Pay Pal--is it safe?

[Aimhigh]

I have been avoiding signing up for pay pal due to concerns about security of my information. Upon reflection, perhaps I am more at risk in providing my credit card information each time I make a purchase. Just wondering what you all think about the "Pay Pal" transaction process...any negatives that you have encountered? Appreciate the feedback.

[lonestarmedic]

Jim,

I find PayPal to be pretty safe. It keeps most of your information from getting out. I suggestyou have a checking account that is hooked to a Visa debit card. This is for paypal funding. Transfer money into it based on the need. So, if someone gets your account information, they will not get your main funds. I have had several good experiences with PayPal. They have gotten my money back for a bad transaction twice. The only problem with them is the way that money gets "hung up". It sometimes takes a while for funds to move. Especially refunds. I cancelled a transaction once and it took almost 2 weeks to get the money back to my bank. PayPal waits and verifies every move the money makes in that case. However, hit a payment button and the money goes goodby in 3 miliseconds! I have used them for about 7-8 years now.

 

JB

[Dave77459]

I have been avoiding signing up for pay pal due to concerns about security of my information. Upon reflection, perhaps I am more at risk in providing my credit card information each time I make a purchase. Just wondering what you all think about the "Pay Pal" transaction process...any negatives that you have encountered? Appreciate the feedback.

I have used Paypal for quite a while with no issues. As you mention it cuts down on having to transmit payment information every time. In addition, it stores shipping information as well. It makes the online merchandise experience much easier. Maybe not a good thing?

 

BUT, you need to exercise caution because Paypal is frequently spoofed. (You think you are going there, but you are actually going to visit the Russian mob.) With a little care, Paypal has been quick and easy for me.

 

Dave

[KeithR]

I have been using it for years and have never had a problem. One thing to be cautious of is future E Mails scams that try to get you to reenter you info so they can access your account. If its from PayPal they will refer to you by the name on your account. I prefer to use PayPal over entering my Credit Card info over the internet.

 

 

Keith

[Condor]

I've been using it for over 10 years on Ebay and my website. Never had a glitch. I especially like the ability to take different currencies, and Paypal will do the conversion to US$.

[Venturous Randy]

There have been times that I did not bid on stuff because they did not take Paypal. Awhile back I bid and won before I realized they did not take Paypal and it was a PIA to get a cashiers check to send to them. I learned my lesson on that one.

RandyA

[Condor]

There have been times that I did not bid on stuff because they did not take Paypal. Awhile back I bid and won before I realized they did not take Paypal and it was a PIA to get a cashiers check to send to them. I learned my lesson on that one.

RandyA

 

Yeah, I've done the same thing.. Doesn't that tick you off?? I try to pay with paypal only. MOF I had a heck of a time with a ghost member of this board who didn't take Paypal, and I ended up high bidder... What a wrestling match that was...

[greg_in_london]

I've had no problem with PayPal and I've been using it for at least five years. The fees are fairly high, but if you're sending money that doesn't affect you. For the trader/recipient the fees obviously eat into what they receive, but compared with the costs and troubles of having a first credit card merchant account (for small traders) in pre-PayPal days it's cheap and easy.

 

It also allows me as a private person to accept credit cards, which is quite nice.

 

Over here in the UK they've started a 'Verisign' system which I absolutely refuse to sign up to. The crazy idea is that once you've sent them all your credit card details you send them again to the credit card company for them to verify it. Insane - twice the chance of it being intercepted - and they're verifying it AFTER you've sent your details to the company. When it all goes wrong you can be sure they'll blaim you for their poor security.

 

As you may have guessed, I prefer to use PayPal online.

[V7Goose]

It may be technically safe, but it sure isn't ethically safe in my opinion. I think I am the only person on earth who absolutely refuses to ever deal with them.

 

I made the mistake of using PayPal one time several years ago. The product I bought was crap, and after a bit of a fight I finally succeeded in getting a refund to the paypal account. Unfortunately, those crooked idiots will only wait a relatively short time for you to either spend a credit on something else or formally force them to send you the money, then they irrationally just give the money back to whoever made the credit!!!!! Can you say "pissed"? Sure you can!

 

Now you know why I rather pull out my own fingernails than EVER do business with ripoffpal again.

Goose

[Freebird]

I love PayPal. Much safer than giving our your credit card info all over the Internet. Also, there have been a couple of times when PayPal saved me from a bad seller. Once to the tune of close to $3,000.00.

[ddoggma]

I too have used it for years. And I only buy stuff on ebay if they take PP. Plus its nice for buying software, online and sending money to peeps. No problems so far. But I get lots of Phishing email about PP. I never open any of them. You do have to keep on your toes and guard against getting highjacked to the russian mob....lol as stated above.

