An option to PayPal?

[blixen01]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33009774

A lot of us depend on PayPal but it looks like they are trying to pull another fast one in July.

If this article is right, they're going to force users to accept robocalls. Unless they back off, I'm not sure what to do my family does a lot of biz with PayPal.

[DougGuy]

FU PP. I predict this will backlash to the point that they cannot implement it. Let's hope that comes before they actually engage this fleabrained plan.

Thanks for the heads up.

[bubba.50]

if you can live without instant gratification there are three options that come to mind. cash, check, & money order. works for me & no pay-pal fees or stupid rules about how, when, or on what you can use your own money.

[montana_charlie]

Did you read this part?

A spokesman told the BBC that customers wanting to opt out of receiving marketing materials could do so by unsubscribing "notifications" in their settings.

I just checked my 'notification settings', and adjusted them.

CM

[lefty o]

just dont deal with the low down dirty anti gun company, and your life will be good.

[Tackleberry41]

In some cases its near impossible not to use paypal, ebay has that locked in for the most part. And seems they have enough arrogance to figure they can do whatever they want, at first their resonse was if you don't like it cancel your account. But the back lash is building, most probably don't even know about the policy change...yet. Seems you can opt out, now, weren't going to allow it at first. And one trick seems to be to change your phone number, maybe to their customer service number. Or perhaps your congressmans number, see how long before that policy changes. Be nice if somebody knew the CEO of paypals personal number.

[Handloader109]

Yep, just opted out of marketing, unchecked all notifications except account changes.

[dragon813gt]

I opted out of their marketing and targeted advertisements when they gave the option to. I did check my settings. It appears I never updated my phone number when I moved almost a decade ago. Don't plan on it either :laugh:

[Budzilla 19]

Never have used them, never will use them, and I'm with Bubba.50, cash, money order, or check and I get to decide my financial destinations with my earnings! Just my .02 cents. Good shooting to all.

[Uncle Jimbo]

Because you ask for an opinion, here it is.
Run as fast and as far as you can from paypal.
Long time ago I used them for things and found out that they will give your information to anyone and that includes the government. So if the government wants to know what you are doing or interested in, paypal will gladly give it to them.

My 2¢.

[RogerDat]

For what we do here a USPS money order works pretty decent. The seller can just cash it at any post office and if they are sending a package seems like it might be convenient to a post office.....

Paying about 2.5% at $1.25 for a $50 money order but that drops to 1.25% on a $100 purchase since it costs the same amount. Certainly not much if any worse than pay pal or a credit card cut of the action.

Can't spend it if you don't have it, hard to hack a money order, no need to exchange banking information. One can also send cash as a tracked and insured package/envelope. Only time that looks attractive is when the seller does not send a PM out saying they received the payment and are sending the package. Costs more than the USPS money order but I guess if you wanted even less record and proof of payment.

[historicfirearms]

Most post offices around me can't cash a money order over about $100. Pain in the rear for me. Paypal is antigun, but I have one of their debit cards and have bought two guns with my paypal balance at the LGS.

[rancher1913]

I've tried to use paypall but I can't login. they sent me my password, still doesn't work, sent me my user name, still doesn't work.after a month of back and forth I gave up and tried making a new account, that won't work cause you can only have one account per IP address, so I'm with the "screw" paypall group.

[sparky45]

I got a news flash for ya Jimbo; they already know everything there is to know about you, including where you live.



Because you ask for an opinion, here it is.
Run as fast and as far as you can from paypal.
Long time ago I used them for things and found out that they will give your information to anyone and that includes the government. So if the government wants to know what you are doing or interested in, paypal will gladly give it to them.

My 2¢.

[waksupi]

Maybe we could get Ben Cannon to bring back Gunpal, or whatever it was.


:wink: :kidding:

[dragon813gt]

Maybe would could get Ben Cannon to bring back Gunpal, or whatever it was.


:wink: :kidding:

I was going to post this earlier. Paypal is very convenient. Choose if you want to use them or not. Nothing more to say than that.

