I've not ever sold anything via internet billboard or other means, but I've used Paypal several times to buy from a person or vender using Paypal. If I were to sell something, how do I go about setting up Paypal to accept funds?

I'm of no help - what's new, right? - but I've been wondering the same thing. I've got a garage full of crap heirloom items that I'm looking to dump offer on eBay or Craigslist.

I'll be eagerly listening to see if anyone here has done this.

Since you have used Paypal before I'm assuming you have an account. You can send an invoice by email through Paypal for the amount and the payment will go to your Paypal account, or you can simply tell the buyer to go into Paypal and make the payment to your email address.

There are some caveats--I don't think you can accept funds from credit cards unless you upgrade your paypal account, and there's some fees involved. Sorry, I don't know the specifics, but that's something to look into.

Mike,

Before you set anything up, do a search on Google for PayPal. There is quite a collection of horror stories and law suits involving these folks.

The min thread seems to be that they freeze peoples' accounts for long periods of time and don't respond well when challenged.

If anything, set up a separate account to move cash into/out of and keep th ebalance to a minimum.

Ray

Thanks all. That's kinda scary Ray. I'll do some digging into that.

I've never had a problem with any Paypal transactions, don't know if this is good or bad but they are owned by eBay.

Mike,

Use the terms "attorney general" and "lawsuit" in combination with PayPal.

I've used paypal for years combined with Ebay purchases, never had a problem. In fact, there were a few times I was impressed with their security measures to make sure someone was not buy stuff with my card.

I did sell my Toshiba A2 to Lorenzo1000 and the transaction went without a hitch.

Yep, happened to me. I got an email from PayPal telling me they thought a suspicious third party was trying to use my account, froze it and after numerous tries to get it straight I never could get a response from them.

I despise PayPal.

Are you sure it was from PayPal? I have had numerous E-mails stating it was from Paypal with the same line as yours and I contacted them. The emails were not from them.

Yeah, I get spam emails with the name "Paypal" all the time. Goes directly to the junk bin.

Careful with those!

mdrew,

To answer your question..........go to the Paypal site, (and if you haven't already), follow the prompts and input a credit card#.
Your purchases will come off the card. If you also sell items (i.e. Ebay, etc.)the proceeds will go into your account (it sounds like you already have one). Depending on your account balances........purchases will come out of your balance first.
To get your cash from sales, you can request they send you a check.....or you can link a bank account to your Paypal account, and they will do an electronic transfer.

I have been busy, selling on Ebay....and using Paypal.

No problems

Larry

Cool... Thanks Lary.

So what's this Google Check out thing? It would seam that is getting popular.

No sir guys, my email was from PayPal and my account was indeed frozen ... I haven't used it in over two years since.

There is another facet to PayPal that I find disturbing.

I only buy on ebay. I have received emails from PayPal several times asking me to get myself "verified" by giving them my checking account number. The emails are from PayPal and the following is on the screen when I sign into my PayPal account and check on "Status - Unverified":

Why should I get Verified?

Verification gives you :

* Higher spending power - There's no limit to the amount of money you can send once you are Verified.
* Increased security - Verification helps increase the security of the PayPal network because more members have confirmed their identity.
* More buyer and seller confidence - Buyers and sellers value your Verified status - it shows you have successfully passed PayPal's identification checks.

Hmm - not matter how many times I read those reasons, they still are a crock with no substance. What do those reasons mean? Why would I give somebody my checking account number because of those reasons?

I got so annoyed with emails at one point that I called the 800 number and challenged one of their CSRs. I asked him, if I was paying for transactions using my credit card, to explain to me EXACTLY WHY they needed my checking account number. He started down a path that got deeper with BS with every step he took.

Every time I interrupted him, he started re-reading his script. After several restarts, I explained that he wasn't answering my question with anything approaching solid, logical facts that provided incentive or reasonable need for them to have my checking account number. I asked to speak to his supervisor.

When the supervisor got on the line, I explained the direction of the discussion and asked the question again - if I was paying for transactions using my credit card, to explain to me EXACTLY WHY they needed my checking account number.

New script came out and was clearly being read. Music turned up a little louder and dancing got a little faster to the same effect.

I finally told him to just stop. I asked him to simply answer my question without reading a script because neither the need to have my account number, nor the BS they were spreading thickly for me provided any rational reason to give them my account number. He started reading again.

I stopped him and told him that I did not want to see another PayPal email asking me to "verify" my account - ever.

I also told him bluntly that they should be embarrassed for treating customers as though they were stupid, that there was nothing here for the customer, only something for their benefit that I would research and figure out. I went on to explain that this episode of unprofessional inability to deal with a simple question absolutely convinced me that they would NEVER have my checking account number and I would make it a personal quest to alert other folks about the episode whenever PayPal came up in conversation.

His response was.... CLICK. BUZZ.

That's when I went to do the research on PayPal because the whole thing just smelled bad. I was surprised with the enormous amount of information I found out there that included lawsuits and An amazingly large incidence of State Attorney Generals in actions against PayPal.

The freezing of accounts, as experienced by Rick, is the largest issue and there are an incredible number of instances with horror stories abounding.

Ha Ha Ha - I just re-read my post and you might form a visual of a wild-eyed mad man with hair flying and spitting as he tries to convince the authorities that he has just seen a were wolf as they drag him off to be sedated and put into a small padded room.

I'm actually sitting here quite calmly, (OK, I AM on my third cup of coffee), trying to describe the whole series of events and impart an understanding of the depth of what sits underneath this whole thing with PayPal. You are just seeing my annoyance bubble up when I think back on being treated like I am stupid, especially with the facts I uncovered later.

To be fair, the vast majority of people who use PayPal may never see this dark side. Just understand it is there.

OK - rant off. What's for dinner?