[Venturous Randy]

I love PayPal. Much safer than giving our your credit card info all over the Internet. Also, there have been a couple of times when PayPal saved me from a bad seller. Once to the tune of close to $3,000.00.

 

 

Don, were you not looking into another program similar to Paypal awhile back? What ever came of that?

RandyA

[Snarley Bill]

never had a problem with paypal, and i use it alot. they have my checking account no. and just deduct what ever i spend. get a premium account if you get one. it sure makes buying things and transfering money over the net easy. i think their security is topnotch. bill

[BoomerCPO]

When I signed up for PayPal over 2 years ago I also got the PayPal Plus MasterCard. Whatever I buy I always pay it off in full every month so they don't get any finance charges from me.

 

No problems to speak of regarding this set-up.

[pegscraper]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one aggravated at preypal. I got ripped off by them last spring too, and nearly closed my account over it. I've refused to receive any money through them ever since. They have great protection for buyers. Who is protecting the sellers??? I don't like their fees either. Too high. Now I see that ebay is forcing sellers to take preypal. So they have quite a nice little racket going for themselves. I've gotten rid of a lot of junk around here I didn't need through them, but still have some left. So I guess I can either bend over for a butt screwing or throw it in the trash. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet.

[1BigDog]

Don, were you not looking into another program similar to Paypal awhile back? What ever came of that?

RandyA

 

Hmmm, I think that program was affiliated with the Russian mob.....:mo money::stirthepot:

[BuddyRich]

About as safe as any bank. Basically they are a bank but FDIC says not a bank yet, cause they don't physically handle money. That's about to change as the states have pretty much decided they are engaging in banking activities.

[hig4s]

To be extra safe I have a pay pal account but never let any payments through pay-pal use my bank account, I always force it to use the back up credit card.

 

So on top of all the protections Pay-pal has in place, I also have the protections in place by my credit card company.

[Freebird]

Don, were you not looking into another program similar to Paypal awhile back? What ever came of that?

RandyA

 

Yes, it is called Revolution Money and seems to be just fine. The problem is, it really hasn't seemed to have caught on and very few sites accept it.

[bongobobny]

No problems with paypal with me. Yes, dealers that don't do paypal pi$$ me off...

[Guest tx2sturgis]

PayPal is a tool. Use it wisely and it does the job.

 

As has been mentioned, there are many spammers out there who try to sucker you in by sending millions of emails out that say something like:

 

Dear account holder,

 

Your PayPal account has been compromised, so you need to click here and enter your username and password to fix it within 24 hours or else the account will be closed.

 

These emails even LOOK official. Just dont ever click on the links, and delete the junk mail, and you should be OK. The tip off is the salutation. PayPal has your full name, so if they send you an email, they will call you by name, not 'account holder' or 'friend'.

 

I use it fairly often, on ebay and other places, and find it to be easy to use....maybe a bit too easy sometimes!

 

 

[FJR Rider]

I've been using it off and on for about two years now...a member here got me using it. No problems what-so-ever.

 

Love the AimHigh handle...I used to use a tag line after my signature that said "Aim High, Fly Low!"....came from my days in ARRS.

 

Curt

Edited December 9, 2008 by FJR Rider

[Chinto]

I have used PayPal for many years now and have never had any problems as a buyer or a seller. One thing to keep in mind, even with PayPal, I only buy from someone who has a 99+ feedback score and accepts PayPal for payment. Preferably with at least a blue star rating and never from anywhere outside North America. Also as already mentioned, I opened a separate checking account at a local bank just for PayPal transactions. You don't need any checks, look for an electronic checking account, they are free of bank charges and you can monitor it online. I call it my "Chrome" Checking account.

[Rottdoglover]

Been using PP for 8+ years. Great for paying for stuff. Fast and secure. Only CAUTION is if you have money in PP account, get it in your bank. PP will refund YOUR money to some crybaby without your consent. Happened to me on a small item once. NEVER again. I also use a designated credit card only for purchases. Overall PP is a good thing but you have to watch out for scammers as mentioned in many other replies. Always remember PP will NOT ask for your information. They may send you a note to update, but physically go to their site, NO links!

[Redneck]

I have used pay pal for about 2 years the problem I have had was using a credit card so I would have double protection. A few months ago I was informed I had reached my spending limit using a credit card. It seams you can't spend over 10k through pay pal with out giving them access to a bank account. I will not give them access to any of my accounts and I don't have time to monitor a special account for them. The other option I had was to open a pay pal account so I did that and they were so generous they gave me a whopping $400 dollar limit. I have bought a couple of peterbuilts and a low boy trailer in the last year on ebay and that limit won't even cover the required deposit on some of my purchases. I recieved an email today from pay pal asking why I had not used my account in a couple of months and shall we say I informed them. Pay pal and ebay will just have to do without my business.