eBay Makes Seller Balance Mandatory, Resets Payout Schedules In November Update
eBay is making its Spendable Funds balance system the default for eligible US sellers starting November 4, automatically enrolling them in the newly renamed eBay balance program and resetting existing payout schedules to on-demand withdrawals.
The company notified sellers of the changes October 20, announcing updated Payments Terms of Use and new U.S. eBay balance Terms and Conditions that replace the previous Spendable Funds agreement.
Eligible sellers who are not already participating will be enrolled automatically after eBay verifies their identity, with earnings from sales, minus applicable deductions, credited to their eBay balance. The program is open to US-based individual and business sellers whose accounts are in good standing, with sellers registered in New Mexico specifically excluded.
Sellers who currently receive daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly payouts will have their existing schedule changed to on-demand, meaning their available earnings will no longer be automatically transferred to their bank accounts. Those scheduled payout options will still be available, but sellers will have to manually restore their preferred frequency after enrollment.
Regardless of the payout option selected, eBay's terms require any remaining available funds to be automatically transferred to the seller's linked bank account no more than 330 days after their most recent sale if they have not requested a withdrawal during that period.
eBay first introduced Spendable Funds in 2022, allowing US sellers to use earnings from Managed Payments for purchases on the marketplace without first transferring the money to a bank account.
The program initially required sellers to opt in, with eBay heavily promoting enrollment through email and Seller Hub notifications. Some sellers objected to the persistent prompts, saying they preferred to have their money transferred directly to their own bank accounts without keeping any balance on the platform.
Liz Morton
Under the previous Spendable Funds program, sellers could choose whether to enroll, but once they signed up, they could not opt out without closing their eBay account.
That restriction remains in the new eBay balance terms, but starting November 4, eligible sellers will no longer have the initial choice to enroll voluntarily. Once enrolled, the updated agreement makes participation a condition of using their eBay account, with no separate option provided to close the balance account while continuing to sell.
The new terms also require enrolled sellers to receive their sales proceeds, after applicable deductions, into their eBay balance accounts, along with credits and refunds from purchases made using those funds. Sellers cannot add money from external bank accounts, credit cards or other sources, or receive third-party payments into the account. Those restrictions were already part of the previous Spendable Funds agreement, but will now apply to eligible sellers who may never have chosen to participate in the program.
eBay can also make balance the default payment method at checkout when funds are available, though sellers can choose another payment method before completing a purchase. The agreement also authorizes eBay to deduct amounts owed to the company or its affiliates directly from those funds, a provision carried over from the previous Spendable Funds terms.
The company introduced balance accounts for UK private sellers in 2024, eliminating automatic scheduled payouts, and is adding balance functionality to Australia's Free Selling program November 3 after previously removing scheduled payouts there.
While eBay says US sellers can continue choosing automatic payouts, the new balance agreement also reserves the right to "modify or discontinue the availability of scheduled Payout options in the future," with notice to sellers.
Under the new terms, identity verification for automatic enrollment will be initiated at or after the first sale for new sellers or the next qualifying sale for existing sellers. The updated Payments Terms warn that eligible US sellers who fail verification will not be able to receive payouts until the process is successfully completed, with the balance agreement also allowing eBay to suspend access to earnings if sellers fail subsequent identity verification requirements.
A comparison of the previous Spendable Funds terms and the new balance agreement reveals additional changes that were not highlighted in the October 20 notification, including the removal of fixed spending limits. Previously, sellers could spend up to $2,000 per transaction or within a 24-hour period, with a maximum of $5,000 over a rolling 30-day period.
Those fixed amounts have been removed, replaced with limits that eBay says "are dynamic and may be based on your individual seller risk profile, account history, and other factors." The updated agreement also explicitly allows eBay to raise, lower or waive those limits at its discretion, compared to the previous terms which only specified raising or waiving them. Sellers can view their current limits in Seller Hub or My eBay.
There is also a change in how eBay defines funds placed on hold. Under the previous agreement, funds marked as Processing, Available and On Hold were all included in the seller's Total Balance, even though held funds generally could not be spent or withdrawn.
The new agreement excludes On Hold proceeds from the balance until they become Processing or Available, stating:
Funds marked as “On Hold” do not belong to you and are not credited to your eBay balance Account.
The company has not explained whether that change in language affects how held proceeds are handled or sellers' underlying rights to those funds. As under the previous Spendable Funds terms, eBay can also place holds on funds already credited to a seller's balance, restricting purchases or withdrawals, and freeze payouts for fraud, risk management or compliance purposes.
eBay updated its Payments Terms in October 2023 to explicitly disclose that it could pool and invest seller funds and retain any interest earned on those investments.
Liz Morton
That provision remains unchanged in the November 2026 terms:
We may combine your funds with those of other customers and invest them according to applicable laws. You do not have any ownership interest in these investments and any interest earned from these investments will be retained by us.
Sellers do not earn interest on funds held in eBay balance, and the agreement makes clear that these accounts are not bank accounts or deposits and are not eligible for FDIC pass-through insurance.
Those provisions were already present in the previous Spendable Funds terms, but automatic enrollment and the change to on-demand payouts could increase the amount of seller money eBay holds and potentially the interest it earns.
eBay does not disclose how much interest it earns specifically from US seller balances or how much additional revenue it expects from the change.
