PayPal: what could go wrong?

[FeuerFrei]

I'm soliciting reasons not to sign up for PayPal. e.g. Security reasons, Fund holds, Disputes

I'm not in business, just an occasional buyer. I've long resisted opening a PP account. If a transaction requires it, I just abort. Don't mind paying through PayPal, just draw the line at opening an account.

I wouldn't link it to my bank account, but a credit card account might be acceptable.

I'd sort of like to decide within a day. I've a transaction in danger of being cancelled. Usually it's not an issue, I pay without an account.

 

[deadlyapp]

What do you mean, account? Don't you already need to have a PP account to pay through it?

As a buyer, you have almost no risk at all for using PP unless you create some shitty password or use the same password as a less secure site, etc, plus if you are only linking a credit card for use, then there is even less risk since you have fraud liability with the card.

The only place where you can get into risk with PP is if you are a seller and retain funds in your account or you have some sort of dispute that puts a hold on your account.

I've had PP for...probably at least 17 years now and I've never had a single dispute or issue with using it, and no security compromises, both buying and selling, linking bank account and CC, etc. I would put PP very far down the list of things you should worry about.

 

[FeuerFrei]

What do you mean, account? Don't you already need to have a PP account to pay through it?

Not in my experience. I think it's called PayPal Express checkout.

With Express Checkout, the customer can pay without having a PayPal account (as long as you have "PayPal Account Optional" enabled inside your PayPal merchant account settings: Profile->Hosted Payment Settings->Website Payments Preferences->PayPal Account Optional = ON), except for merchants/customers in China.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Thanks, BTW.
Does PP insist on a bank account linkup? An old thread here suggests they do. Do a test deposit as well.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I suggested to the seller he reconfigure his PP account accordingly, but he said all Paypal in his country is routed through an intermediary, thus he has no control over options/requirements. So I either give up on nice things, or set up an account.

 

[deadlyapp]

Thanks, BTW.
Does PP insist on a bank account linkup? An old thread here suggests they do. Do a test deposit as well.

I can't recall. They didn't use to as I originally created my account with only a credit card and added a bank account later when I started selling and needed to withdraw funds.

If you were ultra concerned, you could open a separate checking account with only the minimal amount of funds and use that to link to your PP. I personally have a separate bank account from my main one that I keep very low and use for things like this.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

What do you mean, account? Don't you already need to have a PP account to pay through it?

As a buyer, you have almost no risk at all for using PP unless you create some shitty password or use the same password as a less secure site, etc, plus if you are only linking a credit card for use, then there is even less risk since you have fraud liability with the card.

The only place where you can get into risk with PP is if you are a seller and retain funds in your account or you have some sort of dispute that puts a hold on your account.

I've had PP for...probably at least 17 years now and I've never had a single dispute or issue with using it, and no security compromises, both buying and selling, linking bank account and CC, etc. I would put PP very far down the list of things you should worry about.

This. If you aren't selling on it I wouldn't have any worries.

If you want to be extra safe, don't link your bank account - just credit cards.

 

[FeuerFrei]

This. If you aren't selling on it I wouldn't have any worries.

If you want to be extra safe, don't link your bank account - just credit cards.

Hope to set it up like that.
Supposedly you only need a card number and email address to sign up.
Looking through the online help section though, they presume you will link a bank account. In one place it says if you want to remove your only bank link, you have to provide another bank. Trying to find where it's mandatory.
I should probably initiate the signup process and see what's required. I just like to know stuff before I lift a finger.

 

[skull]

Thanks, BTW.
Does PP insist on a bank account linkup? An old thread here suggests they do. Do a test deposit as well.

When I set mine up years ago I used a bullshit checking account with little money in it. Linked a cc and closed the bank account. Paypal always warns me you need to link a bank account, doesn't matter everything still works.

If you don't have a spare checking account laying around you should hit up some of the sign up bonuses. You'll end up with an extra $500 or so in cash and a few extra accounts in no time.

 

[lxskllr]

I signed up without a bank account, and using a prepaid mastercard. Forget why now. I was avoiding it like you, but something came up that required an account. They'll never have access to more than a prepaid card, so I guess I'm ok with that.

 

[Crono]

Paypal will literally murder your family. Literally. I mean it. Like literally. For reals.

Don't do it.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Paypal will literally murder your family. Literally. I mean it. Like literally. For reals.

Don't do it.

Vital info there. Definitely no bueno. Glad I asked.

 

[Crono]

Vital info there. Definitely no bueno. Glad I asked.

In all seriousness, I've used PayPal since 2001, and really the only problems I've had involve PayPal + ebay (disputes and issues with scammers on ebay). PayPal on it's own is fine, just don't expect customer support to be worth a damn. Also, you are better off not linking your bank account because they will withdraw from it if a payment fails through another method, but it's not so much of an issue if you aren't adding a bunch of subscriptions on your account that you forget exist (has happened to me before, but that's my fault).

lxskllr's method is better if you want to be sure PayPal doesn't take money out of your bank account. PayPal also does a lot of automated fraud detection and will hold or deny transactions if their system flags it as suspicious, which isn't a frequent occurrence in my experience, except for cryptocurrency related stuff using their debit card. Basically the same type of potential issues you'd have with a bank, minus some of the egregious fees.

