Fulfilment - There is 1 transaction where I need to provide proof of fulfilment - There is an option to provide proof of digital fulfilment so I can provide a screenshot of the ebay message that contains the download link and a screenshot of the professional keysender.co.uk automatic delivery system that shows the ebay message was generated and sent (I am not sure if this is acceptable but it should be because how else you do provide proof of delivery for a digital item)

Provide information on account activity - This shouldn't be a problem as I just need to explain what each payment was for

** Provide purchase receipt from supplier ** - This is tricky as I make the products myself. Basically I take Open Source software that anyone has the full legal right to distribute and charge for I then make this software easier to use by creating automatic installers, writing user manuals or instructions and providing free technical support, scanning the software with multiple Anti Virus products to verify it's clean etc. Basically I take the open source software and provide valuable extras and charge a small fee for the software on ebay such as £2.97. I also make donations to the software writers to support them so everyone wins.

I feel the buyers get good value as technical support alone can cost a lot of money not to mention the other benefits.

My current plan is to provide everything requested except the supplier invoice then simply call PayPal and explain why I cannot provide this and see what happens. Hopefully honesty is the best policy even with PayPal?

Alternatively I can send them "creative" invoices but I think they will probably see through that as it's impossible to buy Open Source software.

What I am selling should be fully within ebay / paypal rules. In fact I have confirmed in a live chat with an ebay agent that what I am doing is within all the rules. Yes I know digital items are high risk but they are great for me as I can 100% automate the selling process which is fantastic and worth the extra risk (I have another account that only sells physical products with no digital delivery so I have a "safe" account (physical software only) and a "risky account" (digitally delivered software) to try and balance out the risk. I have kept my "safe" account for about 5 years so I must be doing something right)

Any help you advice you can give me would be very much appreciated.

TL;DR Should I provide everything except invoices then call PayPal and tell them I don't have supplier invoices as I sell open source software and hope honesty is the best policy or should I send "creative" invoices that show I have purchased the rights to resell the software.

Kind Regards

Sometimes just calling them up and explaining the situation will work, but it's hit or miss, do what you think is better.

And about tracking, that's where you need to be really creative, ship something out, because PayPal doesn't like people that sell digital goods.

fernendo · #3 01-26-2019

Thanks for your reply.

So you think I should lie and pretend they are physical products? If they actually read the listings they will clearly see that they are digitally delivered with no physical disk sent as it states this in every listing.

The thing is if I send them tracking information now won't it be obvious that I only sent the items tracked because they asked? If the postage date for everything is tomorrow then it's severely delayed from my stated dispatch time and is after the date that they asked for tracking information.

Damn I just can't decide whether to tell the truth or lie.

Maybe I provide everything they need except supplier invoices then call them if they don't reinstate then I send a creative supplier invoice and see what happens.

If I need an invoice are there any authorised sellers on here that can help me with that?

fernendo · #4 01-28-2019

Wow I can't believe it I actually got my PayPal account back in normal status. It's strange as I didn't receive an email telling me it's back I was about to call PayPal when I noticed it had been resolved.

The strange thing is I didn't even provide them everything they asked for

I provided Photo ID and information on account activity but I didn't provide tracking details because the option to do so disappeared and I also didn't provide invoices yet.

I guess I'm lucky I though you were toast once you were limited.

I think I will stock up on spare accounts in case I am not so lucky next time.

ddm50 · #5 01-28-2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernendo

Wow I can't believe it I actually got my PayPal account back in normal status. It's strange as I didn't receive an email telling me it's back I was about to call PayPal when I noticed it had been resolved.

The strange thing is I didn't even provide them everything they asked for

I provided Photo ID and information on account activity but I didn't provide tracking details because the option to do so disappeared and I also didn't provide invoices yet.

I guess I'm lucky I though you were toast once you were limited.

I think I will stock up on spare accounts in case I am not so lucky next time.

That's very lucky and you'll probably be good for a long time, but it's not bad to have multiple accs.

fernendo · #6 01-28-2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddm50

That's very lucky and you'll probably be good for a long time, but it's not bad to have multiple accs.

Why do you think I will be good for a long time? Because they looked at my account thoroughly and approved it?

I lost my job recently so ebay / paypal is my only source of income which is why I really should sort out spare accounts especially after a scare like this and find other sources of income too

james_112233 · #7 03-07-2019

I think your account will now be solid and good to go. You can probably up the sales without any risk.

ddm50 · #8 03-09-2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernendo

Why do you think I will be good for a long time? Because they looked at my account thoroughly and approved it?

I lost my job recently so ebay / paypal is my only source of income which is why I really should sort out spare accounts especially after a scare like this and find other sources of income too

Why are you acting like I'm the one that got your account limited in the first place?

Neway · #9 03-10-2019

When I have no idea how things should be and want to be careful I call them from a different account to make sure they don't take notes or anything.

So I just call them from an intact account and ask this questions generally. Excuse-me if I produce the digital product that I sell and Paypal asks supplier invoice from me, what kind of documentation is required etc...

Once PayPal asked me to sign my ID with a solicitor and send a picture of it.. Why?.. Anyways I phoned them as a guest and told them I am on the way and just want to ask quickly how should it look like or the solicitor/notary will know how to handle this request? So they kindly explained the situation..
Hell of a project...