Limited Run DaveP's Obi Static Parts Run 2022/23 (Sign-Up Closed)

[Mr Mold Maker]

In all my years on PayPal I’ve never had them reach out to me to ask essentially.. “Hey.. What’s the deal with this seller?” You’re breaking new ground for me Dave!

I answered their questions as completely and honestly as I could, and also gave a glowing review for your track record on past runs, of which the V2 I was so lucky to jump on, and closely monitored the rest. I really hope that this helps, and if anyone else gets the message from PayPal, give them a positive response too, can’t hurt, right?

 

[DaveP]

I sincerely hope this will be solved quickly for you, i have been very unlucky with PayPal when I started, it is extremely unfun. Best wishes!

Thanks Matthieu! Appreciate the well wishes. They have been an utter pain.

Amazing catalogue. I think you are just showing off.

I am not sure if I was on the list or not. I think so, but I am sadly going to have to pass on this amazing saber. I just don't have any more prop funds now.

FYI

Thanks

Tom

Hi Tom. Not to worry. Totally understand. Thanks for letting me know. All the best

In all my years on PayPal I’ve never had them reach out to me to ask essentially.. “Hey.. What’s the deal with this seller?” You’re breaking new ground for me Dave!

I answered their questions as completely and honestly as I could, and also gave a glowing review for your track record on past runs, of which the V2 I was so lucky to jump on, and closely monitored the rest. I really hope that this helps, and if anyone else gets the message from PayPal, give them a positive response too, can’t hurt, right?

Wow! That's actually good to know that they are working on it at least. It has been ridiculous to be honest. The amount of information they've asked for.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to them! It's hugely appreciated!

On the final stretch now.... I have a long list of tasks that say "Completed". Just a couple more where they're asking for more details.

Thanks for your patience everyone!

........

 

[DaveP]

**UPDATE**

Hi Everyone.

Important update on the situation....

I've tried my best to satisfy PayPal and they've put up obstacle after obstacle, to the point where I'm starting to believe the person dealing with it is getting some sort of enjoyment out of my misery!

Every time I provide them with the information they request, they an another thing to the list:

• Upload a photo ID
• Provide your business information
• Check your primary email address for instructions regarding additional required documentation
• Submit copies of contracts or service agreements
• Provide your business information
• Submit a copy of your business catalogue or brochure
• Provide proof of fulfilment
• Provide proof of purchase from your supplier
• Provide more information on your transaction(s)
• Explain your change in account activity
• Explain how your business works

Well, their last request read like this:

· In order to lift the limitation, the following payments will need to be refunded, as they violate our user agreement.

Paypal permit pre-sales on a limited basis, but only if the seller guarantees shipment within 20 days from the purchase date and if the seller clearly identifies the item as a pre-sale.

Transaction ID: 9S112126UC2746603
Transaction ID: 13S10464HR468452J
Transaction ID: 1H72927802130262L

I had already spoken to someone on the phone who assured me that this doesn't apply to me. But the above message was sent after I spoke to him, and they won't lift the limit until the task is complete.

To be honest, my patience has run out with them! If I'm being asked to refund these three transactions, what's to say that in a few days, they won't ask me to refund more on the same basis?

This is what I sent them in reply:

Hello.

I have refunded the transactions as requested.

I spoke to someone on the phone yesterday and was ensured that the 20 day limit on pre-sales doesn't apply to my work as they are artwork commissions (not products that are being released on a certain day). The commissions take longer than 20 days and as such do not require a tracking number. The shipping is invoiced separately after the work is completed.

My conversation yesterday was my final attempt at getting my account up and running. I did need to invoice all of my customers for this run before the 31st of December and have access to payments in order to begin manufacturing. This is very likely going to be delayed on account of this process. For that reason, I have refunded all payments and cancelled all unpaid invoices.

I tried my best to work with PayPal and to satisfy your requests over the past week, and it has been a particularly stressful experience at the worst possible time.

I'll be using Xero to invoice my clients in future and might consider adding PayPal as a payment method later if I can get my account working.

I can't risk being held up like this again in the future though and don’t feel that I can rely solely on PayPal to provide a smooth transaction, or trust you not to arbitrarily take possession of my funds.

So, that's where we are I'm afraid.

All those of you who have paid already should have received an email to say that a refund has been issued.

All those who have received an invoice, but who have been unable to pay due to the hold on my account, should have received an email to tell them that the invoice has been cancelled.

I am so very sorry to mess everyone about like this and for any inconvenience caused! And I'd like to thank Dewy, Mr Mold Maker and ggriffaw for taking the time to speak with PayPal on my behalf! Apparently even that wasn't enough to satisfy them.

Going forward....

