PayPal experts I have a few questions for you...

[Takeuon]

So I'm a PayPal noob and just recently signed up. The site has always made me nervous from a security standpoint, but I said "F-it" and went ahead & linked my bank account.

I should be ready to go now. My questions are:

1)When paying for something (send money) under the "Purchase" tab what is the deal between selecting "Goods" or "Services" ? Does it matter which one I choose? Is there any type of fee associated w/ one or the other? I did a search on this and could not find anything.

2)How about under the "Personal" tab? I don't understand what the difference is between "Gift", "Payment Owed", etc......

For instance...what would I select when paying for the Spring Bash dinner?

3)If I'm purchasing something from an online merchant that accepts PP as payment...do I have to have money loaded onto my "Paypal Balance" before I can buy the item or will it automatically pull it from my bank account? Is there an advantage to paying w/ my PP account over simply entering a credit card?

Thanks to all who are able to help shed some light on this for me.

 

[twotonevert]

So I'm a PayPal noob and just recently signed up. The site has always made me nervous from a security standpoint, but I said "F-it" and went ahead & linked my bank account.

I should be ready to go now. My questions are:

1)When paying for something (send money) under the "Purchase" tab what is the deal between selecting "Goods" or "Services" ? Does it matter which one I choose? Is there any type of fee associated w/ one or the other? I did a search on this and could not find anything.

2)How about under the "Personal" tab? I don't understand what the difference is between "Gift", "Payment Owed", etc......

For instance...what would I select when paying for the Spring Bash dinner?

3)If I'm purchasing something from an online merchant that accepts PP as payment...do I have to have money loaded onto my "Paypal Balance" before I can buy the item or will it automatically pull it from my bank account? Is there an advantage to paying w/ my PP account over simply entering a credit card?

Thanks to all who are able to help shed some light on this for me.

Morning bro, sorry I missed your call Saturday night, but I got your voice mail and was hoping you would call back on Sunday.

PP, I am not sure about the first two questions, but you send money by clicking send money, then fill out the persons email address. You can also request money the same way and it sends them an invoice to pay you. Now, you do not have to have money in PP to use it, if you do not have any money in your PP account, it will automatically pull from your bank account. On the flip side, if you have money in there, it will not go to your bank account unless you request it.

 

[Takeuon]

Morning bro, sorry I missed your call Saturday night, but I got your voice mail and was hoping you would call back on Sunday.
PP, I am not sure about the first two questions, but you send money by clicking send money, then fill out the persons email address. You can also request money the same way and it sends them an invoice to pay you. Now, you do not have to have money in PP to use it, if you do not have any money in your PP account, it will automatically pull from your bank account. On the flip side, if you have money in there, it will not go to your bank account unless you request it.

No worries James...I'll catch up w/ you soon enough.

 

[chrisjp]

ok to answer your questions...if you are purchaseing..there is no fees...if you are selling that is when they apply a fee...or receiveing money. when you pay using pay pal it pulls from your account only time money will be in pay pal is if it was recieved from someone. (if its verified wich is done with the small deposit and report what the change is thing) it also uses a back up funding source just in case...i use my debit card and the account so it pulls from same place. and do a favor for anyone you send money to ...do not set as gift put it as payment for services as you are not allowed to collect for chairity blah blah blah so this way other person dont get emails from paypal explaining why they getting money and collecting it

 

[jdsbusa]

Actually setting is as a "gift" should not trigger emails from Paypal unless it's done on a regular basis. All it does is keep the receiving party from having to pay the 3% Paypal fees. I've had money sent to me 3 times as a gift and never once got an email about it.

