Managing Your Finances

Zé Ferreira

Zé Ferreira

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Perhaps this may be more suited particularly to a "Financial Questions" thread, but I was considering posting a listing on Ebay tonight, and instead spent the last two hours reading critiques of both Ebay and Paypal.

Why has Paypal (in particular, given I use it and haven't used ebay for sales) received such flak, and what should a relatively pedestrian user fear from the corporate entity?

Figure that financial whiz Grand Potentate Grand Potentate should have an answer...
 
@El Argentinoarg You don't have a Paypal account? They have the shittiest customer service this side of Comcast. go to paypalsucks.org and paypalsucks.com to read more.

There are alternative services - amazon payments, google wallet/checkout, even other basic money services. Problem is, since eBay owns Paypal, its completely tied in and you basically HAVE to use it to eBay.

My ProTips for using Paypal:

Open a dummy checking account for use only with Paypal. That way, if/when they try to fuck you with a chargeback or account freeze, it won't fuck up any of your other money.

Don't leave any money in your PP account, always deposit it out to your dummy account and then move it out from there.

Always pay for everything with a credit card through Paypal, never your bank account. Credit Card protections are your best friend against Paypal's bullshit.
 
How does Paypal get away with stuff? I have my bank account linked, and have kept a balance in there previously...

And what if I'm only buying through established retailers with paypal, as opposed to auction-type or sketchier transfers (ie on SF B/S or whatever)?

There seems to be a lot of steam blown, but I'm having trouble establishing why
 
El Argentino said:
How does Paypal get away with stuff? I have my bank account linked, and have kept a balance in there previously...

And what if I'm only buying through established retailers with paypal, as opposed to auction-type or sketchier transfers (ie on SF B/S or whatever)?

There seems to be a lot of steam blown, but I'm having trouble establishing why
Click to expand...

Example - you buy something with delivery confirmation via USPS/Fedex/UPS. It SHOWS as being delivered, but you never received it. Paypal will always side with the seller because they have 'proof', even though its not actually proof that you received the package yourself. If that does happen, they will reverse your chargeback claim and take the money the money back from you. If you paid with a credit card, and you file a chargeback, Paypal will take the money out of your account as a separate charge.

So, if you don't have any money in the account, and they can't get into your actual bank account, then there's no problem.
 
Also, with this travel hacking, people have reported Paypal closing down accounts without notice while money is still in them, and it takes people MONTHS to get it back. Now, you might be trying to game the system a bit by shifting money off a Paypal gift card and into a bank account, but that's no reason to HOLD PEOPLE'S MONEY INDEFINITELY.
 
Hmmm... interesting. I'd had my account limited before and them claiming they needed a confirmation of my new address, but that's been it for me.

Where can I open a free checking account to link to Paypal? I'm a Wells Fargo customer. This is all scaring me off the site. If I have my main checking linked to paypal, can I delete it off there and "protect" it again?
 
Yep. Just need to have a new one to replace it. You can use another account at Wells Fargo if you want. You're allowed to have more than one account at a bank. Assuming they won't charge you fees that is. Otherwise, you can go with Charles Schwab, Fidelity, or any of the other online banks.

Once you limit your access, its ok to use. I got burned once, for several hundreds of dollars. After I fixed that I was good to go. Its so ubiquitous that you almost HAVE to have one.
 
Interesting. An honest thank you for the advice Grand Potentate Grand Potentate - I transferred all of my sitting balance out of my paypal account tonight, and will be looking to disassociate the checking account (our standard family account) and replace it with something empty in the very near future.
 
I'm sorry for the derail. I think a general "e-money" type of thread or "money management" would be appropriate.
 
^That. 2nd account at your branch, online bank, other financial institution, etc.. ANYTHING other than your main source of income. Trust me, its better to be prepared.
 
This paypal only stuff with ebay is bullshit. There should be a class action suit, I mean you are not even allowed to accept a money order via mail, etc. This is monopolistic practice. You should be able to link a merchant CC account and accept other forms of payment.
 
OfficePants said:
This paypal only stuff with ebay is bullshit. There should be a class action suit, I mean you are not even allowed to accept a money order via mail, etc. This is monopolistic practice. You should be able to link a merchant CC account and accept other forms of payment.
Click to expand...

You can pay through ebay with a credit card
 
You cannot accept cc payments thru a merchant account, though. You MUST use paypal. Its a monopoly. You can use a CC as a buyer, but you must use PP as a seller.
 
OfficePants said:
You cannot accept cc payments thru a merchant account, though. You MUST use paypal. Its a monopoly. You can use a CC as a buyer, but you must use PP as a seller.
Click to expand...

I thought it was that you only must accept Paypal? Although, I suppose that's the same thing since you can't list an item without using Paypal as a payment option, can you?
 
I had no idea this suit existed, but I can say its about time. Can't find a thing on it.

This is the case in the event anyone knows how to look this stuff up...

The eBay PayPal Monopoly Class Action Lawsuit case is Charlotte Smith, et al. v. eBay Corporation, et al., Case No. 10-cv-03825 JSW, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.
Click to expand...
 
Normally my Paypal purchases are for trivial amounts, but thanks to this thread I'll Paypal via credit card on a larger purchase.
 
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