Does Anyone Here Use Pay Pal?

[Corey Hallagan]

Reason I ask is, I have been selling a collection of mine and most pay by pay pal and have been using the pay pal balance to upgrade my tools. I have been told by pay pal that I am "unverified" sending limit. Beyond the limit, I cannot send money to people without getting verified which means they need a bank account on record. They say this will allow me to make unlimited payments, looks better to sellers of items I win, and allows me to use this account to make payments. What is the advantage to Pay Pal for me to do this? It would seem they could wreak havvok on my account. Is this truely to get me to use them for bigger ticket items or do they have other evil deeds in mind?
Thanks,
Corey

[Jim Becker]

I have used PayPal for a long time with no problems. I don't leave money parked there, however...when it comes in...it goes out to my bank as soon as I can click the buttons to do so. It is true some sellers will take issue with a non-verified PayPal customer...a natural concern in this day and age. If you are uncomfortable with tying PayPal to your normal checking account, setup a new one at a bank that offers totally free checking no matter what the balance, and use that for your PayPal transfers. Just be sure you have enough money there for things you want to buy!!

And beware of phishers posing as PayPal...it happens.

[Corey Hallagan]

Thanks Jim. I wanted to be sure there was no hidden problems here. I get plenty of the "Pay Pal verify your account and enter your password" emails. I have warned everyone here to delete any email asking for passwords. If no problems then I will go ahead and get verified.

Thanks Jim,

[Chris Padilla]

Corey, I have done the same as Jim: I don't leave any money in PayPal but they do have my checking account number so I am a "verified" PayPal customer. There has been no harm done as a result...everything is fine...for a couple years now. :)

[Bruce Page]

Corey, I have done the same as Jim: I don't leave any money in PayPal but they do have my checking account number so I am a "verified" PayPal customer. There has been no harm done as a result...everything is fine...for a couple years now. :)
Same here - no problems.

[Frank Hagan]

Me too ... I have Paypal tied to a separate checking account from my credit union that I use for my company expenses (and some of my part time business customers pay me via Pay Pal, so I usually have a small balance there like you do).

I wouldn't hesitate to be verified with them ... it will make the transactions easier. I've had times when I bid on something on ebay and won, and used the $22 in Paypal and they used a "immediate transfer" to pay the remaining $6 or so (you get confirmation buttons to allow this).

[Bill Lewis]

Corey,

I have used paypal for years with it verified to my checking account with no problem.

As for the emails. Do not follow the links to any of them. More than likely they are "Phishing" for personal and financial information. I too have received them, and have forwarded them to paypal for authentification. Paypal verified that they were not from them, and they would investigate.

Anything you need to do with paypal, you should just go directly to their site. If you receive any more emails, forward them to paypal.

[Scott Parks]

Even after doing the checking account "verify", you don't have to use your checking on file for purchases. A few mouse clicks later, and you can still pay with a credit card.

As a note when legitimate emails come from PayPal, they will start with "Dear Jon Doe" (YOUR first and last name). If it starts with anything but that, it is a SPOOF. Such as "Dear PayPal user,"