Does anybody here use PayPal? I started to sign up to use it then

[patricia92243]

chickened out. I couldn't make heads or tails of it - like will they charge me to use their services.

I usually just use my debit card that I have for the net only. I couldn't find where E-Bay would accept it and they wanted me to use the PayPal thingy.

Help! (Please)

[Demit]

1. I joined PayPal years ago, when they were fairly new

They don't charge the buyer, they charge the seller. They offer some protections to you in a transaction, if you have any difficulty with a seller. I'm hazy on the details now, as I don't use it often & they have changed some things, but my general impression is that it's a safe way to do transactions over the net with smaller sellers of things.

[Quakerfriend]

2. Just make sure you send an email to the seller

and confirm what the shipping cost will be.

For ex, if you are buying baseball cards for $3, you want to know that the shipping cost is going to be $16 from a given seller.

Another seller may offer the same cards for $3, but ship for $8.

The seller sometimes tries to pick up some extra $ on the shipping end.

[LostinVA]

3. I use them all of the time

For buying/selling on ebay, to send money to people, etc. The sender/seller pays a fee, but I disregard the huge majority of "horror stories" out there. I've had hundreds of transaction via Paypal for about the last seven years, with literally NO problems.

[bling bling]

4. I've used it many times.

Have never had any problems with it.

[BlueJazz]

5. Yep..same here...2 years with NO problems.

[Baclava]

9. Same - same...but I never keep more than a couple hundred in the account.

The ONLY way to buy on e-bay...unless you really like giving your credit cards numbers out all over the place. I won't do it.

[Uroboros]

6. Go for it

Been using them for years as well. Never run into any problems. Has made it very easy for buyers to pay me; and for me to pay sellers.

Just ignore all those phony Pay-pal e-mails that are not from Pay-pal; but really attempts to get your account info (Pay-pal will never send you such an e-mail). And you'll do just fine. :)

[iconoclastic cat]

7. Read their fine print.

Then run away.

[mr blur]

8. I've never had any problems

and not just on Ebay, either. Lots of folks sell things using PayPal - and they pay the charge, not you.

[NV Whino]

10. If you are the buyer,

there are a couple of ways to set up an "account." You can set up a "bank account" with money from which PayPal draws as needed or you can set up a credit card. I've set up a credit card account.

Sellers have to set up a "bank account" and PayPal gets a percentage of the sale. Everything seems pretty secure to me, but don't respond the the fake e-mails. The fakes come from both PayPal and eBay. Just ignore them.