OT - Becoming PayPal "Verified" Pros? Cons?

[launderess]

Paypal has informed us that we have reached our sending limits and would need to have our account "verfied" by linking it to a bank account.

The idea of giving a quasi flow through payment system such as Paypal, banking information is not something one is entirely comfortable with. Considering all the stories one hears about hacking, and PayPal doing some very funny things with said accounts that can take ages to sort out, if ever.

Many members here in the group seem to be avid eBay users, and one assumes most use Paypal and thus sooner or later have been in the same situation, so am asking for thoughts and or advice.

TIA
TTFN
Launderess

 

[sudsmaster]

I haven't verified my pay paul account and I share your same reservations about it. But then I don't do much eBay shopping. And when I did, some vendors insisted on mail-orders or checks before they'd send the goods.

I suppose if I were doing a lot of eBaying, including reselling stuff online, I'd go ahead and verify. But I might set up a separate bank account for that purpose.

 

[petek]

I've had a verified Paypal account for a couple of years and haven't had any problem. I suppose you could open a seperate bank account for Ebay/Paypal play money to tie in with it and keep your millions in a different account

 

[panthera]

I've

got one on a German account which is closely monitored and which would miss should it be locked up for months in a dispute.
And that seems to be the one and only problem with PayPal - they resolve disputes extremely slowly and never, ever to the advantage of the customer affected (you) until they have no choice.
That said, I have never had problems with them but know two people who have...and it took a year in one case, several months in the other to resolve it.

 

[jeffg]

A separate account, one that is unlinked to your other accounts is definitely a good idea. Once a bank account is verified, Ebay defaults to making this account your default payment type. It's very easy to miss one or two prompts and wind up doing a direct debit when you intended to charge something on a credit card. And once the money is debited, it's gone immediately.

It's one of the things I really dislike about Ebay/Paypal's payment system. More than once we've had to scramble to transfer money between accounts to cover these errant transactions.

 

[launderess]

From what one hears, PayPal prefers debits from bank accounts over credit cards because it allows them avoid fees from credit card companies. So yes, once an account is linked, it does become the default payment method. If one has a very fast Internet connection there are times one simply realises too late and the transaction goes through as a bank debit.

Also disputing a bank debit is much harder than via credit card, if it can be done at all. Filing a claim with Mastercard or Visa will often get you your money back within days or weeks, certianly within 30 days (most cases). If one goes the bank account debit route, by law such disputes can take almost 45 days and you are without funds unless the bank offers a temporary credit until the matter is resloved. You could deal with PayPal and their buyer protection program, but am here to tell you charge backs via credit cards are faster and much simpler.

 

[launderess]

Waving To Kevin

Hi ya! Hows things Han****?

*LOL*

L.

 

[perc-o-prince]

So far, after about 6 years as PP verified, no problems really. Once, we were thwarted by the $25 deductable on a $33 item, but since they didn't communicate "best effort" recovery vs. "guaranteed" recovery, we got that back.

Yes, Visa/MC will allow you easier chargebacks. That's a given. However, PP verified may allow you more flexibility.

Use the PP HELP/info pages to investigate the policies and benefits for yourself to see if you would benefit in your buying pattern.

Chuck

 

[charbee]

We've eBay'd and PayPal'd with a verified acct for seven years, and no problems from PayPal's end. Yes, you have to make sure that you change payment source, but we do that by default every time we use it anyway: we have one credit card that we pay everything eBay with, and we pay it off at the end of every month. It's just a fact of life that before we click "send" we change the payment source. The only problems we've ever had were with sellers who wouldn't take PayPal! Those "USPS money order only" types are the biggest hassle to deal with.

 

[gansky1]

An ounce of prevention...

I've had my PayPal account linked to my bank since I opened it and have never had any problems whatsoever. PayPal is based in Omaha and I know one of the managers of the Fraud Department there. They have a staff that works 24/7 non-stop on fraud detection and prevention - you wouldn't believe the stories! Looking at the volume of the transactions they handle everyday, the numbers of actual losses due to out and out fraud, identity thefts, etc. are rather small for a business that size. The number one cause of loss to customers themselves inadvertently giving out their information - passwords, account I.D., etc. in response to bogus emails demanding the customer "verify" their sign-in information or to re-verify their bank information. Be wary of these emails and when in doubt, never use a link contained in an email, go directly to the PayPal website and sign in manually.

I wouldn't be too concerned, your bank is usually required by law to investigate any claims of fraudulent activity resulting in loss so become familiar with the procedures for filing a claim or reporting suspicious activity through them as well. Keeping up to date with your account through online banking services, most banks offer them now, is also an excellent way of catching things early.

 

[volsboy1]

Im verifed and have been for over 4 years and never had a problem.I use Paypal credit as a buffer so if something screws up I can sic Pay-pal on them.That has saved me sooo many times by folks that dont list them right or they dont work.Last November I bought a 1979 Maytag Fc-10 Disposer I paid a total of 330$ after shipping well when I got it there was no sink-flange and the motor was binding and wouldnt turn.The seller didnt pack it well and it got dropped I fixed it but I didnt think it was worth what I paid for it I talked to Pay-pal and the seller gave it to me for 180$ total.I use a ten digit password for ebay then another 10 digit for Paypal and nobody has the pass word.I have also told them that any charge to my account over 750$ to E-mail or call me.