eBay Quietly Changes Payment Policies, No Longer Processing Payouts On Weekends
eBay has quietly updated their payment policy page, no longer processing payouts to bank accounts on weekends, which may delay access to funds for some sellers.
Previously, the policy page displayed a chart for the timing of when payouts are initiated, showing that sellers with daily payouts can expected payouts to initiate even on weekends, assuming they had funds process and available for payout.
Once eBay initiates the payout, the actual time for when the funds may show in your bank account can depend on your financial institution, with some making those funds available the same day (even on weekends) and others taking 1-3 business days.
When eBay added that chart in late 2021, sellers who used banks or credit unions with fast processing times confirmed at that time that they started to received deposits in their accounts from eBay on weekends.
But sometime very recently, eBay quietly edited that policy page, removing the chart and adding a new section called "How weekends affect your payouts."
If you receive payouts to your checking account, any payouts you receive Friday-Sunday will be processed on Monday for settlement to your bank account.
Tip
You can still withdraw funds on weekends using your Visa or Mastercard debit card.
While the payout schedule section still says eBay will "initiate" payouts Monday-Sunday, it appears all that means is they will show the payout process started in your Payments tab in Seller Hub, but they won't actually process it for settlement to the bank until Monday.
And of course, it's likely no coincidence that eBay's new "tip" also added to this page suggests that sellers who still wish to received payouts on weekends like they used to can use the Express Payout option...for a fee.
A seller in the eBay community confirmed this recent change resulted in them not receiving payouts this weekend when they did previously receive them on weekends.
so Ebay again has decided to no longer process "daily" payouts on weekends, now payments received Fri-Sun will be processed on Mondays
and no it has not been like this in a long time, in the past they have flip flopped on it but it's been a real long time since they did. I guess they are seeing what they can squeeze out of sellers in "express payments"
no announcement on it or anything they just "quiet" added it to the payouts notes in the last few days, of course right around the Holidays, swift move...
and of course the "tip" right after that note is "you can do express payments on weekends" lol
The seller contacted eBay support and was told it may be a "glitch" because they had an internal notice about a change that was only supposed to be applied to a small amount of sellers.
the Rep stated "it could be a glitch" maybe, they had a internal notice on Oct 31 about a payments change and that it was only being initially applied to 10,000 sellers. but it wasn't clarified so the Rep submitted a ticket to try and get clarification and that there was no external announcement about it "yet".
there online resources as outlined in another response above contradict each other...
one says payments will be sent daily and the other says payments Fri-Sun will be sent on Mon
for a good long while now mine have been sent EVERYDAY, it's possible it could be a Holiday weekend glitch but not sure it remains to be seen next weekend... If it was a Holiday weekend glitch why send it on Monday? normally any Holiday delays are sent out the following business day.
But these changes to the policy page are obviously intentionally done, which rules out the possibility of it being a glitch.
Most likely, it is an intentional unannounced change that is being implemented in a phased rollout, adding more sellers in over time until it applies across the board.
Sellers who use a bank or credit union that only processes incoming ACH deposits on business days, may see either no impact or up to a one day delay, depending on when the Monday settlement is processed.
But those who use financial institutions which process funds faster, it could end up adding 2-3 days to timing of when that money is available in their bank accounts.
And of course it's worth noting that since eBay has admitted they earn interest on those funds, they have a financial incentive to add small amount of friction or delay to the process to keep money in eBay accounts as long as possible - as we've seen with recent changes to payment process in the UK.
How will this change to eBay's weekend payout processing policies impact your online business? Let us know in the comments below!