The Pitfalls of Paypal?

[GTaudiophile]

I have always hesitated to open an account with PayPal.

What are some of the cons to doing this?

 

[Newbian]

Well for first off you have to hand over your first born and be willing to forfeit all rights to your soul but otherwise it's not so bad.

 

[SunnyD]

Always expect every transaction you may to be a scam, and don't ever expect to get your money back in the event of a dispute. Attempting to strong-arm paycrap into doing your bidding will only get your account banned, and they will take all your money and tell you to fuck off.

Go in expecting the worst, and you won't be disappointed.

That said, I started taking paycrap again because it's a necessary evil. I just filed a claim yesterday for an item that never got shipped (apparently).

Things to note:
- Never link your bank account
- Only link your debit card if your bank is damn strong with fraud protection on it
- Always use a real credit card (when possible)
- Be prepared to have your account summarily closed if you try to do a chargeback
- Be prepared to have your account summarily closed for any reason at all
- Never leave a balance in your account (which is hard if you don't do the first on this list)
- Paypal now almost "requires" your SSN (or bank account) to get a verified account. Say goodbye to your credit score if you give it to them and something happens.

There's more, but like I said, if you don't play by their rules, you'll get screwed.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I am actually only concerned about the PAYMENT RECEIVABLES side. For example, if I sell something and want to easily collect payment from someone. I am not at all interested in the payment side of things.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Ive had two paypal accounts for 10 years both for personal use and a business account as an Ebay gold powerseller. I wholeheartedly advocate and support the use of paypal. I especially love the one time use cards for buying and have used that for three years.

Out of close to a THOUSAND transactions, valued at over $50,000 total, over ten damn years, the ONLY problem I had as a seller were two chargebacks when someone used fraudulent funds to purchase two items from me. I dindt follow the seller protection program rules and lost about $1200 (but I did try everything under the sun to get my money despite MY error).

As a buyer Ive never had a problem. All disputes were settled in my favor. Even when one guy in China tried to screw me over, the mere threat of getting paypal involved got him to take his $200 item back and give me a refund (he tried to sell me a burned, semi operable CPU as "gently used").

So I dont know where I would be without it. Yes, there are horror stories, perils and pitfalls. And I have always had the same bank account and cards registered for the last ten damn years with no problems. And yes, paypal will always have the upper hand so make damn sure you can read and follow the rules BEFORE you use it. Common sense goes a long way.

Enjoy.

 

[Gillbot]

paypalsucks.com

That said, I've had a paypal account for years and years. If you follow SunnyD's advice and treat every transaction as a likely scam, you'll cover your bases and likely be ok. Just cover your own bases and never count on "their protection" and you'll be fine. Once you start asking people for phone numbers and you actually CALL THEM, they are less likely to scam you.

 

[Crono]

paypalsucks.com

That said, I've had a paypal account for years and years. If you follow SunnyD's advice and treat every transaction as a likely scam, you'll cover your bases and likely be ok. Just cover your own bases and never count on "their protection" and you'll be fine. Once you start asking people for phone numbers and you actually CALL THEM, they are less likely to scam you.

Yup.

Avoiding scams in the first place is your best bet, because you can't always count on PayPal if trouble arises. Sometimes they are slow to act or give you the runaround, so being sure you know the ToS and safeguard yourself in every transaction, PayPal is okay to use.

 

[Saga]

To date they still require a landline for modifying your account over the phone, which is hilarious as myself and pretty much anyone I can think of in my immediate circle of private and work acquaintances have not owned landlines for many, many years.

 

[Crono]

To date they still require a landline for modifying your account over the phone, which is hilarious as myself and pretty much anyone I can think of in my immediate circle of private and work acquaintances have not owned landlines for many, many years.

Last time I needed to change something, I had to fax over some documentation to them. I think I had to dig my fax/phone from the basement. This was like in 2006, though, so I'm sure they've changed some policies in that regard.

 

[Saga]

Last time I needed to change something, I had to fax over some documentation to them. I think I had to dig my fax/phone from the basement. This was like in 2006, though, so I'm sure they've changed some policies in that regard.

Nope. I had to fax them from work to change my address two weeks ago. It was a ridiculous hassle and if I did not have easy access to a work fax line I don't have any idea how I would have managed to accomplish this task.

Their policies on verification are quite primitive still.

Probably the biggest downfall to Paypal is they've become outright thieves. Google "Paypal stole my money" and you'll find a lot of interesting stories where Paypal simply "could not determine fault" in billing disputes and instead kept the money for themselves, stealing from both people. They've done it to me twice (for $100 and $750 respectively..) and both times I had verification of a signed tracking being accepted by the other party and they STILL ruled they were unable to determine a resolution and kept my money.

