What’s an order and why is it pending?

An order is an agreement between a buyer and a seller. It authorises a seller to debit a buyer's PayPal account for their purchase.

A "Pending" order status means that the seller received your order but hasn’t collected your payment yet.

Once you place an order, your account will show a “Pending” authorisation until the seller captures your payment. Once a seller processes your order, they capture the payment and charge your account. The payment will show as “Complete” and the seller then sends the item.

The status of your order appears in your account Activity under "Payment status".

Sellers will often complete the order within a few days. Most sellers will complete for goods payments when they’re ready to ship your item. For services, rentals or hotel stays, sellers will complete the payment once they’ve fully delivered your purchased service.

An order status can display as pending for up to 30 days. That is until it’s expired, completed or the seller voids it.

There are several possible statuses:

• “Pending”: The seller hasn’t accepted the payment yet. Some sellers wait until you receive the item before they accept the payment.
• “In Progress”: The seller accepted a partial payment amount.
• “Complete”: The seller accepted the entire payment amount.
• “Voided”: The seller cancelled the payment.
• “Expired”: A payment automatically expires after 30 days. Contact the seller if you would like to rearrange payment.
• “Denied” – Your bank or card provider denied the charge for an order. Please contact your bank or card provider for decline details. Contact the seller to create a new order.