Pay Pal - Is It Safe?

[Shakey]

I am relatively new to e-bay as I have always been a bit skeptical about buying something that I couldn't hold in my hand.  Another reason for my skeptism, if I am not pleased with my purchase, returning seems like it could be quite difficult.  Finally, the reason I have been so reluctant, was my payment options.

Anyways, I have purchased a few items and now I must familiarize myself with PayPal.

So, who here has used PayPal and have you had good luck with it?

Is it safe?

I have to assume it is safe as it must be used by thousands of people but would like some feedback from you folks.

Thanks in Advance.

[greenpigs]

I have used it for selling and buying and have never had any troubles, 400 transactions worth.

[RD]

shakey,
   I have been using it for 6 years now and have had no problems with it, even before ebay bought it.  There fraud protection system is good, their buyer protection is good also.  Just remember when you sell something on ebay, you pay at ebay, and if a buyer pays you via paypal you pay there too.  They have their own verification system also which is an added plus.  The key thing to remember just as in everything is that you are the consumer and you must be properly informed.  I would go to their website and hit the FAQs.  Hope this helps.

p.s.  if you get it, do NOT open up any emails that state they are from paypal asking you to re-verify your information, that is a big NO NO.

[Charger_Fan]

p.s.  if you get it, do NOT open up any emails that state they are from paypal asking you to re-verify your information, that is a big NO NO.

That's for sure! I get those at least once a month.

I've never had problems with Paypal, but I've never tried to return anything either. I would assume though, as long as the seller is a decent person, there should be no problems getting money back from a return.


My only peeve is the fee Paypal charges you as a seller...oh well, I guess it's sort of a necessary evil.

[Johnny SixPack]

Something doesn't sit well with me about PayPal having direct access to my accounts.

Have a friend that lost $6500 in his PayPal account thanks to them.

They withdrew it from his PayPal account (the online balance, not directly from his own bank account), and he had the hardest time just trying to talk to an actual person.

Last I had heard, he had received a partial return of his money, but not all.

I have had one incident of my own with PayPal.

I used an account specifically for it, but somehow the balance dropped below my standard $50 no-fee-limit, and PayPal charged an item off my account instead of the credit card I wanted to use.

The item was more than the balance that was in my account, so naturally I ended up with an overdraft fee.

The problem was that PayPal kept resubmitting the charge, so I ended up with almost $60 in overdraft charges!

I also could not get PayPal to stop the payment/switch methods, or even contact a person for two days.

I finally just closed the account, and explained to my credit union what happened.

They understood, and had said some other people had experienced the same kind of problem.

Since then I'm a strictly a money order type of guy.

[greenpigs]

WOW $6500 in his pay pal account, was he trying to "hide" the money, otherwise I would not let that much money sit idle.

[TruckDriver]

I have used it for selling and buying and have never had any troubles, 400 transactions worth.

Same here

[Johnny SixPack]

WOW $6500 in his pay pal account, was he trying to "hide" the money, otherwise I would not let that much money sit idle.

No, he sold watches out of an online store, and consquently just let the money build.

He never intended to let is stay long term, but we all know how temporary measures quickly become semi-permanent fixes.

Myself, I've sent some pretty large sums via PayPal, so I know it can be an effortlessly easy way to send money, but the moment it breaks down, you're SOL.

[bull]

I have a PayPal account that I've used on Ebay for about two years now I guess. I don't have many transactions on it but so far it's worked out fine. I've probably bought and sold around 40 items using it. It does make life easy as long as it works.

[derailed]

My wife has bought and sold alot of stuff on ebay and has never had any problems with paypal, but to be on the safeside we use her checking account that we keep limited funds in in case something did happen

['CUDA360]

Right...

We went down to a different bank to open a E-bay only checking account. Paypal dumps money into that account and if the balance goes over $1000.00 I write a check from there to our normal family accounts. I also pay some bills from there.

If I had opened the E-bay account at the same bank we were at they could just take the funds out of the family accounts if there was a problem like getting ripped off.

I would like to think I minimized the possibility of getting taken but anything is possible

[RTPTRON]

My PayPal account is my hobby account.  Anything I sell on ebay and a small percentage of my income is deposited into my PayPal account.  It is also a money market account drawing interest.  Of course the money don't stay in the account long enough to make any money for me.

I have been using ebay and Paypal since 1999 with no problems.

ebay is the largest market in the world.  There are millions of people using ebay, not thousands.

[Shakey]

I will most likely just purchase items, rather than sell.  Rather than opening up a seperate account, can / should I just use my Visa to buy the odd item?

Thanks so far for all the input!

[RTPTRON]

I will most likely just purchase items, rather than sell.   Rather than opening up a separate account, can / should I just use my Visa to buy the odd item?

Thanks so far for all the input!

You can do whatever you want but for me the easiest way to pay for ebay items is my PayPal/Hobby account.  I win the bid, couple of mouse clicks later it is all paid for and I don't have to deal with credit card statements.  There is never a charge to the ebay buyer.  All of the fees are paid by the seller.  If you don't sell on ebay to accumulate money in your account just transfer money from your bank account from time to time.  There is no charge for transferring money in or out of your account.

[Headrope]

I believe PayPal to be safe. Even still, I don't think it's safe to leave money in an account someone can hack in to.
I pay for online transactions using a credit card that has a couple hundred dollar limit; if I get scammed it will hurt, but the pain will be minimal.

[Old Moparz]

I don't make many on line purchases, maybe 5 in the last 3 years? The few times I did I never had any problems, but it doesn't sit well with me. I suppose that's just me worrying if an order actually went through if I didn't hear a voice on the phone verify it. I'd rather use a website to pick out what I like, & call them to make the credit card purchase over the phone. My most recent purchase like that was to MAC to get a set of ratchet tie downs to bring the Road Runner home.

I don't need another account I have to worry about, especially one that you can't get a human on the phone to straighten out a problem. Pay Pal is owned by ebay, & ebay couldn't straighten out a simple problem to save their life, so I don't have any faith in it. EZ Pass is another good example of when a problem happens, & that it gets much worse before you can finally correct it. It took months of baby sitting the bi-monthly statements to resolve a stupid $10 balance issue my wife had, & in the meantime she couldn't use the pass.

Since ebay & paypal will tell you anything & everything to get you to open an account, like we have a safe system to protect you, we will help you resolve problems, we will make sure buyers are protected, & we will tell you where to buy KY when you're going to get reamed. They don't do a thing because they make money from the commission off the seller. If they were to ban a seller, they lose another potential commission. (Fox guarding the hen house?)

I do use ebay to buy, but I watch my own ass when it comes to a purchase. I don't have the time & patience to deal with generic computer responses that take days to get & finally resolve nothing. If I make a large $ purchase, or almost any purchase, I use a postal money order & send it certified mail making the seller, or even the buyer, sign for it. I've heard & read of the postal service doing much better in satisfying a deadbeat case than ebay or paypal ever would. It's a federal offense to commit fraud through mail & when a person signs for something, I think there is a better chance they'll own up to what they are doing, or think twice about screwing someone.

[Silver R/T]

I use it all the time and I trust it

[Chargen69]

Pay-pal is fine, what you have to watch out for are those fake emails trying to get your login and password

[THE COLONEL]

I've never had a problem with it either.  I am quite pleased, and to me, it is very convienient.

[Shakey]

Folks, once again thanks for all of the input.

The purchases I will make / have made don't add up to too much.  Mostly $30.00 - $100.00 USD at a time.  I will open a PayPal account this morning and keep an eye on it.

I will also share some pics of what I bought in the near future.

Thanks again guys!