Payments Stuck in PayPal

PayPal
PayPal describes itself as a digital wallet. With a PayPal account, you can pre-enter all the information for various payment methods, such as credit cards and bank accounts. That way, when you want to make a purchase, you don't have to reenter all the information every time -- you can just enter a username and password. You can also setup PayPal for automatic payments, such as for subscriptions or bills. Because your information is specially encrypted, it is well protected from hackers. In addition, the website offers some insurance in case a transaction falls through. For example, if you buy an item, but it never shows up, PayPal can help resolve the issue and give you a refund.
Payment Holds
With a PayPal account, you can receive payments from practically anyone, whether they are for a job or the sale of an item. You can then transfer these funds to a bank account if you wish. However, PayPal may sometimes put the payments on temporary hold, which means that you can't withdraw to a bank account or spend them them until they are released. PayPal can hold the pending funds for up to 21 days, though they can be released sooner at the company's discretion.
Why This Happens
PayPal states that it puts payments on hold to ensure that you, the seller, have sufficient funds to refund buyers if they are dissatisfied with your product. This delay is meant to protect buyers. The website only does this to accounts that it deems risky, but you don't have to be a shady business dealer to qualify as risky. While a high number of customer disputes and refunds are a surefire way to get your account put on hold, other factors such as a limited selling history, negative feedback, inconsistent activity, inaccurate account information and selling high-risk goods can all lead to a payment hold.
How to Avoid Holds
You can take several proactive measures to avoid payment holds. First, make sure that all of your account information is correct and up-to-date, including your address, phone numbers and credit card data. Second, work to improve your seller rating by processing orders speedily, communicating effectively with your buyers, uploading tracking information and avoiding any disputes. If you do not sell often, even one dispute can give you a "risky" ratio of disputes to total transactions, so you would need to complete several undisputed transactions to balance that one issue.