PayPal is clumsy

[pecunium]

I just set up a PayPal account. It wasn't all that hard, but there were a couple of annoying hoops. To recieve money (at least as it looked to me) I had to do the verify your account dance.

But, as I found out when I got paid for the prints I've sold (and many thanks to those who have bought them) I found out the money doesn't go directly to the bank, but to a holding account at PayPal. Which has a $500 limit on withdrawals per month.

To get past that limit you have to give them your social, or a credit/debit card number. What that actually does, I have no idea.

That's not the clumsy I am concerned with. I would be surprised to discover any of you who haven't had a "phishing expedition" to your email claiming to be from PayPal, and asking for your information.

PayPal, when you do each of these steps tells you to never give your password to anyone. It also tells you to never click through a link, but to always open a new tab/window, and type in the URL.

So what did they do at east step of these procedures (which require you to give them information from things they do with your bank account. To set up the account they send you about $.50, and to raise the limit they borrow $1.95)?

The included an URL to PayPal.

If they were being smart they wouldn't do that, and people wouldn't be so inclined to click trhough. Which would reduce the effectiveness of the phishing expeditions.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

"you have to give them your social, or a credit/debit card number."

They want to be able to claw back the money if there's a credit-card chargeback or a dispute.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

How does my social make it possible to recoup the money?

I'd figure they'd put a clause in the contract which allows them to garnish payment, with interest, until disputes are resolved.

With a clause about binding arbitration, and fees to be paid by the loser, etc..

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I don't know. If I were them, though, I'd use your social to file a complaint in your credit record about a bad debt.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

Maybe. I don't know enough about that to be sure. If it was the buyer dicking with me, I'll wager I could get it expunged.

I'd also wager, that so long as I was careful, I could get my lawyer to make them pay for it if it weren't my fault.

But that's a bunch of stuff I hope never to have to worry about.

[iggyspawn.livejournal.com]

I'd wager the SSN request is a tax and or money laundering issue. Much as a bank will report large cash deposits to the IRS.

Paypal has no trouble pulling money IN instantly so I find there's no good reason to maintain a balance in my account. When I get money in I immediately transfer it to a checking account. It still "costs" me a couple days interest since money OUT is decisively not instant but my loses are trivial. Paypal seems to have a profit model built around milking the interest on transactions in flight, thus the pay out delays.

I use two separate accounts, it's a clumsy solution but I use paypal infrequently enough that it's not a deal breaker. I default to using my personal account so that I don't get dinged for every transaction and only give people the pro account when they want to pay via credit card. Accounts are based on email address, and it's not like it's hard to get new email addresses. The only sticking point here is that bank accounts attached to paypal must be unique. It's also not impossible to have multiple bank accounts, though I some times end up needing to physically transfer money from one account to the other as part of my Paypal hassle SOP, bleh.

[pecunium.livejournal.com]

What I don't see is how (apart, perhaps, from the SSN) is how that really works to do anything. I thought that was it, but... all those things link to things the bank in question already has.

I'm actually going to have to open a new account with my credit union, so I can keep the books from getting tangled. I can move money inside the credit union with no problem.

And yes, for all they blame my bank, so far as I can tell (from how my bank behaves with all other deposits, I think PayPal is delaying to get interest, and I take it out as soon as it comes in.

I also think they take advantage of being international to milk the difference in exchange rates to get money both ways, and the 2.5 percent fee.