PayPal 101

[Bill Stone]

I knew this day would come I have never had a need for a PayPal account . Most of my purchases are paid by check or money order and all of my usual Sellers have been fine with that. The auction companies have also been fine with a personal check, however recently I found two items on eBay that I really wanted and the Seller, despite being asked, refused to accept anything other than PayPal so I guess the time has come to give in and get with the program. Recognizing that I will only be buying and want as safe a system as possible what do you recommend? I know I am behind the times on this (and many other things!) but I guess it is time. Thanks

[ibuysportsephemera]

As a seller, I have pros and cons for paypal....but as a buyer why resist paypal? It doesn't cost you anything, it reduces the time it takes to complete transactions and there are many protections built in for the buyer if problems arise in the transaction (item not as described, not received, etc.).

[CardTarget]

If you're just buying and not selling you should be just fine. Paypal/eBay policies are in place to protect the buyer.

Be sure to use a credit card for all larger purchases (rather than the default Paypal option of your checking account). They try to trick you into using your checking account for all purchases... don't fall for it. That way you're backed up with your CC purchase policies as well as Paypal's.

If you're going to sell anything with that PayPal account there are a whole bunch of other recomendations I would have, but this will get you started.

Oh, and something that everybody else might not be aware of. ANYONE, INCLUDING PREMIER ACCOUNTS can accept direct payments (read: non-auction) for free if the person sending them chooses a payment method from the "personal" tab (gift, living expense, other) and pays with a bank or balance transfer. Keep that in mind when using the BST here as it would save the community a lot of money if everybody learned how to do this.

[Leon]

If you are ever sort of forced to take paypal and it's over $200 make sure you request an e-check. E-checks max cost to take is $5.....so instead of paypal getting $35+- on a $1000 transaction they get $5, period. It takes about 3-4 days to hit your account but is just as safe AND you don't have to get raped taking their process.....remember gang...anything OVER $200 and make sure you ask the buyer to do an e-check......your welcome and regards

[drc]

I've had paypal for years, tied to my bank account, and have had no troubles. it's easy to use and even many main stream companies these days accept paypal Also, it keeps good printable records of your transaction history for tax purposes or whatever. I've had no accounting/money/bank errors.

[Tex]

Paypal is fine as a buyer, except that the security features are painful to anyone who moves a lot and has a cell phone as a primary phone because keeping your "Confirmed" addy up to date takes a lot of legwork. I wish you could opt out of that stuff at your own risk.

[autograf]

Paypal is a necessary evil.....get into lock step like the rest of us zombies.....I like the suggestions of paying with credit for larger items and the e-check comment by Leon...........

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by autograf

Paypal is a necessary evil.....get into lock step like the rest of us zombies.....I like the suggestions of paying with credit for larger items and the e-check comment by Leon...........

The anti-Paypal guys always make me laugh. (Not in a bad way.) They remind me of the people who complain about "excessive ATM fees!"

I'm old enough to remember what a pain in the butt it was before we had a nationwide network of ATM's. When you traveled somewhere, you had to make sure wou always had cash. A vacation required a stop to get Travelers Checks. Running out of money and not having a bank willing to cash an out-of-town check was a nightmare.


Now, it's so incredibly convenient, you don't even think about it. If you use a big bank, they have ATM's all over so the fees are rare, but even if you have to use a different bank the cost is well worth it.

[drc]

Just remember you'll get a lot of worse case scenarios.

Whenever I'd buy a new digital camera I'd ask a local computer guru about various models. He would tell me the worse case scenarios and worse possible problems with this or that model-- basically doing me the service of warning me of every possible and theoretical snafu. I'd end up being pleasantly surprised at how nice and problem free was my new camera. My pre-purchase expectations were formed by worse case scenarios, but in practice worse case scenarios rarely happen.