how safe is papypal?

[atomicareprise]

just asking how safe is paypal???

[DarkShot]

Very.

Because it act's as a middle-man between the place you're buying from, and your bank, you don't need to worry about someone getting your info.

They also will try to get your money back if the opposing person doesn't follow through with something like an order, or scams you.

Now their insurance isn't 100% (pretty damn close though), it's much, much better than something like sending a money order, and getting nothing in return.

[atomicareprise]

oh i see...so if i pay through paypal does it automatic gives

my mailing address or i do have to give it manually?

[DarkShot]

You can put in your address into paypal, so when you buy something you need not give your address each and every time.

[atomicareprise]

cool...thanks...

[Modded Matt]

I am sorry, but I must disagree. I have been ripped off by paypal twice (they reinbursed me for my loss on both accounts, but not the lost time dealing with the claim. the customer service is bad..they just dont seem to care..(look at the deal with the store)

when I set my acount up, it linked to my bank account.  I got it all set up and what not. now it takes like three days to transfer money into my pay pall....when I want to do it..I only put like $50 there at a time...some how someone bought a $1200 computer off ebay and had it shipped to veatnam??? (I think that alone would raise a flag) it gets better....like I said I only transfer $50 dollars at a time, and it takes like 3 days to clear..well for this $1200 computer pay pall used my 50 in my account and drefted the ballance from my personal checking account and  the transfer went through imidiatly!!! why make me wait 3 days for some thing I want and take it instantly when someone is ripping me off. WTH??? paypal service woman gives me a hard time..blah blah must contact the seller and have them refund the money

to make it worse..because I previously autherized paypal to draft my account in the past ($50.00) the bank allowed them to take the 1200 from my account and the bank cant give the money back until pay pal releases the money..Because there was no way to prove I did not make the online purchase, as my habits show I have been known to make online purchases..what a bunch of BS..

this acctually happened to me twice, I wont go into the other one. but there you go..I was like you asked around before I made the online buying leap..was assured paypal was the best way to go and got burned. they did eventually give the money back (10 days later)

I have come to the realization that everytime you make an online purchase, direct, paypal, however you do it.. you are rolling the dice..good luck to you, I hope you never have the misfortunes I have had with online sales

[802Chives]

PAYPAL IS NOT SAFE.... I personally have never had a problem but there are some serious issues that need to be paid attention to when using paypal.

Paypal is not a bank, they are not FDIC insured, therefore the protections that traditional banks provide are not covered by paypal.

Paypal is a private company so they can and will freeze your account for just about no reason at all.  They wont take ur money, but they can make it next to impossible to get it even if someone is scamming you.

The "protection" they provide only works if the money is still there.  As in the king_mike fiasco, the money was already withdrawn so when it came down to complaints they were just like when it came down to resolving the issue.

As a seller you can be screwed easily by the buyer if you dont use a paypal shipping method with confirmation to a confirmed address. The reason why is that the buyer simply can state that they never recieved the product and file a complaint, which will freeze your account and refund the buyer if the money is still there.(there is some moderation that occurs, but a good scammer will get right around that)

As a buyer you can get in trouble in numerous ways from not getting your product, to getting a faulty/damaged product and the seller can just claim it wasnt him or damaged in the mail, in which case good luck getting anything if it wasn't insured.

All in all I would only use paypal on ebay(still risky) or well known e-shops like buy.com.

Your bank card and/or credit card provide extensive fraud protection.  Credit cards will usually return your money with very little hassle.  I have heard from people that if you fill you paypal with your credit card that money is protected in a sense as the Credit card companies are equiped to go after paypal if you tell them you were scammed.

For all sorts of information: http://www.aboutpaypal.org

Personally I have no horror stories, however if you ever talk to any ebay profiteers you will hear things that will scare the living crap out of you.  I remember reading about one guy who lost 10's of thousands of dollars and couldnt do a thing about it.

All in all paypal for the average consumer works and works well, however it is still risky and the risk levels get much higher if you arent the average consumer/seller.

BTW the same person that owns ebay, owns paypal.

[atomicareprise]

so what if my item does not shipped to me..can i get my money back???

can i freeze his account till he's oblige to give me my refund??

[Alien_X]

so what if my item does not shipped to me..can i get my money back???

can i freeze his account till he's oblige to give me my refund??

Not at all, he can withdraw the money (instantly), delete his credit cards and bank account info (instantly) and then disappear never to be seen again.

Good luck