Question
Bluntly, I do not want to do it..... and in addition to this thread, I will discuss this with my bank this afternoon.
Steps to Verify Your Account
Set up bank funding
Validate your account information
The letter to "Validate my account information" arrived today, I am now required to "set up bank funding" in order to verify my account. Without PayPal verification, I am allowed to withdraw AU $ 700 per month from my PayPal account (less PayPal's 4% profits on the exchange rate that they choose to charge). When I have done this, I "can then start sending PayPal payments funded by your bank account". IF I start buying again on Ebay, and if I pay by PayPal, I will do so from deposited monies - I do not wish to give PayPal access to my account on such a premise.
If I understand correctly, if I do not allow PayPal free access to my bank account, they can tie up a fair proportion of my Ebay turnover unless I close my PayPal account. Once I accepted the first payment, all payments are automatically accepted into the account. I have read the horror stories, and appreciate that one has to be unlucky to have problems with PayPal, and that the PROPORTION of users that have problems is very low, but my experiences so far with PayPal show them to lack business ethics, and I do not trust them. I have only registered with this scum when feeling forced to do so through changes in Ebay's policy. I do not trust them to give them free access to my bank account, and if I understand what I have read in the past correctly, they can withdraw a disputed payment, not just from my PayPal account (which I accept), but also from my bank account (which concerns me greatly).
Am I being unreasonable? (As pointed out here previously, I always am).So...
Is there any reason that I should not set up "bank funding" on my PayPal account? Are there any real risks with setting up bank funding to PayPal? Obviously if I don't do this, allowing PayPal to with-hold a couple of thousand dollars per month will affect my cash flow much more than if I allow them access to the account, even if they raid it for disputed funds every now and then......
I will report the results of my conversation with my bank here as well.
Kevin (who unreasonably doesn't even have his bank accounts accessible on the internet)
Answer
If I recall what I've read in the past correctly...you want to set up a bank account in a totally separate bank from the one you normally use. Give them that one.
Then if PayPal does a dirty, they have no possible access to your actual operating funds, only to the separate account you've given them...which has the tiniest amount of cash possible within, of course.
In the US anyway, sometimes they can get into ANY account in a bank into which you've authorized them access, so be very careful and check your country's banking rules.
Answer
I have an account set up in a different bank than I use for our household funds. All paypal payments go directly to that account. I then have a SECOND account set up in that same bank. I transfer money as it arrives into account #1 into account #2 that paypal knows nothing about. I keep less than $50 in account #1 that is linked into paypal. I've done this from day one just because I don't trust them either.
Nor do I have their debit card. The 1% paypal gives back isn't enough to tempt me. I use my own cc to pay the ebay bill and get my 1% back from that. Just the way I do it. So far, it's working.
Answer
Thank you,
The person who I wanted to speak to at the bank is away on holidays.
The teller I got today does buy on Ebay, but did not know a lot about PayPal. However her advice was to set up a fresh bank account without my middle name, thus because the trading name is different, it makes it a seperate entitity to my other accounts. I will go into further detail with someone with more knowledge in the bank, but that sort of follows the same theories as offered above.
However, I am now wondering whether I have already opened the can of worms. I used my main bank account to transfer the "limited" money that I have access to. After posting here, I followed the link to "Set Up Bank Funding" to read the terms. Instead the bank account that I transferred that money to was in the form, with space for the two "code" deposits - sure enough when I have grabbed an ATM statement, there are two small deposits shown. I assume that if I fill in the two deposit figures, I give them access to my main trading bank account, even though that was not the purpose of supplying the account details.
I will try to get an appointment with my bank tomorrow to discuss this all in more detail, and set up another account (if it is safely seperated from my main accounts). If I open/use another account, will PayPal still be able to use the account information that they already have in any way - and for that matter, can I change the bank account information before I am "confirmed".
I guess that this will all mean more trips to the bank to transfer funds from account to account manually. Who thought that "convenience" could be such a hassle.
