Selling Lindens Via PayPal...A Nightmare

My very first post. Unfortunately it has to be the result of immense irritation...

I sold some Lindens WAY back at the begining of the month - to the tune of $400 in US$. Now, I did it the "legit" way - using LL's system. Previously I'd just been selling my Lindens on eBay like dozens of others and was getting PayPal payments for them, well, instantly...

I "thought" that was the great thing about PayPal. Well, my Linden sale is still "In Progress" and going on EIGHT DAYS NOW.

On the site, LL says selling Lindens and getting the cash via PayPal takes, and I quote, "zero to five days." What part of five days does eight days and still waiting sound like?

I wanted to do things legally, but you know what? Because I'm waiting on $400 that I should have gotten several days ago my rent is now late (real life rent) and I must now fork over an additional $50 late fee because of what I thought was a straightforward and simple LL process.

From this day forward I am never using the internal "legit" system again and will continue selling my Lindens on eBay. This really bites.

Ok, rant over...

I gotta agree, LL can take the money instantly but it can be up to two weeks before you get it in return. Best way in my opinion to do it is to sell it on SLExchange.com. They tend to do it very quickly. I've gotten paid within 2 days most times, sometimes even the very same day. Yet another reason why it's easier to work AROUND LL than actually work WITH them.

Only time I sell L$ on the Lindex anymore is when I need to pay my tier or premium.. otherwise, I use the SLExchange for selling. They use the same Risk API, but they use Mass Pay for Paypal and I usually get my money in the account that very day.

I have to wonder why LL doesn't have Mass Pay, because it's far faster and they're supposed to be 'better' than their competitors.. right?

You know that in this case LL can suspend and altogether delete your account without further notice, right?

I agree, using SLExchange is the best way - it is an officially endorsed way (uses the same risk api LL does) and really, really fast. Three times I sold Lindens there and got paid just minutes after. Also, SLEX offers mass pay, with just 1 USD fee.

I'm wondering if there's a significant difference between the two. SLX aren't interested in whether or not the L$ is stolen - they've no way knowing - but LL may want to wait a while in case anything crops up. Once the money is gone, it's too late to deal with it if it turns out to be iffy. I haven't thought things through but, off the top of my head, the SLX system is bad for everyone because of that.

8 days is long time, but a significant delay is probably desirable.

Honestly, I highly doubt LL cares.

If they deal with RL money they should work faster. I work in an investment bank in RL, every trade is done with spot value (2 business days), and 400USD are peanuts for us, we talk about 7 figures amounts... If LL oblige us to work by RL laws they should provide also RL speed in business

ADD:

I agree with Eric

They wouldn't do that to me because my monthly tier is $295 US dollars. Besides, I've read (and responded a number of times) on their blog and found repeatedly they don't listen.

And a simple scan of eBay reveals at least a dozen sellers offering Lindens directly and has been for many months. LL will not do anything about this.

Now, if I were offering gambling then maybe they'd act...in a few months.

Thing is, I just want to pay my RL rent with the hundreds of thousands of Lindens I've been earning. Is that so difficult? I earned it, so I have the right to sell it as I choose and I can make a profit above the cost of Lindens on eBay as opposed to LL slashing down the value of the Lindens when I go through them.

Not true. They use the exact same Risk API as LL does, which is why they're one of the safer external sites to buy and sell L$ on.

Also, to the OP, remember that the 'days' are actually business days...weekends and holidays do not count. I'm not saying your payment isn't overdue, just that it might be less so than you're thinking.

I feel the same way the thread starter does, I sold 1/4 mainland because I needed the money within 0-5 days like the website says, I sold it for much much less than I could have gotten. Now it looks like I just cheated myself because it will be 2 weeks before I see the money. It's awful!

i wouldn't bank on that!

About business days, yes. I have given that consideration too. I initiated the sale Sunday night, February 3rd. They had all of Monday through Friday of last week. And here it is Tuesday of week two and I just logged in again and saw "In Progress" as the status.

That's seven business days and actually 10 whole days if you include that first Sunday evening and this prior weekend.

I honestly wouldn't be so upset were it not that I sold the Lindens so I could pay my rent. I've always sold them on eBay - since May of 2007 using my alt account in fact - and never once had a problem.

I'd heard horror stories and so decided to try the "legit" process, but as stated above, I won't do it again. And if LL wants to ban me, they may feel free to do so - and they can take my entire custom island and shove it. But I know that they won't ban me, that's for certain. When they look at getting $295 per month from me reliably as well as the business I present compared with losing that source of revenue, they'll choose to continue to ignore it. And so from now on I'll likewise ignore their plea to use their legit system to sell my Lindens.

