Can someone please explain PayPal to me?

[hopein08]

I know, I know, I'm behind the times by not having a PayPal account. But I was thinking about signing up at a freelance writing website or two and they all seem to require PayPal accounts for payment. So I went to the website and got even more confused than I already was! So, if you would be so kind, please help me.


How does it work?
How do I get (i.e. spend) the money in my account?
Is it safe?
Does it cost me anything?
Is it worth it?

I know I am more confused than those few questions but they are all I can think of right now so they must be most important.

Please help me understand what I'm sure I should already know!:crazy: :crazy: :shrug: :shrug:

Thank you ever so much in advance!

[NashVegas]

1. I Use Paypal Sometimes

And have it connected to a secondary checking account, for security's sake.

It's been active for about three years, and I've had no trouble. Money goes in when people make a transfer to you from their credit or debit card or their own Paypal account.

You take money out by transferring it to your regular bank account that you have tied it to. I think the regular joe's - type account allows you to withdraw up to $500 a month w/no fees.

Main thing: don't ever reply to any email that asks you to click a link and input your account details. Ever.

[hopein08]

4. I get so many of those emails!!

And I haven't replied to any. They seem very insistent that I have an account, which I don't. I tried contacting PayPal through their website at least six times and they were idiots, which makes me all the more hesitant to get an account.

[ghostsofgiants]

2. Well...

You can add money to your Paypal account either via credit card or direct transfer from your bank account.

It is safe, though I'm not sure to what extent. Others might be able to answer that for you.

Doesn't cost you anything. I use mine a lot to order online since I don't own a credit card. I haven't had any problems with it.

[begin_within]

3. I do not believe PayPal is safe. Here is my experience...

Up until this year, I used PayPal to receive orders for items on my web site. But last summer, PayPal took $72 out of my checking account, for no reason, and denied to me that they did it. My bank verified that PayPal got the $72, but PayPal told me that the transaction never took place. Ever since then I have not trusted PayPal and over the course of the last 12 months I have gradually eliminated PayPal from my web site completely. I don't even have a PayPal account any more. I now use Authorize.net as my credit card payment processor. I don't think I will be adding PayPal back onto my site because I don't trust PayPal, I think they are too vulnerable to fraud. I know that many people use PayPal successfully and without any trouble. And for a small merchant, selling only a few items or receiving only occasional payments, they are really the only solution (other than the new Google Checkout thing which I have not looked into yet.) However I think there is a risk with using PayPal that you can never really escape. I would not ever let PayPal know your bank account numbers for any reason - this is where the danger lies. I would only use PayPal by letting money arrive at your PayPal account and then having them mail you a check. That costs $1.50 but it is worth it for the safety of not letting them have access to your bank account. If you want to read more horror stories about PayPal, go to this web site:

http://www.paypalsucks.com

[hopein08]

6. Thanks for sharing....

I was hoping to hear that there was a way to avoid giving them my bank account numbers. And $1.50 isn't too much when it comes to safety. So, if I do get an account, I will definitely not give my bank account number. But before I do, I am definitely reading up on that link you gave. It is so weird that it seems like such a scam, or scam in the making, when so many people and so many sites have PayPal as the only way to do business online.

[begin_within]

9. PayPal is a good idea in general, but it's too vulnerable to human fraud - and

I have heard that some of the fraudulent activity originated with PayPal's own employees. All of this is just rumor and not proved in court. If you do not let PayPal "verify" your account by providing them with your bank account numbers, then they place certain limits on how much you can receive or something like that. I can't remember right now. PayPal claims that they are diligent about stopping fraud, but when it does happen, they don't protect you after the fact. You will need to read all of PayPal's claims about how safe their system is, and balance that agains all the horror stories you read on other sites about bad experiences with PayPal, and draw your own conclusions about the service. My own conclusion is that I won't ever use them again, but your conclusion may be different, if you use them only occasionally, and to receive payments from people you know.

[BlueIris]

8. Great story!

I was thiiiiiiis close to deciding to get a PayPal account for...various reasons. But now I probably won't. Thanks.

[Writer]

5. Actually, I'd like to know more about the freelance writing website...

what is that?

Anyway, I think you just sign up with them, but be warned - PayPal has a nasty habit of locking your account if your name happens to be similar to one on the Dept. of Treasury terrorist watch list. Mr. Writer can tell you aaaaall about that one.

