Is PayPal safe?

VH

I would agree with others in that I always withdraw any money in my Paypal account as soon as I can. After all, if it's sitting in their account and not yours, it's not gaining you any interest!

I have also heard of a couple of stories where Paypal have closed peoples accounts for whatever reason, and these people have lost whatever money was in there.

I don't trust Paypal 100% but you really can't survive on EBay without it - although it's not free for the seller, it's fast, convenient, and beats messing around with cheques.

dhui

Hmm... :-/ ...thank you for your thoughts guys.

Judging by the few negative responses, it's enough to put me off. Also, the lack of a free account doesn't help. I'd rather use the slower method of cheques TBH. Thank you for your thoughts once again.

Also, I do not need nor want the hassle of going through the small claims court as I do not have the money to hire a decent (Or even not-so-decent!) lawyer, as I have other things to do. I know all activities on the net have risks but the ones related to PayPal seem far too high for now.

bleugh

do a search on google for paypal and scam , fraud , ripoff , any words like that

https://www.paypalwarning.com
https://www.paypalsucks.com

and a myriad of others

i lost £200 a couple of years back and got charged also as paypal took 5 days to realise a stolen credit card was used

fine, use them for LOW VALUE transactoins, but nothing you can't afford to loose

PAYPAL ARE NOT A BANK,

and dont think for a moment you are covered by their guarentee, read the TOC, you'll find that maybe 15-20% of transactions are actually covred

dhui

do a search on google for paypal and scam , fraud , ripoff , any words like that

https://www.paypalwarning.com
https://www.paypalsucks.com

and a myriad of others

i lost £200 a couple of years back and got charged also as paypal took 5 days to realise a stolen credit card was used

fine, use them for LOW VALUE transactoins, but nothing you can't afford to loose

PAYPAL ARE NOT A BANK,

and dont think for a moment you are covered by their guarentee, read the TOC, you'll find that maybe 15-20% of transactions are actually covred

Thank you for the links. I already know about PayPalSucks.com and that was the catalyst for this thread. As I said because of the highly mixed messages I think I'll pass on using them for now. It might cost me customers but in the long term I think it would be for the best.

soolin

Do also bear in mind that with Christmas approaching relying on cheques reaching you in the post could mean you waste time and lose the Christmas posting market.

I am still offering items suitable for Christmas gifts on the basis that people can pay by paypal and usually have their item despatched within 24 hours. My recorded delivery is taking an average of 2 days to arrive (1st class) which means I hope to sell right up to the last moment. If you have to wait for cheques to reach you, even allowing for sending items out before the cheque clears, will cost you an extra few days.

There is also the fixed price Free listing day this coming Friday (see the other threads). Assuming you list on Friday and end the listing on the 17th you have barely no chance at all of getting cheques in quickly. In the past this close to Christmas I have found buyers will often request the item is sent as a Christmas gift, this always worried me as it seems open to a scam, sending a duff cheque knowing it can't possibly clear for days and playing on a sellers good nature to get the item sent early.

Whatever you decide, happy selling for Christmas!

Soo

theloft

PAYPAL SUCKS

As a buyer on EBay, and yet to foray into the selling side, I find PayPal for buyers is absolute c..p !
They make it easy for you to start with and you give them your credit card details.    But unbeknown to me the credit limit of $1000,  (£550) reduces each time you make a purchase.   I purchased a camera and when I went to pay by PayPal they said I didn't have sufficent credit.   As my credit card is good for loads more than the camera cost I queried this with them and found out about the reducing credit.   They then said I could achieve a higher credit rating if I went down the Direct Debit route !  This means giving them all your bank details so that they can withdraw funds directly from your bank.   As this defeats the whole point of using a credit card I told them in no uncertain terms to get stuffed!    Especially after reading on this site how people can have funds withdrawn without authorisation.
THE WHOLE THING IS SO ONE SIDED AND THERE IS LITTLE PROTECTION FOR THE CONSUMER.   Anyone else had this problem ?

VickyA_2

Ooooh gosh. Is that Direct Debit thing safe on Paypal? I've innocently signed up for it - should have come on here first, I realise now. I signed up for a Paypal account (I'm quite a new Ebay buyer and have got a couple of things to sell on there in the New Year) and it took me through the Direct Debit thing too.

Have I done the wrong thing? And if I have, is there any way of reversing it?

Thanks

dhui

Do also bear in mind that with Christmas approaching relying on cheques reaching you in the post could mean you waste time and lose the Christmas posting market.

I am still offering items suitable for Christmas gifts on the basis that people can pay by paypal and usually have their item despatched within 24 hours. My recorded delivery is taking an average of 2 days to arrive (1st class) which means I hope to sell right up to the last moment. If you have to wait for cheques to reach you, even allowing for sending items out before the cheque clears, will cost you an extra few days.

I understand that but quite frankly I find in my experience that those who do not send in their cheques quickly are jokers who are not serious on buying the item anyway, so it is of no concern. Also, I'm not really aiming for the Christmas market anyway. It is something of a conincidence that I'm selling at this time.

Anyway, the risks of a dodgy PayPal account seem far greater than a dodgy cheque at this moment in time.

soolin

I understand that but quite frankly I find in my experience that those who do not send in their cheques quickly are jokers who are not serious on buying the item anyway, so it is of no concern. Also, I'm not really aiming for the Christmas market anyway. It is something of a conincidence that I'm selling at this time.

Anyway, the risks of a dodgy PayPal account seem far greater than a dodgy cheque at this moment in time.

With approx 99% of my auctions paid for by paypal I have never had a dodgy transaction yet. I have had several problems with cheques though one was returned unpaid (having previously been cleared for funds) on day 9 and I currently have a cheque payment from the end of October that is going to be reversed from my account as my bank credited the wrong amount so the paying bank has called back the cheque.


Soo

VH

I have to echo Soolin's comments here and say that I have had various problems with cheques, mainly cheques bouncing, and the old classic 'cheque's in the post excuse' for non-payers. I also have half a dozen or so friends who operate on EBay and they have all had problems with cheques.

I have recently stopped accepting cheques for payment due to these problems and now accept Paypal only. I have not had any problems with Paypal and I do not know anyone who has.

I think that these stories, although some of them are undoubtedly true, just get blown up out of proportion. Just like on-line banking, if people don't take reasonable steps to protect their accounts or use sloppy passwords, then they are open to attack.