New PayPal account – payments on hold and accessing your money quicker

Congratulations on your recent sale! 

We’re excited you’ve chosen PayPal to process your payments. Let’s get started with how selling on PayPal works, what you should expect and how we manage access to your money as you get started. 

As a new seller or someone who hasn’t sold in a while, we want to ensure you’re able to serve your customers with the high standards they deserve. At the same time, we want to protect you, as a seller, as you navigate how payments work. We require you to confirm your identity, and we monitor your performance as a seller. 

As you begin your selling journey, or start selling after a while, we hold the initial payments you receive for up to 21 days. This is a common industry practice to cover any potential buyer complaints that may happen in that time.  

To review your payment(s) on hold, log in to your account and click on Know your options under your PayPal balance.

How do I get access to my money? 

We review sellers' accounts each month to see if some/all sales proceeds can become available immediately. Once you build a positive selling history on your account and confirm your identity, we’ll give you access to your money faster. 

I have access to some money instantly, how can I get access to more? 

You can access a monthly release limit for payments received, and payments will be released until this limit is reached. When the limit for the month is reached, the next payments will be put on hold for up to 21 days.

To access this option, please:
• Have an active and confirmed bank account or card;
• Have your cell phone as your primary phone, active and confirmed.

We will also ask you to complete some or all of the following steps:
• Achieve a specified number of sales/orders;
• Receive a specified total amount of sales;
• Not receive disputes from buyers for a specified period of days;
• Not having any kind of active limitation.

Once you have access to a monthly release limit for payments received, you can request an analysis to increase this limit every 30 days, and generally, the response is immediate.

If approved, the new limit will come into effect on the first day of the month following approval.

How do I get my payments released sooner? 

In some cases, you can help to release your withheld payments more quickly.

By accessing your transactions and clicking on the payment received, you can have the option of checking whether the product or service provided has already been sent to the buyer, and this will help speed up the release.