PayPal wants my ssn...

[MongGrel]

Reality is, Paypal or any company, can require whatever the hell they want. If you don't agree then you can't get the service. And considering you pretty much NEED a paypal account to make any kind of online transaction these days that could be a bad thing if they start adding all sorts of crazy requirements. A lot of places like ebay only accept paypal.

I stopped using FleaBay long ago also I suppose, and you do not need to do not need PayPal in most online transactions.

 

[pcgeek11]

Reality is, Paypal or any company, can require whatever the hell they want. If you don't agree then you can't get the service. And considering you pretty much NEED a paypal account to make any kind of online transaction these days that could be a bad thing if they start adding all sorts of crazy requirements. A lot of places like ebay only accept paypal.

That just isn't the case. I make purchases all the time online and I do not have, nor have i ever had a Paypal Account. As a matter of fact I just purchased a Intel AC wireless card off ebay with a regular old Visa Credit Card. Without a paypal account. Granted paypal processed the payment, but it was on a regular Visa card.

 

[13Gigatons]

Reality is, Paypal or any company, can require whatever the hell they want. If you don't agree then you can't get the service. And considering you pretty much NEED a paypal account to make any kind of online transaction these days that could be a bad thing if they start adding all sorts of crazy requirements. A lot of places like ebay only accept paypal.

Ebay still accept credit cards and debt cards which are then processed by PayPal. I just wish there was a competitor to PayPal something without all the fees and other traps.

 

[Darwin333]

I hear all the horror stories about Paypal but can't say I ever experienced any. Maybe I really should not link my bank account but I always had it linked and even if I took it off and they were indeed doing shady things, they have it already anyway.

The one thing I don't like about Paypal is the chargeback process though. I don't sell stuff so it's not something I have to worry about, but I really hate the fact that someone can just do a chargeback and Paypal does not even question it. A lot of sellers get screwed over because of that. If I was selling stuff I'd probably setup my own credit card processor for that reason. But then a lot of people trust Paypal more than some random site's credit card system. Especially with all the leaks now days.

I have a friend that sells a lot of stuff on Ebay. He uses a separate bank account at a completely separate bank which he specifically opted out of any form of overdraft protection. When he makes a large sale he withdraws the money as soon as it clears and deposits it in his normal account to prevent PayPal from fucking him over. Granted he mostly sells big ticket items so a single person could potentially fuck him out of a lot of money. I'd never link them to my main bank account. I've heard of people losing their homes because of PayPal pulling money out of their accounts only to return it 5 or 6 months later and others who racked up absurd overdraft fees because they made a bunch of small purchases before they realized PayPal pulled out a bunch of money that they already started spending.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have a friend that sells a lot of stuff on Ebay. He uses a separate bank account at a completely separate bank which he specifically opted out of any form of overdraft protection. When he makes a large sale he withdraws the money as soon as it clears and deposits it in his normal account to prevent PayPal from fucking him over. Granted he mostly sells big ticket items so a single person could potentially fuck him out of a lot of money. I'd never link them to my main bank account. I've heard of people losing their homes because of PayPal pulling money out of their accounts only to return it 5 or 6 months later and others who racked up absurd overdraft fees because they made a bunch of small purchases before they realized PayPal pulled out a bunch of money that they already started spending.

Yeah that seems like a good way to do it. Wonder what happens when Paypal fails at withdrawing though, can they close your account or sue you?

I should do the same, I actually linked it to my main account which is probably a bad idea. I don't use it that often though, just the odd ball web transaction that only accepts Paypal.

 

[Carson Dyle]

If PayPal wants your son, give him to them. They'll get him eventually, so why fight it?

 

[zCypher]

Reality is, Paypal or any company, can require whatever the hell they want. If you don't agree then you can't get the service. And considering you pretty much NEED a paypal account to make any kind of online transaction these days that could be a bad thing if they start adding all sorts of crazy requirements. A lot of places like ebay only accept paypal.

I've used PayPal a couple of times, but this statement is just completely untrue.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I guess it depends. I've run into plenty of sites, donation pages, etc where they want paypal. Maybe Ebay changed as it's been a while since I last used it but all the times I've used it, Paypal is the only option.

 

[JTsyo]

There is one item on eBay that I can't buy anywhere else. I thought I could just buy a PayPal load card at a local store for $30 and be done with it. However PayPal wants to verify my Profile and requires my ssn to do so....I DO NOT WANT PAYPAL TO HAVE MY SSN.

Any clever ways around this BS?

Most CC allow you to make temporary CC numbers for internet use. You can use that and then cancel the number after the purchase.

 

[NutBucket]

He uses a separate bank account at a completely separate bank.

This is what I do too even though I hardly use paypal. I usually just pull money from a credit card anyway.

 

[Darwin333]

Yeah that seems like a good way to do it. Wonder what happens when Paypal fails at withdrawing though, can they close your account or sue you?

I should do the same, I actually linked it to my main account which is probably a bad idea. I don't use it that often though, just the odd ball web transaction that only accepts Paypal.

I highly doubt that they can do anything to your bank account, they can and probably will suspend your paypal account but at least you get to keep your money while you go through the dispute process. If you lose the dispute on good grounds they could obviously sue you but that would mean that you were the one that screwed someone over and not the other way around. If you are a legit person you should have no fear of a lawsuit.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Speaking of Paypal, is this some kind of weird scam: I have a donate button on one of my sites, got a donation, and then later on got an email from Paypal saying the person requested a refund and that it would be appreciated if I do so, it was almost written as a personal message from Paypal, vs some kind of system generated email. Given tons of scams look like they come from Paypal and even forge all the appropriate email headers, I did not act on it yet.

I just emailed the person who donated to ask if they did in fact request a refund. But I'm just wondering if it's some kind of bizarre tactic that is being used or something.

 

[BUTCH1]

i had to add my SSN to sell stuff

honestly it's not a big deal

It never is until someone hacks into their database and steals your info or an employee goes rouge and downloads SSN's and starts selling them on the "dark" side of the internet.