Explain paypal to me?

Zeon

So, i have a paypal account and ive bought lots of stuff with it on ebay and other online shops using my credit card to move the money though paypal. But now i have a phone that sucks, and i want to ebay it while its still getting a fairly high price.

If i sell something on ebay and take the payment through paypal, can i take the money and put that through to my credit card? Or will i need to link a bank account linked to my paypal account to get the money out? Is there a better way to take the payment?

I was also thinking of selling my phone on craigslist just so i can get cash in hand, but the demand doesnt seem to be there in my city, where as ebay there are quite a few phones getting a decent price. If there are better sites to sell a phone, id be interested in that as well. Its an LG Optimus 7 btw (Windows Phone 7).

MushroomStick

As far as I know, you have to have a bank account linked to Paypal to convert the money into cash.

EggyToast

You transfer money from Paypal to a bank account.

Of course, it's still real money while it's in Paypal, and I often will just let it sit there to a) pay eBay fees and b) buy something later on. It doesn't expire or go bad.

T. J. Nutty Nub

I'm pretty sure paypal will hit you with fee if you take money out, so as long as its not too much and you buy things fairly on the regular with it, then I would just leave it there

Essee

T.J. Nutty Nub wrote: »

I'm pretty sure paypal will hit you with fee if you take money out, so as long as its not too much and you buy things fairly on the regular with it, then I would just leave it there

I just got back about $2 that PayPal "borrowed" from me when I was originally opening my account to confirm my debit card (wanted to close said account now). I'm pretty sure they're supposed to credit that amount back to you, but they didn't in my case. Anyway, I didn't have to pay a fee due to withdrawing the money by linking it to my bank account briefly. What you MIGHT be referring to is getting money out via check, which has all sorts of stupid problems with it (minimum withdrawal, possible fees, etc.). Don't get money out of there that way if you can avoid it. I don't think you can withdraw money directly to a credit/debit card, I think it has to be either by check or by direct deposit into a bank account.

I would definitely NOT "just leave" money in a PayPal account unless you know you'll need it there, since people such as the guy who made Minecraft have gotten that money locked away (at least temporarily) for what PayPal thinks is suspicious activity. They could literally take that money away from you forever if it's not withdrawn right away and they think your activity is suspicious, and you wouldn't be able to do much about it because they're not regulated like banks are. Seriously, PayPal is bad news in recent times. It's a pity that people don't have much choice in many cases (especially with eBay). It's still probably fine to have an account with them, but I'd be cautious about leaving the money there once you're done with the transaction, and I would definitely open the account a few days before selling the phone so it's not likely to alarm them. [Edit: I apparently can't read; this isn't an issue for you since you've been using the account for a while.] People have gotten their accounts temporarily locked because they received too much money immediately after opening their account. That's probably not an issue for what you're going to use it for, but you might as well be careful.

Sorry if I sound paranoid about PayPal, but in the last three years or so I've read a LOT of horror stories from people who use PayPal to receive payments. It's not really an issue for people buying stuff, but receiving money from them can be a big headache.

MushroomStick

T.J. Nutty Nub wrote: »

I'm pretty sure paypal will hit you with fee if you take money out, so as long as its not too much and you buy things fairly on the regular with it, then I would just leave it there

If you're just wiring it into a bank account, they don't charge for that.

Zeon

Hmm, i guess i could sell my phone on ebay, and then buy my new phone on ebay... ill be phoneless for a week or so i guess but i can manage... maybe.

finral

I am also in the be cautious with paypall camp. I was travelling overseas, purchased a (cheap) plane ticket using paypal, and they locked my account. Fair enough. The problem came when dealing with their customer service, who was totally unwilling to help me. In the end, my account remained locked and there was nothing I could do about it. Haven't used paypal since.

spool32

Paypal really does suck.