Can't buy Lindens

[RebeccaCourt]

Hi,

For about two weeks now I have been unable to buy lindens. I normally use the "buy" button in the top right hand corner.

I have checked my PayPal account and it is fine and even deleted it and added it again. 

I have tried using my alts and still no success

I am in Australia if that makes any difference?

I have sent a number of support tickets using different alts and no reply as yet.

Sadly I am about to lose my lovely home and land if I can't pay for the tier.

I would appreciate any thoughts and help please.

Edited July 19, 2020 by RebeccaCourt
Spelling error

[Rolig Loon]

If you are buying L$, I assume that you are paying rent, not paying land fees to Linden Lab for property that you own.  If you were really paying land fees  (tier), you wouldn't need to buy L$, because those are paid in USD, charged directly to your payment method (PayPal).

A couple of suggestions:

1. Buy directly from the LindeX, using the link on your dashboard at secondlife.com instead of using the "buy" button in your viewer.  Theoretically, both methods should do the same thing.  If you are having trouble in the viewer, however, you may have better luck dealing directly with the LindeX.

2.  Be sure that your PayPal account actually has enough cash in it to pay for your L$ transaction before you try buying any L$.  Again, it shouldn't make any difference, but your bank may be slow to transfer money to PayPal.  If so, PayPal will not have a sufficient balance to cover your purchase before Linden Lab closes the transaction.

[RebeccaCourt]

Thanks Rolig.

I actually did consider the Lindex process, and whilst I am desperate to keep my home, I baulk at the "process" fees. As an example, buying say L300 costs me about $6AUD, with the Lindex it is costing me close to $21AUD, and this is assuming it works!

But desperate times call for desperate measure:)

 

[RebeccaCourt]

Ok, update.

Tried it and it failed.

Anyone want a lovely home going cheap!

[Rolig Loon]

As far as Linden Lab's side of things is concerned, the process fees should be the same either way.  They don't charge any more per transaction whether you buy L$ though the LindeX directly or through your viewer.  If you are being charged extra process fees, I suspect that they are from your bank.  The way to beat that is to put cash in your PayPal balance directly without waiting for your bank to do it.  You might want to check out a couple of recent forum threads in General Discussion about this.

[LittleMe Jewell]

27 minutes ago, RebeccaCourt said:

Ok, update.

Tried it and it failed.

 

What is the exact message that you get?

[LittleMe Jewell]

32 minutes ago, RebeccaCourt said:

Thanks Rolig.

I actually did consider the Lindex process, and whilst I am desperate to keep my home, I baulk at the "process" fees. As an example, buying say L300 costs me about $6AUD, with the Lindex it is costing me close to $21AUD, and this is assuming it works!

But desperate times call for desperate measure:)

 

One other note concerning fee -- If I remember right, LL recently had to start charging VAT or whatever Australia is calling the new tax. That might be why the fee seems higher now.

[RebeccaCourt]

23 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

One other note concerning fee -- If I remember right, LL recently had to start charging VAT or whatever Australia is calling the new tax. That might be why the fee seems higher now.

Hi, the message I receive after about 10 mins is, and with the header" Linden Dollar Market Buy order declined Notification" .... "An attempt to purchase Linden Dollars for your account via the Lindex page on sl has failed"

My PayPal account is in good standing, I have money in my bank account, yes, GST (VAT) is being charged.

 

I have tried using 3 alts and still the same message both via the buy button on my viewer and the Lindex via the web page.

I have sent 5 support tickets to LL over the last two weeks and no reply. 

I know, I am sounding desperate now as I am about to lose my adorable home!

Edited July 20, 2020 by RebeccaCourt
Spelling errors

[LittleMe Jewell]

9 minutes ago, RebeccaCourt said:

Hi, the message I receive after about 10 mins is, and with the header" Linden Dollar Market Buy order declined Notification" .... "An attempt to purchase Linden Dollars for your account via the Lindex page on sl has failed"

My PayPal account is in good standing, I have money in my bank account, yes, GST (VAT) is being charged.

 

I have tried using 3 alts and still the same message both via the buy button on my viewer and the Lindex via the web page.

I have sent 5 support tickets to LL over the last two weeks and no reply. 

I know, I am sounding desperate now as I am about to lose my adorable home!

Sounds like it is time to call Billing to see if they can help you with the specifics of what the problem is.

  Billing support phone numbers
    Toll-Free (US/Canada): 800.294.1067
    Long-Distance: 703.286.6277  
Our Billing team is available from 9am to 6pm EST(6am to 3pm PST), Monday through Friday.
 

[RebeccaCourt]

1 minute ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Sounds like it is time to call Billing to see if they can help you with the specifics of what the problem is.

  Billing support phone numbers
    Toll-Free (US/Canada): 800.294.1067
    Long-Distance: 703.286.6277  
Our Billing team is available from 9am to 6pm EST(6am to 3pm PST), Monday through Friday.
 

Yes, I agree. Thanks for your help.

I even set up a new alt just to buy lindens using my credit card and still no success:(.....

[RebeccaCourt]

An update:

After numerous emails to LL, PayPal and my bank, the issue appears to be that LL have changed their transaction codes from "video games" to 'cash" and this stopped small payments being made.

At least, internationally, this means we need to purchase a minimum of L20 at a time and not smaller amounts. 

So, with the exchange rate from USD to AUD plus a GST (note no US tax is deducted) and and now a transfer fee of AUD $2.50 each time, the joy of SL is very expensively being diminished.

 

[Alwin Alcott]

2 hours ago, RebeccaCourt said:

At least, internationally, this means we need to purchase a minimum of L20 at a time and not smaller amounts.

L20?

[RebeccaCourt]

28 minutes ago, Alwin Alcott said:

L20?

Sorry, 20 in my case AUD$

[Alwin Alcott]

1 hour ago, RebeccaCourt said:

Sorry, 20 in my case AUD$

you scared me

but it might be a local issue, i'm in europe and can buy quite lower amounts ( i won't because of the LL fees of course)

[Whirly Fizzle]

8 hours ago, RebeccaCourt said:

An update:

After numerous emails to LL, PayPal and my bank, the issue appears to be that LL have changed their transaction codes from "video games" to 'cash" and this stopped small payments being made.

At least, internationally, this means we need to purchase a minimum of L20 at a time and not smaller amounts. 

So, with the exchange rate from USD to AUD plus a GST (note no US tax is deducted) and and now a transfer fee of AUD $2.50 each time, the joy of SL is very expensively being diminished.

 

Have a look here:

 

[Charlotte Bartlett]

You are sadly may be getting impacted by the "money transfer" reclassification that credit card companies forced PayPal etc to do - we thought just American Banks but sounds like the Aussies could now be in the mix too (or this is a total red herring!).

(a) you may wish to add a card directly to Second Life and bypass PayPal to see if that (i) reduces your fees and (ii) works around the money transfer classification issue.  Will you let us know how you get on as a lot of us are interested in this particular topic atm!

(b) as mentioned above place cash into your PayPal before using the Lindex and switch your funding method on the agreement (pre-approved/reoccuring payments in PayPal) to fund from your balance first.   I would recommend removing your credit card if you can and use your bank account directly.  IF you are getting errors (having multiple alts using the same PayPal account may cause some challenges) delete ALL your approved PayPal funding agreements with Tilia/LL  (in PayPal directly) and start afresh with one account using one PayPal account so it sets up a new funding agreement linked to your balance and bank and not a credit card.

Let us know what you manage to do and if you see more fees?