As for paying, I ALWAYS use a credit card to process my payment rather than letting it be drawn from my bank account for one reason - I know my credit card company will back me up if I get screwed in a transaction. Paypal, well they'll back you up so long as they can collect money out of the other person's account in which most cases, they can't because the other account has already been cleared out. With a credit card I just call my cc company, file a claim and let them handle the rest. Then it's on Paypal to get their money back from the person. I've had to do 2 claims in the past due to not receiving the goods or the correct goods. In one case I ended up getting a full refund, the other case the person finally shipped the full product 3 months later claiming they weren't getting my emails (pfft....whatever!) after they got a chargeback notice from Paypal. In both cases I was glad I used my credit card because I've been there/done that with Paypal before and thankfully it was only $40 that I lost because they couldn't collect from the other account. Just add a credit card on file with PP and when you go to pay click on the link that says "additional payment options" and select "pay with credit
card". They'll give you a screen that says paying with your bank account is just as safe, blah blah blah, "are you sure you want to use your card" just select yes - Visa/MC/Disc will always be there to back you up - PP will only be there to back you up so long as they can get their money first.

As for the Spring Bash dinner, you should select services. If everyone sent as a gift Paypal wouldn't definitely wise up real quick and start questioning it. But doing a gift every now and then to friends for payments of m/c related items or whatever should not trigger emails from PP.

 

[Takeuon]

What about "Goods"?? Is it fair to say that works as a default for just about anything?

 

[HRJR]

Using a credit card is a good idea. I link my paypal to a savings account specifically setup for paypal. I just put enough money in the account to cover whatever I need to buy.

 

[jdsbusa]

What about "Goods"?? Is it fair to say that works as a default for just about anything?

Yep, it processes the same. They didn't have those funky options a few years back. A Paypal payment was a Paypal payment period. Now they have different categories, the whole "gift" thing - which is nice so people don't have to eat so much in Paypal fees all the time....it looks complicated to the new user but it's really pretty simple. Just make sure you CYA when you can and use a credit card rather than a bank account. Oh, and if you do have funds already in your PP account, those will automatically be used first - there is no work-around for that. Paypal uses the account balance first, then defaults to drawing the rest out of your checking account unless you specify it to come from a cc like i explained in the earlier post.

I've been using PP since 1998, but back then if I remember correctly they were known as X Bank. Name changed, Ebay bought PP, and here we are. When you look at Ebay as a whole they really make out like a bandit. Sellers get charged listing fees, final value fees, and PP fees to receive payment. You get triple dipped by the same company.

 

[jdsbusa]

Ok...I was close...it was X.com but my checks said X Bank I'm pretty sure....

PayPal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[zukracer]

gifts are tricky. The sender pays the fee AND perhaps more importantly, if you send money as a gift, you can say good bye to it. You have no recourse with PayPal if you send as a gift and want it back so make sure if you use that method you are sure you want to send the $$. These other posts have some good info that I hope answer your questions

 

[twotonevert]

I used to worry about someone hacking and getting into my account, but I never have any money in there anyway.

 

[Takeuon]

So the bottom line for me is there really is no difference between the different choices like "Goods" or "Services", "Payment Owed" or "Ebay Purchase" correct. No fees for choosing one over the other? Why do they even bother giving you the choices then ???

 

[jdsbusa]

So the bottom line for me is there really is no difference between the different choices like "Goods" or "Services", "Payment Owed" or "Ebay Purchase" correct. No fees for choosing one over the other? Why do they even bother giving you the choices then ???

Correct and I don't know to the 2nd part.

CYA is the most important part to it.....and leaving money in the account, it should be safe all the same and you can get a Paypal debit card that works like a credit card to draw funds out of your account...if you use their card as a credit card (sig required) then they give you a 1% cash back award which is kind of nice.

 

[zukracer]

I used to worry about someone hacking and getting into my account, but I never have any money in there anyway.

You can set it up for the enhanced security for free, basically it sends a PIN to your cell or email that you have to enter prior to getting logged in. So even if someone hacks your password, they would have to then hack your cell phone to get the SMS text message with the pin. Only so many bites at the apple before it locks you out so hacking the pin, while possible is less probable.

 

[2busa]

I used to worry about someone hacking and getting into my account, but I never have any money in there anyway.

