Paypal checkout - safe?

avstar

Hi all

I'm about to make a big purchase from a website (nearly £200) so I was going to put it on my credit card for extra protection as they will be liable if there's a problem.

Thing is the website uses paypal checkout, so I can use my credit card thru paypal but am I still protected seeing as paypal is a middle man so to speak?

I've googled but can't find an answer.

In addition - I 've got £25 sat in my paypal account already, so it will be £25 from paypal and only £175 from credit card....will the credit card cover me for thewhole puchase even tho I didn't pay for it all on the card?

(I've got the cash sat in my bank waiting to pay off the credit card, but I'd like to extra protection it brings)

Any info or advice, thanks!

avstar

bashh wrote: »

Hi avstar,Paypal is safer than your local bank! Most hickups are covered. I think if you buy something and don't have sufficient funds then yes, it will take what it needs from your account. You would be better off making a quick transfer and paying the whole amount through paypal, it's quicker and safer.

Thanks Bashh, I've used paypal alot for ebay buying and selling, but don't think I've ever used it for a website checkout.

instaunt

bashh wrote: »

Hi avstar,Paypal is safer than your local bank!

They have to be. Paypal would lose a lot of business to it's competitors if bad publicity took a hold. Banks have bad publicity all the time so their customers credit card details being stolen don't really concern them as much as it does Paypal.

vicshippers

Sorry - none of the above is true.

If you pay via paypal and the deduction comes from your credit card then you lose ALL cover from your credit card and you don't get half the cover that you would get had it gone through the eBay system (eBay negotiated special terms for eBay/paypal transactions).

Paypal are not regulated by the FSA, read the terms and/or http://www.paypalsucks.com/ if you have any questions.

JAG

Anyone with a PayPal account can set it up for credit card payments, so I agree with vicshippers in that your credit card company will probably say that PayPal is a third party payment website, so you would not have the same amount of cover if you had paid direct with your credit card.

Antispam

No protection under consumer credit using a 3rd party like Paypal only what paypal offer I am afraid

JAG

This is taken from the Daily Mail website:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1228690/DEAR-MARGARET-We-house-insured-TWO-firms-16-years.html

I bought a bangle from a company based in New Jersey, U.S. I paid £98.04 by Paypal. Two days after paying, I emailed the seller to ask some questions, but got no reply. The bangle never arrived. Paypal said it couldn't help because the transaction wasn't made on eBay. Yet Paypal's website says you are safe wherever you see its logo.

Paypal says it found in your favour in this case, but any refund was reliant on it being able to get cash back from the seller. It couldn't get hold of the company and you were left out of pocket.
As a result its verdict was useless. However, Paypal has looked again at your case and is offering you a refund as a goodwill gesture.