 

[brianmanahan]

paypal is more secure than anandtech

 

[John Connor]

I've had PayPal for a very long time and never had any issues. I use it for many different things. The only issues are if you sell on eBay and then when you buy using PayPal it doesn't show up in your checking account right away so you have to make a note that you have a pending transaction sitting out there.

 

[sandorski]

paypal is more secure than anandtech

That comparison makes me consider closing my PP account.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

To put it simply, PayPal is absolutely fine if you are a buyer (and use it strictly for buying). If you are selling, it's a piece of shit, but it's one of the only options. Any disputes, arguments, etc... you as the seller will lose because they (for some reason) like taking the buyer's side.

The buyer can ship back a videocard with a brick inside - as long as they give a tracking number paypal will just magically believe them.

 

[RossMAN]

I can't recall. They didn't use to as I originally created my account with only a credit card and added a bank account later when I started selling and needed to withdraw funds.

If you were ultra concerned, you could open a separate checking account with only the minimal amount of funds and use that to link to your PP. I personally have a separate bank account from my main one that I keep very low and use for things like this.

This and I was paranoid ultra concerned, so here's how I tried to mitigate risk:
1) Years ago as an eBay seller, only accept non-credit card Paypal or money orders. I'm sure it's changed since then:
https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html
eBay/Paypal offers better protection to buyers not sellers, consider yourself lucky.

2) I opened a separate checking account used only for Paypal transactions and kept the minimum $5 to maintain the account. It was as simple as calling my credit union, they gave me a new account number and I could transfer funds between my real accounts and Paypal account whenever I wanted to.

3) Paypal did their usual two small deposits which I confirmed, they also snail mailed me a code which then confirmed my mailing address.

4) Added credit card, deleted my banking details.

5) 16 years later I've forgotten my password and can't remember which e-mail address I used. Paypal still has about $7.80 of my money!!!

For person to person payments (AT LOTTO!!!! I prefer www.venmo.com which of course is owned by ....

 

[esquared]

I've used Paypal since they started. I've used it for eBay payments for over 700 auctions.
I've sold on eBay for nearly 19 years.
Nearly 2/3 of them as a seller and around 1/3 as a buyer.
Never had any of these Paypal money troubles with any buyer or these nightmares that people here claim.

My 0.02.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I got a pre-paid card from the bank to link to a Paypal account. Put a balance on it. Now I'm ready to create the PayPal account. However ... Don't want to use my real name. Any repercussions if I use a pseudonym?
I just like privacy.
(I'm checking Help section on Paypal's website.)
Paypal could notice that the Paypal name doesn't match the credit card's owner. Not sure if 'twould be an issue. It does look like I'd have to enter my pseudonym every time I make a Paypal transaction.

 

[John Connor]

The amount of paranoia is astounding.

 

[Crono]

I got a pre-paid card from the bank to link to a Paypal account. Put a balance on it. Now I'm ready to create the PayPal account. However ... Don't want to use my real name. Any repercussions if I use a pseudonym?
I just like privacy.
(I'm checking Help section on Paypal's website.)
Paypal could notice that the Paypal name doesn't match the credit card's owner. Not sure if 'twould be an issue. It does look like I'd have to enter my pseudonym every time I make a Paypal transaction.

I wouldn't do it. It could be interpreted as fraud.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Ok, seems like they do a lot of "verifying" to determine people are who they say they are - so probably not a good idea. Guess it's not the same as ebay or Amazon where your public name can be anything.

Nevermind.

 

[Darwin333]

Hope to set it up like that.
Supposedly you only need a card number and email address to sign up.
Looking through the online help section though, they presume you will link a bank account. In one place it says if you want to remove your only bank link, you have to provide another bank. Trying to find where it's mandatory.
I should probably initiate the signup process and see what's required. I just like to know stuff before I lift a finger.

IIRC back in the early days they required a bank account to be a "verified" user or some crap which a lot of ebay sellers required. I used to have a separate bank account at a separate bank just for paypal but have since closed that account and only have a credit card on my account now.

 

[IBMJunkman]

Just had a problem but it was my fault. Sold something on eBay. After 5 days asked the buyer about payment. Gave me a screen shot of payment proof. Did not show in my PP account.

Contacted ebay. They told me the email address the payment went to. It was mine but old and now dead. I listed on eBay with the offline software and it had the dead address.

Contacted PP and explained the situation. Rep added the address to my account and while I was on the page the money showed up.

Bad thing was buyer posted negative feedback before I found the problem. Has since retracted it and I am again 100%.