questions about pay-pal

I was thinking about finally re-doing my tripod site...
and actually use the paypal options and setup an account so I can sell stuff over my site... but I don't know much about paypal...
what do you hafta do to set it up?
do u NEED a credit card?
could someone give me a brief rundown of what I need to know...?
thanx,
-Kev

Kev I have NO IDEA what Pay Pal would want from a person NOT in th USA (saying this to cover my rear FIRST!)

What PayPal has asked of me is that I provide them with some real information like my Social Security number and a CC or checking acct number to verify that I esist. I set up my PayPal account about 5 years ago when it first came out more or less... th requirements have changed.

Now if you don't have a CC you can probably get a card issued by your bank on your checking or savings account. This looks exactly like a CC to the computer world and is impossible to tell the difference.

there are age restrictions... no one under the age of legal consent can for a contract with Paypal.

this is the little scratch I know... You can go to: www.paypal.com or http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/cps/general/PayPalAccountTypes-outside and look for a FAQ page that can answer more questions...

1. paypal is NOT U.S.-only
2. you dont need to have a creditcard
3. just register and set up your products, you then get a link to publish on your website where your customers can click on and submit their money to your account

thats it.

>could someone give me a brief rundown of what I need to
>know...?

Don't use Paypal!

If anyone lodges a complaint about you, your paypal account is frozen immediately and your access is removed while an investigation is made. The customer who lodged the complaint against you WILL most likely receive his money back regardless of whether he received the product or not.

Add to this, because you don't have access to your account you can't see if people have paid money into your account and send them products. This means that the people who have paid you for products won't get their products and then complain to paypal, causing more investigations etc.

If you decide to use paypal anyway, then always remove the money from paypal immediately and NEVER sign anything or click 'ok' to terms which allows paypal to access your non-paypal accounts(read ther terms of use very carefully), because if you get a complaint and you have clicked 'ok' to that, then they can legally transfer funds from your non-paypal accounts to cover the repayment.


Andy

I have had no problems with paypal, though I don't doubt that people have had problems with them, and that I may in the future have a problem with them.

But if you want to do business, you're probably throwing money away if you don't take paypal payments.

I'm with swift though I have heard horror stories of such issues with paypal.

You DO need a CC if you want to get the paypal debit card. I got one and it's very convenient and even allows for a greater per day withdrawal than most regular debit cards. It has a 400 dollar atm withdrawal limit and a 3000 dollar per day spending limit on it.

PayPal is not a bank, and are not required to adhere to the laws a bank is. The advantage they have over Share-It is you can withdraw any time you like, instead of waiting for the end of the month.

You might want to take a look at this site:
http://www.paypalsucks.com

halo: hmm... thanks for the site referance... I'm definatley gonna hafto think about this a bit more...
hehe... it just shows my maturity with the fact the first link I clicked on was the "Paypal sucks cartoons"...
hehe... "monkeys"...

and thanx to Ojay and Sswift for pointing out that paypal isn't just an evil trick constructed by a group of sadists.

Yes, definitely look at this site:
www.paypalsucks.com

But it's another valid channel (very often used) for taking in money!

I've used Paypal for years without problem but I always empty it as soon as possible.

I also us 2checkout.com with great success. They now payout every Thursday.

Bear in mind that Paypal does not work in a lot of countries, so you'll have to find another means (ShareIt or similar) to sell to people from those countries.

After what some of my friends have been through I would never give my CC number to PayPal.

Barney