Paying Online - Paypal?

[inline_online (Dan)]

Hi All,


I've got some queries for the brainstrust here on IIS.

I don't trust sites like Ebay etc with my credit card details. I have purchased items online before with a credit card but it always makes me sweat and there has got to be a way.

My son wants to buy some items off Ebay and I flat out refused to enter my card details.

Can someone tell me how Paypal works? Do i have to have my credit card linked to Paypal? If so, that leaves me with the same problem.

I'll be getting rid of my credit card soon and operating solely off savings accounts. Would a possible solution be: open a new savings account, link it to Paypal, when I want to buy something I can then transfer money to the savings account for Paypal to use?

Would this work? It seems to me that no money could be stolen as there wouldn't be much in the account at any one time. can Paypal be used with savings account details of does it have to be a credit card?

I know, these questions may sound dumb but I'm positive that this can be sorted out easily...I just don't know how.


Any help would be greatly appreciated (by my son too).


Cheers,
Dan

[that_guy (Tony)]

you can link your paypal account with your bank account. You have the option of adding a debit or credit card as back up but as far as i know you just need to know your banking details. Although I haven't had any issue with using paypal (with debit card) and ebay at all.

[Kal (Andrew)]

Yes, you can use paypal without linking a credit card, by linking a bank account and managing the funds transfers to/from paypal yourself.


I should point out that at one point paypal was owned by ebay. They spun it off again a few years ago though, so they don't own it anymore.

[doppler (Rick)]

You can open a paypal account and deposit money to use on ebay etc without linking a card to the account, but by linking an account you wont get caught out with insufficient funds for your online transaction.

I like paypal because you only deal with paypal for online transactions, you buy something on ebay and paypal pays for you after you authorize the payment by logging into paypal with your pass word.The merchant never sees your bank details.

[JimsShed (Jim)]

I've used Paypal for years with a linked credit card. Never had a problem.
Paypal have their own customer protection policies and processes. But you can add another layer of personal protection on top of that;
My advice is to link a credit card and not deposit funds to a trust account. Then if there is ever an issue you simply instruct your card issuer (Bank) to do a charge back and they will do it without hesitation. You can't do a chargeback on deposited funds or back account withdrawals.

The other thing I will point out is that by using a payment processor like PayPal, the retailer never gets your card details. Personally, given a choice, I always use PayPal in lieu of providing card details to a retailer.

[snowyskiesau]

I had a low limit credit card ($500) linked to my Paypal account but recently got rid of that card to save money and just linked Paypal to an existing savings account. In the 6 or so years I used paypal, I never had any problems.

[billdan (Bill)]

It also works in reverse as well, if you sell something using Paypal, Paypal deposits the money into your account. The buyer never sees your bank account details.

[Lee]

Paypal is trustworthy.... the advantage is that you only give your number to them, rather than every Tom, Dick and Harry you buy from.

[Imme (Jon)]

PayPal is safe and easy to use. I’ve had a credit card linked to it for probably 10 years and never an issue.

....I was however ripped off once in a card reader scam at a service station once and a shop somehow ‘lost’ my credit cards details once resulting in a few unauthorised transactions in the USA. Guess what I’m saying is my online transactions have been 100% safe (hundreds of them), physical transactions not so much.

[DeWynter (ILYA)]

Yes, PayPal is save and easy. In case of any issues with the purchase (faulty item, no shipment etc) it's quite easy to raise a complaint with them. Has to use this option multiple times because of issues with sellers from China. Using them for 15+ years and have my CC linked with them. I trust them. To be fair I trust eBay as well. They are good as well.

[skysurfer]

I have PP as well, but due to more and more hacks in general, I detached my CC account with it and use PP as an online wallet. I transfer money to my account when needed. When it is hacked, I only lose the amount, which is usually less than $50, just like losing my purse.
When funds are too low for a purchase, I transfer enough funds to complete the payment.

[mynameiscd (Andy)]

I have used PayPal for over 15 years now and never had an issue. Its linked directly to my bank account so the only way I can loose money is if im hacked directly by a keyloger, the bank is hacked, or PayPal is hacked. All pretty unlikely but stuff happens.
You can open a separate account and only tranfer the money into that account when you want to purchase something.
This would limit the time exposed.
Anyway we all have to use PayPal otherwise how is Elon Musk going to afford the Mars program.
Cheers
Andy

[multiweb (Marc)]

+1 used paypal for a long time. no issues with them. better than leaving your CC details with someone. once purchased something over the phone with edmund optics. within the hour I had an apple store charge for $80.00 that westpac cancelled. you never know with people.