I'm still determined to get invoices out as soon as possible and to get manufacturing started in the first week of January at the latest.

I will obviously need to take some time off over Christmas, but I will be working on getting my Xero account set up for invoicing/card payments/bank transfer.

I realise some people were hoping to pay via PayPal, in order to make use of their credit / instalment options.

I do still have my personal PayPal account and can send a PayPal invoice on request. And if I can actually get my new business account up and running, I'll be able to add it as a payment method to my Xero invoices. In theory, the requested refunds were the last thing on the list, so the limit on the account should be lifted once they've reviewed everything.

I just can't trust them not to hold things up again though, and really want to get things moving now, having lost so much time over the past week.

I hope this is ok with everyone.

Apologies again for any confusion, or inconvenience caused. And as always, thanks so much for your encouragement and support. It really is very much appreciated!

All the best,

Dave

 

[TheSweatshop]

**UPDATE**

Hi Everyone.

Important update on the situation....

I've tried my best to satisfy PayPal and they've put up obstacle after obstacle, to the point where I'm starting to believe the person dealing with it is getting some sort of enjoyment out of my misery!

Every time I provide them with the information they request, they an another thing to the list:

• Upload a photo ID
• Provide your business information
• Check your primary email address for instructions regarding additional required documentation
• Submit copies of contracts or service agreements
• Provide your business information
• Submit a copy of your business catalogue or brochure
• Provide proof of fulfilment
• Provide proof of purchase from your supplier
• Provide more information on your transaction(s)
• Explain your change in account activity
• Explain how your business works

Well, their last request read like this:



I had already spoken to someone on the phone who assured me that this doesn't apply to me. But the above message was sent after I spoke to him, and they won't lift the limit until the task is complete.

To be honest, my patience has run out with them! If I'm being asked to refund these three transactions, what's to say that in a few days, they won't ask me to refund more on the same basis?

This is what I sent them in reply:



So, that's where we are I'm afraid.

All those of you who have paid already should have received an email to say that a refund has been issued.

All those who have received an invoice, but who have been unable to pay due to the hold on my account, should have received an email to tell them that the invoice has been cancelled.

I am so very sorry to mess everyone about like this and for any inconvenience caused! And I'd like to thank Dewy, Mr Mold Maker and ggriffaw for taking the time to speak with PayPal on my behalf! Apparently even that wasn't enough to satisfy them.

Going forward....

I'm still determined to get invoices out as soon as possible and to get manufacturing started in the first week of January at the latest.

I will obviously need to take some time off over Christmas, but I will be working on getting my Xero account set up for invoicing/card payments/bank transfer.

I realise some people were hoping to pay via PayPal, in order to make use of their credit / instalment options.

I do still have my personal PayPal account and can send a PayPal invoice on request. And if I can actually get my new business account up and running, I'll be able to add it as a payment method to my Xero invoices. In theory, the requested refunds were the last thing on the list, so the limit on the account should be lifted once they've reviewed everything.

I just can't trust them not to hold things up again though, and really want to get things moving now, having lost so much time over the past week.

I hope this is ok with everyone.

Apologies again for any confusion, or inconvenience caused. And as always, thanks so much for your encouragement and support. It really is very much appreciated!

All the best,

Dave

I would hope at this point you could escalate your issue with the current rep’s manager. It’s nice to have another person tell you that your situation doesn’t apply to the limit they’ve placed, but if they don’t have the power to step in and have a say on the resolution then it doesn’t help jack ****. I’d try to request a new rep to handle your PayPal business issues. Possibly open a case against the current one that caused your funds to be tied up essentially mid run, because even though you haven’t gotten the manufacturing started, your own personal work has and you need to be paid. It’s bad practice for PayPal to throw obstacles in the way of their own business account infrastructure.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

Sorry to hear Dave, that is incredibly frustrating.

PayPal has to refund directly to my bank and whenever this happens it generally takes up to a week and a half to see that back in my account. Hopefully the holidays won’t extend that, but who knows.

I realize this is absolutely not your fault and I’m sorry PayPal is being so difficult, but this does tie me up until that refund clears unfortunately. It goes without saying of course that I absolutely want to keep my spot and will try to be payment ready as soon as possible, thanks Dave.

 

[eethan]

Oh man! this is so bad, this is even worse than what they did to me, all those requests are crazy.... At least I don't know if they think the RPF is yours as well, because what they were actually not liking for me was that someone totally not me was selling a grenade in the junkyard, and they locked my account for it...
In my case, it was really the way you felt you were just addressing robots that was the worst, everytime I answered the requests, I received the exact same automatic mail saying that my account was blocked because I was in violation of their policy and to check my account for instructions. And everytime I had them on the phone, they were like, "no problem at all, don't worry!". It delayed starting my business by 6 months! after it was finaly solved, (by miracle, it just finaly stoped one day), it's now working fine for me, but the trust is gone for sure.