Ignorantly, Kevin
Answer
Originally Posted by Kevin_T
If I open/use another account, will PayPal still be able to use the account information that they already have in any way
If you sign into Paypal, in the submenu bar below Auction Tools in the main menu bar, you'll see a heading called "Profile". Click on that and then click on Bank Accounts in the center column.
Once you open up the second bank account, go to this Bank Accounts page and:
- add the new bank account
- get the new account confirmed by PayPal
- once it shows as being confirmed (I don't know how many days that would take), make the new bank account your primary account for PayPal purposes
- then DELETE the old bank account, using the delete button on the page
As far as what PayPal can and cannot do with your bank account information, that depends on the banking laws of Australia which may be more rigid than U.S. banking laws. Foreign banks would have no more legal rights inside your country than your local banks do.
Please also note that PayPal has no more information about your bank account than has anyone else to whom you have ever given a check as that check also shows your bank account number.
Answer
Thank you Irene,
I will arrange a new account tomorrow, and replace the PayPal info step by step as I can.
Kind Regards, Kevin
Answer
I have used Paypal since back when they were free. I have NEVER had a bit of trouble in my dealings with them. I gave them access to my business account when it first started. I operate "above board" if I have a customer problem I immediately send a refund and don't care what the problem is. My daddy told me the customer is always right. I have several friends that sell on line and they both have had problems with Paypal but some of their dealings are slightly shady. They also are combative in dealing with customers.
Paypal calls me about every 6 months to see how things are going. A customer rep called last week. The day she called after the call I got a email thanking me for my time and said for me to check my account. When I checked I had a $20 credit on my account.
So I guess I'm saying I'm in favor of Paypal but do take the precautions recommended in the posts above.
Mike
Answer
Originally Posted by Cobaltlady
I have used Paypal since back when they were free. I have NEVER had a bit of trouble in my dealings with them. I gave them access to my business account when it first started. I operate "above board" if I have a customer problem I immediately send a refund and don't care what the problem is. My daddy told me the customer is always right. I have several friends that sell on line and they both have had problems with Paypal but some of their dealings are slightly shady. They also are combative in dealing with customers.
Paypal calls me about every 6 months to see how things are going. A customer rep called last week. The day she called after the call I got a email thanking me for my time and said for me to check my account. When I checked I had a $20 credit on my account.
So I guess I'm saying I'm in favor of Paypal but do take the precautions recommended in the posts above.
Mike
Mike:
When you are a non-US resident selling on Ebay, most of your customers (about 95% for me) are Americans, therefore that makes 95% of my sales international. If a person does a non-receipt claim with paypal you can really be up a tree. Almost all my packages fall in the small packets area and therefore don't come with tracking. Paypal gives you no choices except "i will refund", "I have already refunded" and "Tracking Number". Without the tracking number, the money will automatically be returned to the customer. I have had a few buyers pull that on me. (On in Australia as a matter of fact).
So when a large portion of your sales are international and therefore protection can be thin, its wise to keep your money separate.
And if you look at it from a business point of view, you should keep your business expenses and losses separate from your personal anyway.
Jill
Answer
Jill you are 100% correct. I have ceased ALL international sales just for the reasons you gave. It's a shame people today have such a rip-off attitude. Between Paypal's tracking requirements and the USPS new attitude towards insurance claims they have made it impossible for me to sell international. Most of my shipments are glassware and require insurance.
Mike
Answer
I sell fairly low-priced merchandise so am not much concerned about inability to track international sales.
I have carefully built up feedback on more than one eBay ID - to separate different categories of items which have at different customer base and one ID because it is the only ID eligible to take advantage of eBay Canada promotions.
Kevin, unfortunately PayPal will only ever be a partial solution to you as a substitute for BidPay. In your shoes, I would be using more than one eBay ID - one ID where I accepted PayPal and one ID where I did not accept PayPal. I would only use the ID which accepted PayPal for items which were expected to sell under a certain value.