[sil (Steve)]

Same here, been using pp for as long as its been around. Never a problem, Never had a credit card in my life and never will, its linked to a savings account I keep for the atm access/debit card. my pay goes into mortgage and i transfer spending money to the savings account as i need. so even if someone abuses or hacks its only a small amount thats ever at risk.

downside to paypal is they are the biggest payment gateway and so are the obvious attack target for potential hacks but as someone with extensive online security experience i can say they are well protected and hacking them is not going to be anything what you see on tv which is crap.
also if you ever have to make a claim you will get poor customer service from them and pay for every step and some vendors will tack on nasty charges for paying by paypal. but that depends how dumb a shopper you are really not paypals fault.

also, should never have to be said, but paypal will never ever email you to "confirm" your password due to a problem with your account. Ever. Ever. Understand? If you are ever in doubt just use a computer, google for the paypal website and log in there. if theres problems like a negative balance you'll see it immediately and have options to rectify from there and even contact options if you need, but email is not a communication vector really as paypal spam emails are such a problem, just never click on any email links.

you can run into balance problems of your own making. paypal dont always deduct from your account on the spot, likewise your bank may not process until next business day etc. So its possible to get a negative paypal balance if you over spend, say on a weekend, since your bank balance shows money. When you buy using paypal, its paypal who pay the store and then they get the money from your account. this way the store gets their money fastest and paypal wear the delay of funds tranfsers the banks include. if you get negative balance then further transactions are declined/fail until you deposit to get your paypal balance back to at least zero.

[astro744]

I trust PayPal as much as I trust eBay, NIL, (one owns the other). My wife bought something with Paypal and only got half the goods. The vendor seemed to not care and no longer responded. A claim through PayPal was made and the response was, "We have found in your favour but are unable to refund you any money".

Well I am unable to use PayPal any longer. Whenever a vendor has PayPal I look to see if there is a direct credit card purchase option. Using credit cards has risks but hopefully your credit card provider has security in place to monitor suspicious transactions (many do). Unfortunately there's not a lot you can do about deceitful vendors but perhaps word of mouth.

This was many years ago but needless to say they lost me as a customer.

[JA]

I've only ever had one problematic transaction on eBay from a seller who didn't deliver. PayPal reimbursed the $400 odd purchase price, within a very short time. On that basis I've never since felt reluctant to buy on eBay, from anywhere in the world.

Best
JA

[inline_online (Dan)]

Thanks everyone, lots of good info there.

To summarise, can I open a Paypal account and just transfer money into it when I want to make a purchase? Of the amount of that purchase? I buy very little online but my son wants to buy the usual garbage that 13-yr olds like and I'm reluctant to give C/C details.
I'd prefer to not link a savings account to Paypal cos my paranoid mind says someone will steal my money.

[drylander (Peter)]

Definitely safe to use but I only link a debit card to it. Over 20 years and not had a problem. Safer than personal transactions in my view.
Maybe setup a debit card for the 13 year old and put in a weekly or monthly allowance. It will hopefully teach him/her some money sense in the process.
Pete

[sil (Steve)]

Originally Posted by inline_online

Thanks everyone, lots of good info there.

To summarise, can I open a Paypal account and just transfer money into it when I want to make a purchase? Of the amount of that purchase? I buy very little online but my son wants to buy the usual garbage that 13-yr olds like and I'm reluctant to give C/C details.
I'd prefer to not link a savings account to Paypal cos my paranoid mind says someone will steal my money.

yes.

when you purchase using paypal from an online store its directed to the paypal site to do it. this gives you the option to pay using funds in your paypal account OR from your linked card/account. as long as your balance checks out then the Paypal system returns a "successful" message to the store so you've then paid. its a bit more complicated and done with good security unlike online payments of 20yrs ago.

bottomline paypal is the only real option currently for what you want. deal with the paranoia or dont buy online. ever.

[bojan]

I have pp for years, and I never had any problems. Except once, and it was not robbery ..

When I was in China couple of years ago, I paid for LXD mount (AUD300).

The purchase was done then immediatelly cancelled because PP thought "unusal activity" was taking place (paying from China).

One phone call to AU pp sorted it out.