[Red River Rick]

Maybe would could get Ben Cannon to bring back Gunpal, or whatever it was.


:wink: :kidding:

Ha, Ha Ric........you funny Guy!

RRR

[blixen]

Did you read this part?

A spokesman told the BBC that customers wanting to opt out of receiving marketing materials could do so by unsubscribing "notifications" in their settings.

I just checked my 'notification settings', and adjusted them.

CM

Thanks, Montana. Apparently, the BBC story has been updated. Originally it said that although PP said users could opt out--the BBC reporter couldn't find that provision. I guess PP updated the site after seeing the story.

I will be adjusting my settings.

BTW, living and dealing on the "Information Superhighway," including Ebay, makes avoiding interaction with PP difficult.

No doubt about it, PP is slimy, here's another example from about a week ago: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32810280

[tigweldit]

I have nothing good to say about PP. Closed my account last week after countless screwups by their billing dept.

[Blammer]

just change ONE number in your phone number, taa daa, no more calls

[MaryB]

Been a paypal user for years, no issues to speak of. Ran thousands of dollars through it.

[montana_charlie]

Been a paypal user for years, no issues to speak of. Ran thousands of dollars through it.
Me, too.
Give them valid information, inform of them promptly of any changes, and things run mind-numbingly smooth.

CM

[Red River Rick]

Me three.

I've been using PayPal for years. For small business tranactions, using them makes life easier for both, seller and buyer.

Never had any problems at all with PayPal.

RRR

[hanleyfan]

I don't like paypal but I sell on e-bay and other sites at times and most of the time if I don't accept Paypal I don't make a sale. A lot of buyers say if you take Paypal I will take the item, and most are willing to pay the fees involved. that said I have never had any trouble with Paypal.

[trapper9260]

just change ONE number in your phone number, taa daa, no more calls

I just change my phone number also by putting all 0000000000 that is it.

[huntersdog]

They are fixing to be one of the top 5 finical institutes in the world, I bet they want to split from ebay, so they can pull ahead without the ebay anchor.

[sparky45]

They are already a separate corp. and I use them a lot for all my online purchases. It's quick, reliable, and zero hassle. And, yes, I've purchased firearms related product through them as well.

[dragon813gt]

They are fixing to be one of the top 5 finical institutes in the world, I bet they want to split from ebay, so they can pull ahead without the ebay anchor.

One of their biggest investors has been pushing for a split for years now. His name escapes me at the moment, begins w/ an I. Paypal is profitable while eBay is tanking. Apparently even w/ charging 10% as well as taking a percentage of the shipping cost eBay is not profitable and may go belly up.

I have had zero issues w/ Paypal. And I've run hundreds of thousands through them. If you use them properly they are cheaper than a typical merchant services account. But I don't expect people that don't run a business to understand this side. As much as people think they are antigun. They are more anti lawsuit than anything. The laws are to varied across to US and I can't blame them for not wanting to get involved w/ firearm transactions.

[MaryB]

Ebay signed its death warrant when it started favoring the mega sellers from China who are dumping junk. All the small sellers finally had enough and told ebay to stuff it. Now I only sell on ebay if it is something I know won't sell locally.

[lefty o]

One of their biggest investors has been pushing for a split for years now. His name escapes me at the moment, begins w/ an I. Paypal is profitable while eBay is tanking. Apparently even w/ charging 10% as well as taking a percentage of the shipping cost eBay is not profitable and may go belly up.

I have had zero issues w/ Paypal. And I've run hundreds of thousands through them. If you use them properly they are cheaper than a typical merchant services account. But I don't expect people that don't run a business to understand this side. As much as people think they are antigun. They are more anti lawsuit than anything. The laws are to varied across to US and I can't blame them for not wanting to get involved w/ firearm transactions.

no they are anti gun, they have contributed financially to the anti gun cause over the years. its not thinking, its a fact! your shoice to use them, but in doing so you help finance their adgenda.

