OT sorta paypal question

chas010

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Question to those of you that use paypal, it seems I just hit my initial spending limit and now need to either link my bank account or sign up for there credit card, which is the preffered way to go(safest )?
 
Depends on if you plan to sell anything. If you will only be buying, credit card is the way to go -- most cards offer cash back, and you get 30 days to pay back the money.

If you plan to sell, then receiving funds with PayPal and then transferring into your bank account is the way to go.

Like most people, PayPal has both my credit card and bank account. I can buy and sell with ease.

Also, it is the world standard, so if you plan to sell, then most of your buyers will already be signed up with PayPal. And, I doubt that very many are willing to sign up with another service, so I think PayPal is the way to go.
 
I linked my Paypal account to a savings account that I don't keep much money in. You really don't want to give Paypal the ability to take money or overdraw your real checking account. Sometimes for no apparent reason they will start an "investigation" on a transaction and if you have pulled the money out of your Paypal account they will freeze your Paypal account for weeks on end till the end the investigation. If they find against you in the investigation, they will withdraw the money from your bank account.
 
I linked my Paypal account to a savings account that I don't keep much money in. You really don't want to give Paypal the ability to take money or overdraw your real checking account. Sometimes for no apparent reason they will start an "investigation" on a transaction and if you have pulled the money out of your Paypal account they will freeze your Paypal account for weeks on end till the end the investigation. If they find against you in the investigation, they will withdraw the money from your bank account.

+1 for this - DO NOT give PayPal access to your primary checking/savings accounts! I have a separate bank account (at a separate bank!) that is linked to my PayPal account. That limits their ability to cause havoc.

If you will ONLY be buying (never selling), then just link it to a credit card (NOT A DEBIT CARD!). That gives you lots of protection because if they do something inappropriate, you can always start a charge-back and your credit card company has no choice but to follow the laws on charge-backs.

PayPal operates as more-or-less a bank, but they have somehow so far sleezed out of being regulated as such. That makes them extremely dangerous, and while they are useful, you should definitely treat them as an untrustworth entity.
 
Yeah, you want to link it to a bank account, but do it at a COMPLETELY separate banking institution. About 2 years ago a local bank in my town had a 'new accounts' promotion offering a free $50 deposit for anyone who opened up a new account and kept it open for more than 6 months. I opened the account with $51, and it's my Paypal linked account. As soon as my Paypal account gets over a few hundred bucks, I flush the account to this checking account, withdraw the money, and keep it out.

There's no way Paypal can touch my money this way. Bastards.
 
As soon as my Paypal account gets over a few hundred bucks, I flush the account to this checking account, withdraw the money, and keep it out.

There's no way Paypal can touch my money this way. Bastards.


I'm a little confused here. Explain. Are you talking about your balance from the money you made on sales? Why would they touch the money?
 
I'm a little confused here. Explain. Are you talking about your balance from the money you made on sales? Why would they touch the money?

If PayPal decides that you owe them money for something (which they are accused of doing without rhyme nor reason quite regularly), they will go to any linked funding source to get it. This is especially nasty when the funding source is your bank account, because they'll just withdraw the cash and you're just out of luck until and unless they decide they were wrong and refund your money.

Credit cards aren't so bad - if they pull money off your cards, you can always contest with your card company, who's pretty much required to listen to you (they aren't required to find in your favor, but PayPal isn't even required by law to take your calls).

This is why the smart thing to do with PayPal is to keep a separate account (I keep mine at a separate bank) which holds only a small amount of money. Regularly push money you don't need out of the paypal account to your bank, and regularly pull the money out of the bank. That limits your exposure to a PayPal screw-up.

Remember that PayPal, while it kind of looks and acts like a bank in many ways is NOT a regulated financial institution of any kind. They make their own rules to a large degree, and those rules are not favorable to you.
 
I'm a little confused here. Explain. Are you talking about your balance from the money you made on sales? Why would they touch the money?

Beacuse they are not FDIC insured, so they arent obligated to follow the same rules as your bank. If a buyer wants to make a claim, PayPal can do basically whatever they damn well please with your account, even if they eventually find in your favor. I've been fortunate, havent had any PayPal problems, but I've heard too many horror stories lately, enough to make me think about giving PayPal the kiss off.
 
I'm a little confused here. Explain. Are you talking about your balance from the money you made on sales? Why would they touch the money?

As Encom said, if you sell something, receive the money, there is a dispute, and Paypal decides you're at fault, they TAKE THE MONEY BACK OUT. You don't get to prevent or appeal this short of straight-up suing them -- oh wait, that's right, there's this thing called mandatory binding arbitration..... basically, if they decide you did something bad, they take your money and you can't get it back.
 
I haven't had any problems with Paypal,but at the same time I try my best to not get myself into any of those sticky situations.
 
If PayPal decides that you owe them money for something (which they are accused of doing without rhyme nor reason quite regularly), they will go to any linked funding source to get it. This is especially nasty when the funding source is your bank account, because they'll just withdraw the cash and you're just out of luck until and unless they decide they were wrong and refund your money.

Remember that PayPal, while it kind of looks and acts like a bank in many ways is NOT a regulated financial institution of any kind. They make their own rules to a large degree, and those rules are not favorable to you.

Beacuse they are not FDIC insured, so they arent obligated to follow the same rules as your bank. If a buyer wants to make a claim, PayPal can do basically whatever they damn well please with your account, even if they eventually find in your favor.

As Encom said, if you sell something, receive the money, there is a dispute, and Paypal decides you're at fault, they TAKE THE MONEY BACK OUT. You don't get to prevent or appeal this short of straight-up suing them -- oh wait, that's right, there's this thing called mandatory binding arbitration..... basically, if they decide you did something bad, they take your money and you can't get it back.

Wow! That some shady shit! Like, Gutsman, I'm glad I've never had to go down that road!Thanks for the clarification.
 
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