You should have this as your paypal account only. Open a new checking account; transfer all your personal money out of that one [pp] account you opened. Hope the bank is covered with the hacks into gov branches everyday. PP gets hacked and your money is wiped out instead of just what you need to do business with, using pp. I have enough to purchase small items. I leave in what I sell on ebay so I transfer less from the other account.

If you are on the buy side, the seller gets the hit. You sell on ebay, you get the hit waiting for pp to pay up. If the practice did not end, they hold big ticket items and collect interest while they charge you a percentage for using their account. So, with that in mind, you rather be paid buy money order or a personal check [waiting to clear] before you release said item to buyer.

I'm just saying, if I have to be in the middle of pp as a seller, and [the buyer] rather use paypal, you better add 'handling' charges as recouping your %-loss if you need to pass along what junk you are giving away anyway; they want it that bad.

Cash between Canada and the USA using a postal money order is a buck lost on their end, their time wasted waiting in line for one. That is how I work pp. Don't put me in the middle is pass your *** up the the percentage bracket, or cha-ching the chump-change we be changing goods for serve is is.

 

[jphilipson]

Actually setting is as a "gift" should not trigger emails from Paypal unless it's done on a regular basis. All it does is keep the receiving party from having to pay the 3% Paypal fees. I've had money sent to me 3 times as a gift and never once got an email about it.

As for paying, I ALWAYS use a credit card to process my payment rather than letting it be drawn from my bank account for one reason - I know my credit card company will back me up if I get screwed in a transaction. Paypal, well they'll back you up so long as they can collect money out of the other person's account in which most cases, they can't because the other account has already been cleared out. With a credit card I just call my cc company, file a claim and let them handle the rest. Then it's on Paypal to get their money back from the person. I've had to do 2 claims in the past due to not receiving the goods or the correct goods. In one case I ended up getting a full refund, the other case the person finally shipped the full product 3 months later claiming they weren't getting my emails (pfft....whatever!) after they got a chargeback notice from Paypal. In both cases I was glad I used my credit card because I've been there/done that with Paypal before and thankfully it was only $40 that I lost because they couldn't collect from the other account. Just add a credit card on file with PP and when you go to pay click on the link that says "additional payment options" and select "pay with credit
card". They'll give you a screen that says paying with your bank account is just as safe, blah blah blah, "are you sure you want to use your card" just select yes - Visa/MC/Disc will always be there to back you up - PP will only be there to back you up so long as they can get their money first.

As for the Spring Bash dinner, you should select services. If everyone sent as a gift Paypal wouldn't definitely wise up real quick and start questioning it. But doing a gift every now and then to friends for payments of m/c related items or whatever should not trigger emails from PP.

+1 on all the above. Always use your credit card for purchases!

 

[skydivr]

I have my CC linked to PP not my checking account!

 

[kromdom]

+1 on all the above. Always use your credit card for purchases!

+1000! This is the ONE and ONLY option I use when paying for online purchases. If the deal goes sour, do not pin your hopes on PayPal's resolution center.

You have ZERO protection if you're money has already taken out of your account. OTOH, you can dispute cc charges.

 

[Takeuon]

+1 on all the above. Always use your credit card for purchases!

I have my CC linked to PP not my checking account!

+1000! This is the ONE and ONLY option I use when paying for online purchases. If the deal goes sour, do not pin your hopes on PayPal's resolution center.

You have ZERO protection if you're money has already taken out of your account. OTOH, you can dispute cc charges.

I don't own any plastic anymore....I suppose I could use my Debit card. Same thing??

 

[kromdom]

I don't own any plastic anymore....I suppose I could use my Debit card. Same thing??

Nooooooooo! With DEBIT, money is taken out of your account right that instant.....poof! If issues come up with the deal, seller already has your money...an uphill battle for you at the get go.

With a CC, you can dispute charges if the seller craps on you (broken item, not as advertised, etc.). Since the CC company is NOT getting their money from you, they will flex their ginormous muscle to hunt down the seller.

PayPal CANNOT (and WILL NOT) do this on your behalf....they are merely middlemen in the transaction who have already collected their cut.