I've also heard there are a number of underground services starting up that have replaced the banking scheme where people can sell their Lindens and receive payments through PayPal surreptitiously now. It's a logical outcome when LL's own system is so painfully slow and inept, don't you think?

Right! I know of several new stores in SL that are set up this way. You go in and everything looks like normal, but every item is in perfect increments of L$1,000, L$5,000, L$10,000 and so on. You "buy" the items - which really are just empty prim boxes and then you IM the seller. She then offers you cash through PayPal for the Lindens you spent in her store for stuff that doesn't exist.

Through LL it looks legit - you're buying stuff in an SL store.

She in turn sells Lindens through the SLX or LL at her leisure but pays you direct.

I know of around 5 or 6 stores that are now in this practice.

- FF

Selling through Ebay is risky indeed, like some previous posters pointed out. I would also go for SLExchange. They are just as safe as LL - and much faster.

The 5 days LL mentions are working days as far as I know, so technically they're just 1 day late. And the whole process does seem to speed up when you withdraw big amounts on a regular basis. But, if you want to be sure you get your money fast, SLX is the way to go.

On a personal note: I think it's pretty risky to count on you SL income to pay your RL bills. There are so many factors that prevent a steady flow of money, the slow withdrawals being just one of them... And since you're not a LL employee you can never really 'blame' them for the fact that you can't pay your rent. Technically they don't 'owe' you anything.

But I do feel your pain...

I think LL won't worry half as much about the 295 bucks a month they'll miss from you, as they would about the FED closing them down because they 'choose to ignore' illegal transactions...

The business day you begin processing a pay out is considered 'day 0' and, since Sunday is not a business day, that would have made Monday the 4th day 0...so it's actually been 6 business days counting today. Of course, 'today' probably hasn't officially started at LL yet, since it's 7:20ish in the morning on the West Coast.

What difference is that meant to make? Whatever you are paying doesn't make you exempt from the same rules as everyone else has to follow. I remember the time Anshe Chung "disappeared" for a few days over a billing problem - and I don't think anyone has a bigger monthly payment to LL than she does.



See above.

Having publicly admitted you're breaking the rules, don't be overly surprised if one of the lurking Lindens decides to take action in line with the ToS that you agreed to abide by when you signed up for your account.

Nice knowing you.

Do you realize that people have been selling Lindens on eBay for more than two years?

I have not heard of one single person, period, who has had their SL account suspended because of the practice.

There's more than 100 auctions on there selling Lindens at this very moment.

Ok, really - honestly, I want to do things the right way, the good way. But it's not easy to do that when the other party doesn't hold up their end of the bargain.

If you're a Concierge customer, why don't you contact one of your Support people? Call the special phone number or grab someone on Live Chat...

illegal? How so?

People have been taking drugs, driving too fast, having sex, smoking and drinking alcohol below the legal age limits for years too ... but that doesn't make it any less wrong, nor give you any more reason to join them.

You might not have heard of people being banned for selling on Ebay - but that doesn't mean people haven't. Quite often, with anonymous information and unverified accounts, tracking them down is quite hard - it's not quite as easy as CSI made it sound, you know...

Let's see. I called Friday afternoon. Was on hold about 90 minutes and was disconnected. I tried again three times yesterday and when I got through I was told "you're in the queue" - um, no crap... By the time I was going to ask how long they estimated I was told "have a nice day" and they hung up on me.

I even called their fraud hotline which almost always guarantees someone will answer. I kept getting the message "no agents are available at this time, please call again in thirty minutes." After four hours of calling every 15 or so minutes and getting the same message I finally gave up hope. This is a different message than their usual one "all agents (or as they say - representatives) are currently busy. Please hold ..."

Explain to me how selling Lindens I've earned is wrong? And why it should be enforced.

Ok guys, thank you for allowing me to vent. I've inflamed enough people, but I feel much better now.

I'm going to move along and post some Lindens on eBay now. I'll have cash on-hand within 48 hours that way, guaranteed...

You all have a wonderful day and take care and thank you for tolerating my vent.

Good day!

I like SLX for selling Lindens.. for one simple reason:

If something goes wrong, there's an SLExchange staff dedicated to getting the situation resolved.

If something goes wrong on the Lindex... you have to wait for Linden Lab to provide support.

In my experience, Linden Lab's customer service sucks eggs, and I vote with my feet.