Is PayPal Safe?

[Riverdance]

They could still take back the deposit and have a year to do so. These are things PayPal only puts in the fine print. by the way, they can do that with inanimate objects too. It is an incredible hassle working with PayPal if the buyer does this. IF..you can get someone to talk with you they have ALWAYS been nasty. They are not interested in helping you, just themselves. As long as they are not out the money, they do not care.

 

[Riverdance]

I've used PayPal for years with no difficulties, and have sold and purchased horses many times with it.

I do however, take precautions. Any money coming into my on-line PayPal account is immediately transfered to a "separate" bank account I set up for PayPal to access at my bank. Once there, I immediately transfer it to my private account, so there is never any balance (less than $1.00 when not in use) in my on-line PayPal account or the "bank" PayPal account for returns to be made. Since I do not keep funds in any account PayPal can access, if a "return" were tried it would fail.

That said, I will continue to use PayPal and have never had any problems with it, and use it frequently for all kinds of payments.

As a "verified" user, my transfers out are immediate, and money in is transferred out of the account within minutes of a payment being made. So, I've been happy.

Nathan, is this something new on all sales? I've never experienced my money being "held" for any type of "proof" ??

There are now PayPal scams too. When I was moving I posted on Craigs list many things I had for sale. Several scammers wanted to buy the items unseen and pay by PayPal. I told them no, that I would not touch PayPal. That I wanted cash. Never heard from any of the scammers again. and by the way, they all sent the same kind of message to me, just named the different items I had for sale.

There is a new way to receive money now. It is some kind of wire transfer, like electronically sending money to your back without the cost. Most of my puppy buyers now send the money by wire. Two I was not charged for, two I was. I will do some more research and find out how it is done at no cost. After all, a store can scan your check and take the money out of your account right at the store, why would a company like PayPal hold your money for 30 days? BECAUE IF THE DO IT FOR ALL THE LARGER TRANSACTIONS THEY CAN COLLECT INTEREST ON YOUR MONEY FOR 30 DAYS. They are the ultimate SCAM artists. Do you have any ideal the MILLIONS that PayPal can collect in interest on holding all of that money.

As for moving the money right out of PayPal's account, sorry, no can do anymore.

 

[SampleMM]

I rather dislike PayPal and am turned completely off by it. I scratch my head that so many people accept it. As a buyer of anything I'd rather send you a check and that helps the seller avoid a bunch of fees and the potential for problems. Of course, as a seller you should wait for the check to clear. At Christmas time, I ordered sheet music through PayPal (their only acceptable) payment. I never received the sheet music. PayPal could have cared less and neither did this musical website. Only after threatening both, the sheet music came. It was almost 2 months after paying for it and by then the music was a mute point, sigh.

 

[supaspot]

I use paypal for small amounts but if its for a horse I ask for the money to be paid directly into my account

 

[Tony]

I have never had a problem with it.

 

[Shari]

Have used it since 06, a verified member. Knock on wood, I have never had a problem. However, I use it like I would a check. Payment must clear PayPal and be securely in my Bank account, before what ever the person bought, is sent or allowed to leave my property.

Paypal, does offer people some protection if something goes south.

With what I do, I get paid via PayPal, it is cheaper for me and my clients use it a lot.

But it is up to each person to make sure things go ok.

There are a lot of scams out there,,,, even ones coming from your own Bank. Is like trying to walk through an Land Mine field. I have seen a lot of scams with people Wiring money via their bank accounts.

I have a Frig for sale and getting all the same scams... can they pay through paypal, they want my address.... yada..yada... For local sales, I do cash only. And you only get my address once I know you are not a scammer.

I will not give them my last best price.... you all know the speal.

One just has to be as careful as possible.

 

[rimmerpaints]

Ive done paypal buying things on line like ebay but never with a horse. Im sure it will be fine.

 

[MountainWoman]

As a buyer, I personally would never, ever wire money to someone's checking account and if a seller asked me to wire them money, I'd run from that sale especially if it was an out of state sale. As buyers, we also have to be careful. I've used PayPal with the MareStare auctions, never had a problem at all. I guess everyone is different but in the end, it is a trust issue I suppose for those of us who are buying horses sight unseen and those sellers who are shipping their precious horses site unseen as well. I'm planning on breeding in the next couple of years so this thread has been interesting to me.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

If you have an out of area buyer for a horse, is paypal a safe or safer way to get payment? I have heard that after a buyer got the animal they filed a grievance and got money back with out the seller being able to respond.

I have heard this too, but in the one case I heard about paypal DID refund the buyer their money (or so it was said), BUT did NOT come back to the buyer for a refund. Also, considering the source of this particular inform I had, it all could have been a bunch of baloney.

For those of you taking cashiers cks. Make sure you can verify funds of that ck before you release the horse.

Yes, even a cashier's check can be fraudulant. And if it turns out to be so, your bank will pull the money back out of your account regardless if the animal is gone or not. You should ALWAYS be careful with ANY transaction...regardless of the method used.

There are now PayPal scams too. As for moving the money right out of PayPal's account, sorry, no can do anymore.

Again, there are scams with everything. Just be cautious and sensible.

Personally, I've been with paypal since their inception (telling my age now!) and haven't had a problem. But I don't use it for really large purchases and I don't use it to pay for a horse or to accept the "final" payment for a horse. If someone wants to use it for the downpayment (any pay my 3% fee), then that's fine with me. I still have the horse and the money.

 

[Katiean]

How can they scam you by asking for the info to send money by paypal? I mean, don't you send a request through paypal for the funds? How can they scam you in this way and what do they get?

 

[Minimor]

In the cases I have heard about--and there have been several over the last few years--seller gets paid through paypal & ships the item. Buyer receives the item and puts in a complaint to paypal that the item arrived but wasn't in the condition described...and demands a refund. Paypal refunds the money, pulls the money back out of the sellers' account, and seller is left out of luck. Items sent are exactly what seller described, it's just that the buyer isn't honest & is brazen enough to lie about the condition of the purchased item. That's what I call a scam, and when this sort of thing happens to people I know, it's enough to keep me from ever opening a paypal account. Paypal works great as long as both parties are honest.

Wiring money directly into someone's account is getting to be a very popular method of payment.. Here I believe even Canada Post offers this option--they can do a wire transfer instead of issuing a money order. I would have no problem paying this way, and I would accept this as an option if I were selling something & the buyer wanted to pay this way. Giving your account info is really no different than giving a check to someone--every time you hand over a check to someone you are giving them your bank account into.

Here in Canada checks and money orders drawn on a US bank do indeed take up to 30 days to clear. Checks drawn on out of province banks can take a week or longer to clear--my bank once told me that I shoud allow one week for each province away from Manitoba--so a week for SK or ON, 2 weeks of AB or QC, etc. I don't think it actually takes that long in most cases, but it could, so that is the bank's rule of thumb.

I once had 2 very expensive saddles for sale. A fellow 2 provinces away wanted them, but he wasn't willing to pay me without having the saddles in his possession. He wanted me to ship them out to him and then he would send me the money. I asked him why he thought I wasn't trustworthy, and yet I was supposed to trust him enough to send my saddles out to him without having any money in hand?? No deal. I sold them to someone else.