It’s all explained in this thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/has-ebay-finally-done-itself-in-ss-amp1099-sellers

Did you contact ebay by phone? I had a similar issue with a new seller that didn't have their paypal acct authorized to accept payments. At the same time I had the opposite situation. I bought an item and seller did not receive payment. Item never shipped of course. The payment was deducted from my paypal acct though. I had to call ebay to straighten out this mess. Both transactions were cancelled but I was still banged with a non payment strike on my account. What BS.

Also if you didn't know this, ebay has changed the way sellers get paid. It doesn't go into your paypal account any more, it goes to your bank as a deposit. If your paypal account had a bank routing number and account on file, the funds should go there. If you haven't set it up that way, it will prevent the transaction to be completed. If you sell many things on ebay it may be a good idea to open a separate account just for this.

In Australia there is the banking Ombudsman to fall back on so this sort of crap simply doesn't happen.

Why is America so backward sometimes?

Because of the shit banking system in the US, companies like PayPal have been able to find places in the market where they can sneak in. That isn't the case in Australia where bank deposit is easy, free and a PREFERRED method of payment regardless of the BS that PayPal tries to tell everyone.

I don't know the answer to your problem except maybe call them or move to Australia!

Will AU take Americans in as citizens?

I figured that you didn't want to give out that info, that's why I suggested an account for that reason. And yes it is difficult to get live help on ebay. I think I went through the seller help options and selected a call back and it was pretty quick.

Ebay 1-800-717-3229

Paypal 1-888-221-1161

I have had these numbers for years, I don't know if they're still good.

Don’t you give PayPal the same info? And aren’t they the same company?

I don't believe they are the same company anymore, Paypal was sold off.
-Mike

Here is an article I found, Paypal and EBay split up.

https://www.salehoo.com/blog/ebay-breaks-it-off-with-paypal

That’s not really the point. It’s not a “scam”. It’s their new policy. You have to switch to eBay’s “managed payments” to sell on ebay now. It’s just that simple. Your transaction got caught in the mandatory change over. They do not care about the little sellers any longer. They would rather lose you than have you use PayPal. They have problems. They do not go out of their way to solve them, they make them your problems by default. Sorry.

I’ve done a huge amount of work to reposition on ebay. It sucks but it’s working so-so.

Managed payment isn’t even the true thing you should worry about. You should worry more about the ebay 1099 tax form that ebay is going to send everyone (starting in 2022) who sells at least $600/year on ebay.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/03/26/its-going-to-get-harder-to-avoid-telling-the-irs-about-income-from-online-sales.html

Congress hid this “online marketplace 1099 requirement” in the Covid relief bill they passed. They got to pay for the stuff in that bill somehow. And don’t think you can just move your sales to another marketplace. It’s required for all online sales platforms starting in 2022.

A lot of people will be caught off guard with the form and will not be prepared to pay the taxes. Be aware of it, and you won’t be caught off guard.

Yeah, you have to give EBAY a bank account to do business on there anymore. Just the way it is. They're basically like a bank now with their managed payment system. It's an extra step for me, cuz I still use paypal for a lot of purchases, so now I have to wait for it to go into my bank and then transfer it over to paypal. Totally free, just extra time and steps.

We recently exited eBay for selling mods. It’s a really restrictive environment and they charge a lot to use it, like 13-15%. They freeze your funds for any little issue and you are considered guilty until you prove your innocence. If you want a top rating, you have to ship within 1 day and if your item arrives late through no fault of your own, tough luck, they knock you for it. I didn’t care much about having to use a bank account instead of PayPal, just grew tired of using their service and am much happier not having to deal with them anymore.

Wonder if they’re trying to attract themselves to Amazon to buy them.

I don't think they need to, I have noticed similar items on both from the same sellers at the same prices.

what would it cost you to open a new bank account, send them that info, then close it as soon as you get your payment?