Any PayPal® hints for a newbie?

[rsa]

After long resisting enlisting in the PayPal army, I'm considering it. :saywhat: Any hints or dos and don'ts when it comes to signing up (and afterwards)?
I can easily open a bank account that would be used exclusively with PayPal. Or is better to link a credit card to "my" PayPal account. My seat-of-the-pants feeling is that linking a bank account only (where I keep the balance as low as possible) is safest.

I'm outta my comfort zone here, guys! Thanks!

[ben9732]

I've been using them for maybe 10 years, tied to my bank. I really hate the % charge since early on it was supposed to be no cost.

However, I've had two major (for me) purchases that went south and they recovered my money. Both were for a Parasound A51 amp on Audiogon and in each case I had sent between $2500 to $3000. With the first one the seller kept telling me to end the claim so his money would be released and he could make it right. I went back to PP and they said don't do that as once a case is closed, you can't reopen it. Followed what PP said and in two days had the funds returned.

But ever other PP use had been fine, and in some cases up to $6k.

And after 5 years, I still don't have a Parasound A51. Kind of gun shy about that one product.

[dvenardos]

No problems with Paypal, consider them to be no more or less secure than any other financial institution.

[django1]

Don't be foolish like me and use a generic user name and password ( like django1 and the password I use on all audio sites). Somebody got a list of those from some site where I was a member and tried it on Paypal. It worked! I filed a claim and Paypal made it right. I use a credit card with Paypal but unregister it right after any transaction.

[Mike4AU]

Be sure to add this layer of protection. If django had this he would not have had his problem.

PayPal Security Key:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing_CommandDriven/securitycenter/PayPalSecurityKey-outside

[woofersus]

I have no qualms with tying paypal to my bank account. No issues in a decade here either.

One tip though: When you open a "personal" account, you can have money sent to you with no fees, but you can't accept credit cards. When you get sent a credit card payment they'll prompt you to upgrade to a "premier" account and there will be a fee of 2.9% + $0.35 to take the CC payment. The catch is, once you upgrade to a "premier" account you'll get charged a fee for EVERY payment that you accept regardless of source.

What I've done for some time now is have two different accounts. One Personal, and one Premier. I can accept payments to the personal account with no fees, as long as it isn't sourced from a credit card. (paypal balance, bank account instant transfer, e-check) Essentially I use the premier account when I sell on ebay, but when I sell on forums I just request people to send non-CC sourced paypal to my personal account. Most can, since they have their bank account linked. It saves everybody a lot of money. Also, I can transfer any money from my premier account to my personal account before depositing into my bank account without fees, since it's a paypal balance. That way, I only have my bank account linked to one account, and just a credit card on the other.

[neuronbob]

Be sure to add this layer of protection. If django had this he would not have had his problem.

PayPal Security Key:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc...ityKey-outside

+1

I have had a Paypal account attached to my bank for almost ten years. Because I am gunshy about anyone accessing my funds, I got a security key as soon as they were available a few years ago. Now my only Paypal complaint is about the 3% charge. Otherwise, all is good.

[tako_tsubo]

I have no qualms with tying paypal to my bank account. No issues in a decade here either.

One tip though: When you open a "personal" account, you can have money sent to you with no fees, but you can't accept credit cards. When you get sent a credit card payment they'll prompt you to upgrade to a "premier" account and there will be a fee of 2.9% + $0.35 to take the CC payment. The catch is, once you upgrade to a "premier" account you'll get charged a fee for EVERY payment that you accept regardless of source.

What I've done for some time now is have two different accounts. One Personal, and one Premier. I can accept payments to the personal account with no fees, as long as it isn't sourced from a credit card. (paypal balance, bank account instant transfer, e-check) Essentially I use the premier account when I sell on ebay, but when I sell on forums I just request people to send non-CC sourced paypal to my personal account. Most can, since they have their bank account linked. It saves everybody a lot of money. Also, I can transfer any money from my premier account to my personal account before depositing into my bank account without fees, since it's a paypal balance. That way, I only have my bank account linked to one account, and just a credit card on the other.

"thumbsup: Why didn't I think of this? This is one of the best tips I have heard! Thanks

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

I'm still in the camp of being leery to tie it directly to my bank account, even though PayPal keeps encouraging me to do so.

I don't see the benefit (I'm a buyer, not a seller) - I'm happy to have the charges go to my credit card where I get cash back, and it adds another layer of security from someone emptying my bank account if something were to go wrong.

[rsa]

Thanks, everyone!

One tip though: When you open a "personal" account, you can have money sent to you with no fees, but you can't accept credit cards. When you get sent a credit card payment they'll prompt you to upgrade to a "premier" account and there will be a fee of 2.9% + $0.35 to take the CC payment. The catch is, once you upgrade to a "premier" account you'll get charged a fee for EVERY payment that you accept regardless of source.

What I've done for some time now is have two different accounts. One Personal, and one Premier. I can accept payments to the personal account with no fees, as long as it isn't sourced from a credit card. (paypal balance, bank account instant transfer, e-check) Essentially I use the premier account when I sell on ebay, but when I sell on forums I just request people to send non-CC sourced paypal to my personal account. Most can, since they have their bank account linked. It saves everybody a lot of money. Also, I can transfer any money from my premier account to my personal account before depositing into my bank account without fees, since it's a paypal balance. That way, I only have my bank account linked to one account, and just a credit card on the other.

I've opened a bank-account for PP-only transactions and was getting ready to register. It seems things have changed re: PayPal Fees: "Our fees are now the same for all accounts - Personal, Premier, and Business. Please note that the Purchase rate applies to all payments using Request Money."

So it would appear that I only need one account (a Premier for selling on eBay) and would link it to the bank-account I set up for PP-only transactions.

IIRC, for a while there, eBay was REQUIRING sellers to accept PayPal (except for a few selling categories). Now sellers can use other services like paymate.com.

[woofersus]

Thanks, everyone!I've opened a bank-account for PP-only transactions and was getting ready to register. It seems things have changed re: PayPal Fees: "Our fees are now the same for all accounts - Personal, Premier, and Business. Please note that the Purchase rate applies to all payments using Request Money."

So it would appear that I only need one account (a Premier for selling on eBay) and would link it to the bank-account I set up for PP-only transactions.

IIRC, for a while there, eBay was REQUIRING sellers to accept PayPal (except for a few selling categories). Now sellers can use other services like paymate.com.

Well that sucks. I'm not sure though if they now charge a fee just to send money from a paypal balance, or if this is the rate for credit card transactions only. They used to charge extra for that on a personal account as a way to try to prompt people to upgrade.