[dragon813gt]

Never mind

[Reverend Al]

Well, I can't honestly say that I am ANY kind of a PayPal fan and here is the reason why!

In February of 2014 my brother passed away from a heart attack and he had been active buying and selling on eBay and so of course he had a PayPal account. Within a week of his passing away I phoned eBay / PayPal and asked them to please close both his eBay and PayPal accounts. When I asked if he had a balance in his PayPal account they said "NO" and said that he had not been active on eBay recently and hadn't bought or sold any items for several months. They requested a copy of his Death Certificate to close his accounts which I sent them via email. At that point I basically forgot about it all and continued dealing with the rest of my brother's estate details.

One full YEAR later (February of 2015) my brother received an email from PayPal stating "Harry, you have funds in your PayPal account and you should spend them!" ??? (I still monitor my brother's email account remotely thank goodness.) I contacted PayPal again and they then confirmed that there was actually several hundred dollars (US funds) in my brother's account, so I had been LIED to a year before when I was told that the account was at a zero balance. They also had not closed either of his two accounts with eBay or PayPal and they were both still active.

Then came the fun. I spent several more months phoning and emailing PayPal over and over attempting to close his accounts and have the balance from the PayPal cashed out to my brother's estate without ANY success. I sent TWO complete sets of all the estate paperwork to them (the death certificate, Letters of Administration, Probate forms, a letter of direction from me, etc.) which cost me $25 to fax from a retail store since the documents "HAD" to be faxed to them and of course we don't own a fax machine! I received multiple emails from PayPal's "compliance" department explaining to me how to close my brother's account and have the funds cashed out to the estate, but they just kept sending me the same "form" emails over and over and over again after I'd submitted multiple requests to close the account. (Twice I received the form emails from the same person as a matter of fact!) In the end I was lucky enough to get my brother's ex-wife over for a cup of coffee one day and between us we managed to change my brother's PayPal password, access his account, and transfer all of the remaining funds into my account. (I'd tried to do that already months before, but I just couldn't guess the answers to his security questions to change his password. With his ex-wife's help and many suggestions we finally guessed at the correct answers to the questions that my brother had created!) PayPal has still NEVER acknowledged that I was trying to close out his accounts for nearly SIXTEEN MONTHS and cash out the balance in his account. At this point the account is still open and has never been closed, but at least it finally has a zero balance and I have the funds.

So now my questions are: How many other people is this happening to? How many "frozen" PayPal "estate accounts" are there and how much money do they contain? How many families have NO idea that a relative might have left funds in a PayPal account that should be paid out to them, but are not told so by PayPal?

I suspect that PayPal has MILLIONS of dollars tied up in estate accounts and that they make no effort whatsoever to pass those funds on to the family of someone who has passed away and left money in an account.

I would highly recommend that if you still use PayPal (which many of us still do thanks to the eBay issue of only using PayPal to make purchases on there) then DO NOT EVER LEAVE A BALANCE IN YOUR ACCOUNT! You will be saving your heirs a HUGE headache in having to try to deal with PayPal to recover your money!

Sorry for the very long "rant" about all of this, but I just felt you should be aware of the problem and the way PayPal refuses to deal with you if you find yourself in this situation.

:killingpc

[SGTM9]

I used to buy a little on evil bay and sold a couple things. When they required me to get a paypal account I told them to stuff it. Now I deal with locals and little else. I pay cash or a check. Only have 1 credit card for emergency use only. Works well for me. It makes me crazy to see a card used to buy a cup of coffee etc... What ever happened to cash? Yeah I know join the 21st century. No thanks don't care for it.

[Bad Water Bill]

I have purchased hundreds of items on evil bay.

See something I am interested in ask the seller if they will take a M O.

Newbies say they are not permitted to do that but I have some folks that put stuff in the mail as soon as I win.

Yes I have purchased from them many times before and No that does not raise my purchase count but who cares as long as both of us are happy.

