Paypal ?

[newood2]

How safe is paypal? What are the positives and negatives on using them.

[kmk]

Never ever setup your paypal account to use your checking account!

If the seller is a fraud or when you dispute a purchase you will not get full refund. It is safe
as long as you use a credit card (I prefer Amex) to pay.

Also, do not pay for your purchase from paypal balance. If the seller does not provide
buyers guarantee again you will not get full refund if disputed.

[Knottscott]

I've had an account for a few years without issue. It's very convenient for Ebay deals, and deals from members on forums. They'll give you some leverage in the event of an issue from a seller.

I occasionally get scam emails claiming to be from PayPal security asking for info. If you always log on to their website directly and not through an email link, you should be safe.

[Uncle Cracker]

I opened a new bank account just to use with PayPal. I never transfer funds into it until I make a purchase, so there's nothing there to steal most of the time. I've had no problems thus far.

[skipwill]

I've been using PayPal for at least 8-10 years without a problem..knock on wood!!!.

I usually fund a purchase from my credit card, but for things that I consider a 'safe' purchase, I'll fund from my checking account.

I like it better than putting my credit card number and cvn on an unknown sellers form and pressing submit. With paypal, the seller never sees my bank account or credit card information.....

but then again...it may just be a false sense of security?<g>

Skip

www.ShopFileR.com

[LinuxRandal]

My dad thought his paypal was expiring, because it asked for bank account information. I set up mine to use my credit card (the free one). I believe once you give it the bank account information, your at the paypal fee stage.

Now when I decide to start selling on Ebay, then I will probably need to set up a bank account for that, and link it to paypal (especially for the fees). There is a whole site developed on problems with paypal (I think paypalsucks.com) but I haven't visited it in years.
When you set up your password, mix numbers and letters (both cases) and as previously stated, type in the website (no links).

[mschrank]

I've never had a problem with Paypal...been using it for about 2 years.

Right now they are high on my list as they caught a fraudulent charge and covered it. They called me within minutes of the fraudulent transaction, which gave me time to alert my cc company right away.

I'm not sure how the SOB got my card number, but based on PayPals security measures, I doubt it was a lack in security on their part.

[Uncle Cracker]

I'm not sure how the SOB got my card number, but based on PayPals security measures, I doubt it was a lack in security on their part.

Not necessarily... I recently was advised by PayPal (to their credit) that an employee from the separate and subordinate company that handles some of their transactions had managed to abscond with some personal info (addresses, not banking data) of some PayPal clients. They were quick to deal with the problem, and assured us that the information was earmarked for a marketing company, but had not actually been delivered. I opened a new bank account just to be on the safe side, and no attempts have been made to attack the old one (my bank is watching). Overall, I think PayPal handled the incident about as well as it could have been done.

[dkerfoot]

I've got a PayPal account for each of my businesses and do sales of over $200,000 a year through them.

One of the key advantages from the buyers point of view is that your data is only handled by one large company that takes security seriously. Your CC information is never given to the actual seller. Yes, it is possible for PayPal's data to be compromised, but not nearly so likely as when there are dozens of small companies with your CC #.

I am always amazed when people want to give me their CC information over the phone. More often than not I am sitting there in my robe and slippers...

[Tom Slick]

I've used paypal for about 8-9 years and I've never had any problems.
You do have to watch out for phishing scams. I've gotten emails that look like they are from paypal and ask for account info varification. I always delete them and go check the website to see if there is any notices on my account.

[leehljp]

I have had a PP account since around 2000, I think. I had problems early on because I lived most of the time in Japan. Because my address is Japan, I could not have things sent to my USA address (for companies that would only send within the US.) When I was back for a year, It was problematic. I could not use a USA billed CC for Japan. And I could not use the Japan billed CC for items sent to the USA.

The upside to that while it was frustrating to me, it was a security issue for them and they held to it. I can appreciate that kind of security.

That problem has been corrected to an extent. If one is careful, there are check boxes that allow for a different address to be shipped to and that includes a USA shipping for things I purchase from Japan.

While this may not affect you in any way, it does go to show that, in my opinion, that they try to put security first.

A second problem. You will not doubt receive a fake/scam email soon after signing up saying there is a problem with your account. LOML did this and I had all kinds of friction with her getting her to believe that it was a scam email and a coincidence.