Using a Credit Card with PayPal?

moosesr

There seems to be a lot of different opinions on this forum about using PayPal when buying or selling coins. I usually pay for eBay auctions with a money order and I have never used PayPal as a buyer or seller, but was considering using it to buy a coin on eBay. From reading other PayPal topics on this forum it is my understanding it would offer me more buyer protection than other forms of payment in case there is a problem with a transaction. The coin I am looking at will probably be in the $750 to $900 price range. I have also been concerened with the amount of paperwork that might be involved in using PayPal. Anyone have any comments or recommendations on using a credit card with PayPal to pay for an eBay auction?

Charlie

psxchelly

any time you use a credit card wether it be paypal or not, you are protected. (or should be anyways)

If you pay for something with a credit card either with paypal, or phone or in person you have the right to dispute your credit card bill. I always use my credit card to pay for high priced items on ebay, because if I dont get the item, or the seller tries to pull a fast one, I just cancel the charges, or within 60 days of my bill i can dispute the charges.

About a year ago, I "purchased" a computer from a dealer in CA off of eBay. I never received it. All i did when i received my credit card bill was call the CC company, disput the charge, they mailed me a letter to sign quoteing all the laws, i signed it, and the charge was immediately taken off my bill.

Of course paypal was disappointed that i did not try to resolve the situation through them (they probably lost $$) and when i told them I couldnt get a hold of any reps they tried to cover over that fact. They told me to contact them directly if i have another problem like that. (FAT CHANCE)

I would NOT trust paypal offering "protection". Any company that charges for so called protection is a racket.

SDCollector

Paying for online items by check, especially MO, seems awfully risky to me. I only use my credit card. The protection is suprisingly good.

Placid

It beats a check or money order for trying to get your money back if you have problems.
No fee as buyer using a credit card with paypal.

artdeco

Paypal is easy and convenient and doesn't take much to set up an account or use one- but be careful because some sellers tack on a 3% service charge if you use a credit card through PayPal instead of a checking account.
Just to share, I would never write a personal check- the idea of having that info in a stranger's hand is iffy. But money orders have receipts, and you can take up complaints with the Post Office if someone cashes the M/O and doesn't deliver, or if the seller never gets the M/O and it is lost in the mail, after X number of days without being cashed the PO can refund the money, if I am not mistaken.

CoinHusker

Contrary to some other people's experience that I have read on the forums I have never had (knock on wood) a single problem with PayPal. As a matter of fact I enjoy the speed, at which a transaction can be completed compared to waiting for a MO or check to go thru the mail and then clear. As far a paperwork, an email conformation of your payment is all there is, besides the one on your credit card statement.

flaminio

<< <i>Paypal is easy and convenient and doesn't take much to set up an account or use one- but be careful because some sellers tack on a 3% service charge if you use a credit card through PayPal instead of a checking account. >>



Report these sellers to PayPal (and eBay, if applicable). It's against both company's TOS to do this. PayPal will smack them, and then they will come on the forums and whine because PayPal screwed them, when in reality they were breaking the rules to begin with.

Personally, I *love* paying for coins with a credit card funded PayPal transaction. I feel I get a modicum of protection, the seller gets their money right away (less fees, of course), and if I time it right I don't have to actually pay for it for a few weeks. Plus, my credit card gives me 1% back, so it's like I buy everything at a slight discount. I'm one of those weird folk who pays my balance in full every month, so it's a win all over for me.

relayer

Using a credit card works because you can dispute the charge if you don't get your merchandise, and your credit card company will charge the receiptient back to recover the funds.

PayPal can can also charge back the seller BUT they can only do it within 30 days. So if you have a problem you MUST notify PayPal prior to 30 days (it's in the user agreement)

If you wait more than that and have your credit card company do the charge back to PayPal (the company that the credit card paid) they get real pissed and you'll have all the funds in your PayPal account frozen and be permenantly banned from PayPal.

EvilMCT

I typically will not bid on an auction if the seller does not accept PayPal or credit cards. I have not had a problem with PayPal as a buyer. Most of the complaints seem to stem from PayPal's excesive fees. As far as other complaints against them, I can only suggest a couple of websites so that you can make up your on mind.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

Ken

greghansen

I have used Paypal extensively as both a buyer and seller without significant problems. As a seller, I like it (despite the fees) because it allows me to ship immediately and not have to wait for payment via mail...and then if its a check...wait some more. As a buyer, I like the protection of being able to use a credit card. The main problem I've read about are some instances where they froze sellers accounts while working out some problem. Because of those reported problems, anytime my balance gets very high, I transfer the funds to my bank account (it doesn't cost anything and its easy to do). That way, if my account gets frozen for some administrative reason, I don't have a huge amount of money tied up.

numonebuyer

Here is the deal...

I sold coins that ended at approximately 11:00 PM EDT on Sunday. I received payments for each of them via PayPal by Monday afternoon. I packaged up the coins and mailed them on Tuesday. Is that fast enough?

I have purchased most of my coins via PayPal. Once recent example... I bought a coin on Saturday, paid for the coin on Sunday via PayPal and received the coin on Wednesday.

Is PayPal free? For purchases, the answer is yes. For sales, the answer is yes and no. The answer is yes if you do NOT accept credit cards. The answer is no if you do accept credit cards.

You are paying for the convenience.

I have read that some people have had problems. I don't use it for more hundreds of transactions, but I do use it often. My account balances some times get into the high hundreds of dollars, but not for long.

Numonebuyer

wil31

I've used paypal with a credit card to buy coins, and haven't had any problems. That being said, I've never built up a balance or had to dispute a charge.

flaminio, what type of credit card pays cash back if you pay off your balance every month? I've looked at a few, but they required you to carry a balance to get the cash back, ie you got a percentage of the balance carried from month to month.

flaminio

<< <i>flaminio, what type of credit card pays cash back if you pay off your balance every month? >>



Right now I'm using a Shell MasterCard. It pays 1% back on every purchase, and 5% on Shell gas purchases. It's only redeemable for gasoline, but that's as good as cash for me (since I have to buy gasoline anyway).