I'm sorry for discussing my own old issue again, I was very worried for you when you first stated that this was happening to you because I could completely relate. It's really awesome that you are able to stay positive and I'm sincerely hoping that you are able to either solve that more efficiently than I managed or find a separate solution from paypal.
good luck Dave, i really hope this works out for you, it's so frustrating after all the work you did to get stuck like this.

 

[DaveP]

Thanks for the support guys. It's appreciated And glad you managed to get things resolved eventually eethan. Interestingly enough, within 30 minutes of me issuing refunds (and sending the above message), I received a message saying they'd reinstated my account to full working order!

Too little too late now though, as I've now upgraded my Xero plan and will be sending out invoices through them.

I've sent out the first one to see how it looks and seems to work great. Better than PayPal in fact and since my PayPal is up and running again, I'm able to add it as a payment option.

This gives the option of using their payment methods to those who would like to use them still.

I have also set up card and direct bank payments too though, and would advise people to use those (if only to deprive PayPal of the fees!). I'm not bitter...

Based on what Mr Mold Maker has said, I guess the 31st deadline is wishful thinking, so I'll be moving this to the 31st of Jan. I hadn't considered that PayPal would take their time to issue refunds, but of course they do!

I will have invoices out well in advance of this date though and as soon as they are all paid, and the funds are cleared, I will close off the run and get the parts ordered.

I hope this is ok with everyone. I was really hoping to get things moving by the 1st of Jan but they've managed to throw such a spanner in to the works, that it's looking less and less likely that we'll hit that target, so just want to be totally upfront about that.

It would be great if we could get production under way by mid Jan. That's my hope.

Thanks again everyone for being so understanding.

All the best,

Dave

 

[Eruonen]

Sad to hear all of this, DaveP but I am glad that you have a solution. PayPal has become more and more problematic for both businesses and customers over the years, and you are not the first friend I’ve had that had been roadblocked by them. I definitely will be taking my business elsewhere when possible.

 

[DarthWilder]

Ha, could I just send a USPS money order?

 

[Halliwax]

**UPDATE**

Hi Everyone.

Important update on the situation....

I've tried my best to satisfy PayPal and they've put up obstacle after obstacle, to the point where I'm starting to believe the person dealing with it is getting some sort of enjoyment out of my misery!

Every time I provide them with the information they request, they an another thing to the list:

• Upload a photo ID
• Provide your business information
• Check your primary email address for instructions regarding additional required documentation
• Submit copies of contracts or service agreements
• Provide your business information
• Submit a copy of your business catalogue or brochure
• Provide proof of fulfilment
• Provide proof of purchase from your supplier
• Provide more information on your transaction(s)
• Explain your change in account activity
• Explain how your business works

Well, their last request read like this:



I had already spoken to someone on the phone who assured me that this doesn't apply to me. But the above message was sent after I spoke to him, and they won't lift the limit until the task is complete.

To be honest, my patience has run out with them! If I'm being asked to refund these three transactions, what's to say that in a few days, they won't ask me to refund more on the same basis?

This is what I sent them in reply:



So, that's where we are I'm afraid.

All those of you who have paid already should have received an email to say that a refund has been issued.

All those who have received an invoice, but who have been unable to pay due to the hold on my account, should have received an email to tell them that the invoice has been cancelled.

I am so very sorry to mess everyone about like this and for any inconvenience caused! And I'd like to thank Dewy, Mr Mold Maker and ggriffaw for taking the time to speak with PayPal on my behalf! Apparently even that wasn't enough to satisfy them.

Going forward....

I'm still determined to get invoices out as soon as possible and to get manufacturing started in the first week of January at the latest.

I will obviously need to take some time off over Christmas, but I will be working on getting my Xero account set up for invoicing/card payments/bank transfer.

I realise some people were hoping to pay via PayPal, in order to make use of their credit / instalment options.

I do still have my personal PayPal account and can send a PayPal invoice on request. And if I can actually get my new business account up and running, I'll be able to add it as a payment method to my Xero invoices. In theory, the requested refunds were the last thing on the list, so the limit on the account should be lifted once they've reviewed everything.

I just can't trust them not to hold things up again though, and really want to get things moving now, having lost so much time over the past week.

I hope this is ok with everyone.

Apologies again for any confusion, or inconvenience caused. And as always, thanks so much for your encouragement and support. It really is very much appreciated!

All the best,

Dave

Dave they did this to me 3 years ago… it took me 3 months to re establish an account with them..