[hopein08]

7. Three sites actually and here are the links...

http://www.helium.com/
http://www.constant-content.com/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/

If you get a chance to look at them, please let me know what you think. I've googled them and haven't found any horror/scam stories about them so far. But if you think they look suspicious or anything, please give me the heads up. They seem okay to me.

[youthere]

10. I've had a PayPal account for years...

never had any problems with it, but then I never do anything 'fancy' with it other than the occasional Ebay purchase and my DU donations.
Guess I've been lucky.

[hopein08]

11. Kick for the evening crowd...hope nobody minds! n/t

[pokerfan]

12. Wiki is your friend

When did wikipedia becaome almost useful?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paypal

[Redstone]

13. I wouldn't use PayPal on a bet. Anything that generates THAT many scam e-mails

is not to be trusted.

Redstone

[grasswire]

14. gee, it isn't Paypal sending the scam emails!

It's just crooks phishing for your password or private info. Just like other sites that require a credit card to sign up.

[hopein08]

16. True, but I've found PayPal to be entirely unhelpful in figuring out what is a scam & what isn't...

Believe me, I've gotten many emails from "PayPal" which all look suspicious...mainly because they are all telling me about issues with my account and I don't have one. But I went to PayPal's website and filled out their online forms about half a dozen times and the response emails have all treated me like an idiot before telling me finally that...lo and behold, I was right, I don't have a PayPal account and I should be careful of spam and scams.

So, while you're right about who sends the emails, I'd still hate to deal with PayPal customer service on a regular basis. Which leads to my reason for starting this thread.

[ContraBass Black]

21. If you have a Paypal account, Paypal always addresses you by name.

Scammers almost never do, because they mass mail to random addresses.

If it calls you by name and tells you to type "paypal.com" in your address bar, it's legitimate. If it doesn't call you by name and tells you to "click here" or "follow this link" and then log in, it's fraud.

[grasswire]

15. paypal is owned by eBay

I've been a paypal member for six years or so and never had a problem.

I also have a Paypal debit card, which allows me to access money in my Paypal account immediately after someone transfers funds there from their account.

Which means I can sell something to someone in Timbuctoo and have instantaneous cash in my hand at the ATM. It's an amazing service.

If you are nervous, just attach it to a separate bank account. I don't see anything at all to worry about. MILLIONS of people use the system every day. Saying that it is dangerous is like saying that American Express is dangerous, IMO.

[hopein08]

17. I realize millions use it every day...that's what confuses me...

I know the scam stories could be isolated incidents compared to the number of users or they could be serious problems.

I think my biggest issues are...

1. the number of scam emails I've gotten regarding PayPal (and ebay) and the crappy response from both places when I asked about the emails

and

2. putting my bank account numbers online anywhere (and, as I am totally economically challenged, what would a separate bank account mean? one just for PayPal?)

[GirlinContempt]

18. here

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/about-outside

[astral]

19. I vote NO PayPal!

I had a PayPal account, in fact I still do because they won't delete even though I told them to. My problem was I had a duplicate charge taken out for a subscription, and PayPal was ***ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE*** to communicate with over the problem, in other words, they just ignored me, not their problem.

So I just use my credit card directly whenever possible --- if there is a problem, my credit card company is there to HELP me.

I recently tried to buy something on ebay and pay with a credit card -- the Pay Pal account insisted that I pay them through MY Pay Pal account, and would not let me pay THE VENDOR's Pay Pal account with my credit card alone. (This has never happened to me before; usually you can pay someone else's account even if you don't have one.) PayPal may have changed the rules or something on this.

I finally decided to just mail a paper check through the US Mail and told the vendor she could wait for my check to clear and then send the stuff; I didn't care.

So far, I have found using a credit card online pretty convenient, as well as safe. Not what I initially expected, but I think I do quite a bit of online shopping to have an opinion.

[BlueIris]

20. Woah. Thanks for additional validation for my "no PayPal" position.

"I recently tried to buy something on ebay and pay with a credit card -- the Pay Pal account insisted that I pay them through MY Pay Pal account, and would not let me pay THE VENDOR's Pay Pal account with my credit card alone."

WTF?

That is insane.