PayPal - What's the skinny.

[Ian O'Rourke]

Okay, I'm not sure this is even the right forum, but it seems the closest to me :)

I've noticed over time a lot of website and e-publishers using PayPal - I'm just wondering how people are finding? How it works? And so on. Since I live in the UK I'm classed as an International User which may effect things.

Just wondering what the experience factor is of (a) People selling something and (b) people using the donation systems.

Curious.

[J B Bell]

It's dandy for the buyer, mostly, but they take a fairly steep "discount"--that is, the cut they grab from every transaction.  PayPal is kind of the industry standard, but it's too bad they don't have any real competition yet.

www.paypalsucks.com has some unhappy stories about them.  Let the seller beware!

--TQuid

[Ian O'Rourke]

I have my reasons for thinking about it - but I'm not a big fan. At the same time I don't know much about it, hence the question.

I do know recently I went through the process of ordering something via PayPal from a site, cancelled the order (which was okay) but apparently as a process of ordering I set-up a personal account which they have charged my credit card $1.95 for (or it seems they are going to).

I get that back in my PayPal account if I confirm my new account - but I don't want the account, I even cancelled the order.

I've just checked your link - Hell, I feel like my credit card is now tained :)

[greyorm]

I should note that I've been using PayPal for well over a year and have yet to have any problems with them...heck, I even used their customer service back when I first started the account and found them to be polite, prompt and courteous.
Just FYI.

[Tim Gray]

Ian, as far as I've worked out from the PayPal site (I was looking at it for a possible, too!) there are two ways to take money off people: through the standard PayPal account, which requires the customer to have one, and by WebAccept, which works like a standard e-commerce system and just debits the plastic. It seems the latter is now fully available in the UK.