Don’t feel like they are picking on only you, the more I asked questions about it online the more people came out with the same experiences.

Totally pain in the neck… and they certainly didn’t make it easy.. once I accomplish one task they wanted, the next email was 2 more..

If my experience can help in anyway don’t hesitate to send me a message, I jumped through their hoops and still use them, but with their fees now, and the hoops you have to jump through it’s become really discouraging…

 

[DaveP]

**MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE**​

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone for their support and encouragement (and patience!) over the past couple of weeks!

Everything is back up and running now and I've made a good start on sending new invoices out! Thank you to everyone who has already paid!! I would have loved to have gotten them all out today, but I really do have to down tools now and will pick things up between Christmas and New Year. (or my wife will literally kill me!)

Apologies to those who are still waiting. The rest of the invoices for those who have confirmed their orders will be sent out on the 27th!

The "payment due" date on the new invoices is now the 15th. Due to the time it takes for PayPal refunds to clear, I've had to add this short extension. So the new date for closing the run and placing the order is now Jan 15th 2023. Hope this is ok with everyone.

Very much open to new people signing up between now and then. If everyone from the original interest list could check their inboxes before the 15th, there are still quite a few confirmation messages that haven't been viewed yet. Obviously no rush to respond now with the new extension, so for now, I'll be signing off until the 27th!

I can't tell you how excited I am to get this run in to production! And how grateful I am to everyone for helping to make it happen!

For now though, wishing you all a wonderful festive season, whatever you're doing, and all the best for 2023!

MTFBWY!

Dave

 

[Foe Hammer]

Merry Christmas Dave! Looking forward to the Obis and more in 2023! MTFBWY!

 

[thd9791]

Thanks for this Dave! I’m paid up, and wanted to stress that there is no rush to any of this. Hell I’m happy it’s happening at all, having an emitter made of this material is mind boggling

 

[thd9791]

DaveP i forgot to ask the method of fixing the emitter parts together. If it’s something with heat, I’m okay having it done because I can’t braze or anything like that.

If it’s glue, and you can remember, leave mine separate, but I WOULD like tips!!!

 

[redbutton]

Hello, I'm interested in an emitter and the booster/flash hider spacer.
{lease let me know where to go tp pay, thanks?

 

[DaveP]

DaveP i forgot to ask the method of fixing the emitter parts together. If it’s something with heat, I’m okay having it done because I can’t braze or anything like that.

If it’s glue, and you can remember, leave mine separate, but I WOULD like tips!!!

Hey Tom.

Thanks so much! And sorry for the delayed response!

So for the Emitter and other things like stamping preferences for the transistors, etc, I'll be getting peoples preferences between ordering the parts and them arriving.

The accurate way to attach the emitter pieces would be to have them brazed, but this is obviously going to be permanent. I'm happy to have this done, and will send however many need doing to the nearest specialist for them to be done as soon as they arrive with me.

For anyone planning on weathering them though, I'd recommend having them sent separately, or I'm happy to fix using an epoxy which would be semi permanent in that it wouldn't come apart unless you intended it too (if that makes sense).

Hope that sounds ok.

Thanks again Tom, and hope you're keeping safe! Buffalo was on the news over here in the UK today! Sounds pretty bad!

 

[Saberz]

So excited to be in on this run. Can’t wait!

 

[DJTedMoney]

Oh man, I just found this thread this morning. Happy to slide in right under the deadline for a full hilt + weathering if it’s still available.

 

[thd9791]

Hey Tom.

Thanks so much! And sorry for the delayed response!

So for the Emitter and other things like stamping preferences for the transistors, etc, I'll be getting peoples preferences between ordering the parts and them arriving.

The accurate way to attach the emitter pieces would be to have them brazed, but this is obviously going to be permanent. I'm happy to have this done, and will send however many need doing to the nearest specialist for them to be done as soon as they arrive with me.

For anyone planning on weathering them though, I'd recommend having them sent separately, or I'm happy to fix using an epoxy which would be semi permanent in that it wouldn't come apart unless you intended it too (if that makes sense).

Hope that sounds ok.

Thanks again Tom, and hope you're keeping safe! Buffalo was on the news over here in the UK today! Sounds pretty bad!

Thank you so much!

I made it out okay, we had more people die this time than the Blizzard of ‘77 (yea that’s a thing around here) so I’m still a little rocked. Streets are slowly becoming passable.

I prepped my saber in excitement for this.

 

[v312]

Streets are slowly becoming passable.

I prepped my saber in excitement for this.

I'm reading this and can't help but imagine someone sitting behind the door with a saber in his hands and impatiently waiting to finally burst out on a killing spree once the streets are cleared.