Paypal is one of the most well-run scams on the internet. Was a brilliant idea.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Don't Google and Amazon have competing services???

 

[rh71]

I am actually only concerned about the PAYMENT RECEIVABLES side. For example, if I sell something and want to easily collect payment from someone. I am not at all interested in the payment side of things.

they take a percentage of your earnings.

that and people bitch that you only accept paypal.

 

[Saga]

they take a percentage of your earnings.

that and people bitch that you only accept paypal.

You're basically forced to increase your price on goods if you are selling via Paypal. They take their cut on every transaction. For example, the following from my account 2 days ago:

$602.00 USD
-$578.22 USD

$229.50 USD
-$220.25 USD

While to most this isn't a huge deal, if you are running a business where (in most cases) margins are already pretty thin, Paypal can easily push you into the red.

 

[Crono]

Nope. I had to fax them from work to change my address two weeks ago. It was a ridiculous hassle and if I did not have easy access to a work fax line I don't have any idea how I would have managed to accomplish this task.

Their policies on verification are quite primitive still.

Probably the biggest downfall to Paypal is they've become outright thieves. Google "Paypal stole my money" and you'll find a lot of interesting stories where Paypal simply "could not determine fault" in billing disputes and instead kept the money for themselves, stealing from both people. They've done it to me twice (for $100 and $750 respectively..) and both times I had verification of a signed tracking being accepted by the other party and they STILL ruled they were unable to determine a resolution and kept my money.

Paypal is one of the most well-run scams on the internet. Was a brilliant idea.

Problems arise because they act pretty much like a (horrible) banking institution rather than just an online payment portal.

I haven't liked using PayPal, but have been using their services since 2001 since it's still an almost absolutely necessary requirement to buy/sell on ebay and even smaller venues like AT FS/FT (I love it here, btw).

 

[Saga]

Problems arise because they act pretty much like a (horrible) banking institution rather than just an online payment portal.

This sums it up better than I could quite eloquently.

Imagine trying to bank with a bank that pretty much followed little (to none) of the established guidelines you're used to (federal, state, etc), was allowed to make their own rules, was allowed to hold your money for it's own determined amount of times for "verification" purposes whenever it feels like it, was allowed to mediate disputes and simply fuck both parties over by deciding to keep the money, and made a (significant) percentage of money off your every single transaction.

Basically nobody in their right mind would use Paypal if they weren't forced to. Sadly I've been forced to for many things since Paypal was created and I see no immediate relief in sight, so while I will bitch and moan I am unfortunately chained to the horrible service for the foreseen future, but I reserve the right to point out it's flaws.

 

[BudAshes]

I hate paypal, but I am force to use it. I think paypal is going to eventually sink ebay because they are so tied together at this point. The combined paypal and ebay fees are making selling things and making any decent profit really hard, especially in this economy.

 

[GTaudiophile]

So what is PayPal's cut on transactions? What %?

 

[GTaudiophile]

What about Amazon WebPay for example?

 

[Saga]

So what is PayPal's cut on transactions? What %?

Purchases: 1.9%-2.9% + $0.30 USD (Seller pays fee)
Personal Transfers: 2.9% + $0.30 USD (Sender pays fee)

Vehicles are different, I've never done them so I have no clue but last I checked I thought it was 5%+.

 

[Crono]

So what is PayPal's cut on transactions? What %?

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_display-fees-outside

 

[intogamer]

20 something day hold for selling "high risk" items on ebay while Paypal earns interest on my money in their Corporate Bank account. :rolleyes;

 

[FelixDeCat]

Im wearing my PayPal tee I got from AT several years ago as I type this. PayPal is the greatest online payment system to ever have been invented. I cant stop singing the praises of PayPal, so I composed this little ditty:

I love PayPal, yes I do, yes I do

I made so much money, thanks to you, thanks to you

I am PayPal's biggest fan bar-none

But Ill admit Im not the only one.....

Used by millions of people worldwide for a fee

It makes me smile PayPal to think of thee!

 

[Pacfanweb]

wondering if Paypal Damon will make an appearance again

http://forums.anandtech.com/member.php?u=25133

 

[brblx]

20 something day hold for selling "high risk" items on ebay while Paypal earns interest on my money in their Corporate Bank account. :rolleyes;

this is ebay's faggotry. and it's not 20 days.

there's nothing wrong with paypal. don't expect it to hold your hand read you stories at bedtime, and you'll be fine.

ebay, on the other hand, is a gigantic pile of shit.

 

[alkemyst]

Do you still write checks at the grocery store?