[sparky45]

According to those in the know, cash will soon (a few years) be a thing of the past. For one coinage is to expensive to manufacture and for another, the printing of currency is even more expensive especially, and because of counterfeiter's. Plastic and a smart phone are going to be what is used in the future, and we all know that can't be hacked.:kidding:



I used to buy a little on evil bay and sold a couple things. When they required me to get a paypal account I told them to stuff it. Now I deal with locals and little else. I pay cash or a check. Only have 1 credit card for emergency use only. Works well for me. It makes me crazy to see a card used to buy a cup of coffee etc... What ever happened to cash? Yeah I know join the 21st century. No thanks don't care for it.

[jcwit]

According to those in the know, cash will soon (a few years) be a thing of the past. For one coinage is to expensive to manufacture and for another, the printing of currency is even more expensive especially, and because of counterfeiter's. Plastic and a smart phone are going to be what is used in the future, and we all know that can't be hacked.:kidding:

Well that won't work out for many in our society, the Amish for one example.

[Cmm_3940]

here's how to close a Paypal account.

1) send a small payment to someone. In the comments section, put "payment for Assault Rifle, booze, and porn."

2) issue a chargeback, with the explanation that he never sent the booze, the gun and porn were misrepresented by the seller, and you wish Paypal to arbitrate.

3) if the account is still open at this point, get someone to tattle on you for violating their TOS.


similar tactics should work for ebay, but posing as a seller.

[dragon813gt]

It makes me crazy to see a card used to buy a cup of coffee etc... What ever happened to cash?
So when you pay w/ cash do you get a percentage back? There are advantages to paying w/ a credit card. I average $300 back per quarter and don't pay any interest fees. They say there isn't such a thing as free money but it seems this way to me.

[SGTM9]

So when you pay w/ cash do you get a percentage back? There are advantages to paying w/ a credit card. I average $300 back per quarter and don't pay any interest fees. They say there isn't such a thing as free money but it seems this way to me.
How much do you have to spend to get that back? My experience is lots spent to get that. If it works for you thats great. Still not for me.

[dragon813gt]

How much do you have to spend to get that back? My experience is lots spent to get that. If it works for you thats great. Still not for me.

It varies from month to month. Anything that can be paid for w/ a credit card is. Wish I could pay my mortgage w/ it. Suffice to say we're talking thousands a month. But there are weekly offers where I can rack up a lot of points for only a few bucks. And it also depends on what I buy w/ the reward points. It's always gift cards because you get more for less. But while a $100 cash credit might cost 50k points an Amazon gift card might be 40k. Still money back and makes it worth my while to use a credit card.

[Garyshome]

I had to take the stuff that would not sell here and sell it on e bay. So I have to use PP.

[cajun shooter]

I'm a hard 2nd amendment gun person, 68 years of age and have a disability that keeps me in my home for the most part. PP allows me to make purchases that I would not be able to make otherwise and it's all done from my PC chair.
Like my father told me, "Son Don't cut off your nose to spite your face". Put yourself in my position and see how you would like being home bound for years.
Send huge sums of cash through the mail and it will comeback to bite you one day and no one will be there to help. They will say, sorry that happened and go on about their business, a lot of sellers will not accept checks or hold them for ten days before shipping.
Have a business bankruptcy in your past and you also have no credit cards. So those that say, to heck with PP, I don't need them. Take a moment to put yourself in that disabled persons seat and see how you now are able to make that purchase. You can't drive, walk or have others do the job for you, how do you go through life.
My fathers advise becomes very easy to understand when the shoe is on your foot. Later David

[MaryB]

Post office in my town now has limited service hours, early mornings when I am finally getting some decent sleep(I fight bad sleep disruption with the low back messed up so bad) so it is impossible to get a money order unless I do a 50-60 mile round trip to an office that has afternoon hours.

[mold maker]

Having to make a trip to the PO just to get a MO is a pain in the back sides. Mailing the MO adds several days of delay to a transaction.
PP is right now, cheap, and very efficient.
Bottom line is I love PP. I'd use it to buy groceries if i could.