Alternative to Paypal?

[Issam Abed]

Hey Guys,
as title states , what alternatives to Paypal are you using?

[GeoffD]

My PayPal alternatives:

* Green pieces of paper with pictures of dead presidents on them
* Credit card
* Bank wire transfer

The only time I use PayPal is when I buy something on eBay.

[Issam Abed]

The only time I use PayPal is when I buy something on eBay.

Which I do through my credit card (as in I purchase it with paypal but using the credit card tied to my account). I have heard of many horror stories associated with paypal and today was the first time I have experienced a situation that was not in my favour.
Purchased an item on ebay and paid for it with my CC through paypal. Item was not as described , opened a pp claim and after 5 weeks it got closed. My CC can't do anything as it has been 30 days so we are looking at alternatives to avoid a situation like this in the future.

[ValveCoverGasket]

My CC can't do anything as it has been 30 days so we are looking at alternatives to avoid a situation like this in the future.

if you dont wait quite as long you can usually skip paypal claims and just go straight through your CC company and they get it solved in a hurry.
i dont ever use paypal on its own though, always use it as a form of paying someone online with a CC

[bubbagti]

i dont ever use paypal on its own though, always use it as a form of paying someone online with a CC

I do this too. Paypal has absolute authority when you use funds directly from your account. I always pay with an outside form (usually a Credit Card)

[Issam Abed]

if you dont wait quite as long you can usually skip paypal claims and just go straight through your CC company and they get it solved in a hurry.
i dont ever use paypal on its own though, always use it as a form of paying someone online with a CC

That would work if you did not have a merchant account. Doing a charge back without filing a paypal claim can have your account suspended.

[ValveCoverGasket]

That would work if you did not have a merchant account. Doing a charge back without filing a paypal claim can have your account suspended.

can you do both?

[mauslick]

I had credit card info stolen out of paypal from two different cards!
do not trust them at all

online 'security' is a falsehood

[mrothwell]

Paypal is a pain the ass. I had my account hijacked a couple years back resulting in the hijackers pulling a bunch of money out of my checking account. I freaked out, threatened legal action and finally got it returned. After that, I removed my bank account info from paypal because I figured it would be easier to get money back from my CC company if anything happened.

I didn't use my paypal account for a few years, but a month or so ago, I decided I was going to buy a new mountain bike. I've got a 12 month interest free introductory rate on my Amex, so I decided to just charge the new bike on my credit card using paypal. Well for some reason, they took the money out of my checking account (THAT I'D REMOVED FROM THEIR SYSTEM) and overdrew my checking account by 900 dollars. OOOOH I was seething mad. I had to file a fraud claim with my bank to get the money and the overage charges back, and it took the money back from the seller of the bike (who was then pissed at me). I eventually got everything straightened out after hours on the phone, but if they had just ACTUALLY deleted the information I wanted deleted, I'd be much happier.

[mrothwell]

My PayPal alternatives:

* Green pieces of paper with pictures of dead presidents on them
* Credit card
* Bank wire transfer

The only time I use PayPal is when I buy something on eBay.

So how do you pay with a credit card for a non-store transaction, ie, craigslist?

[GeoffD]

So how do you pay with a credit card for a non-store transaction, ie, craigslist?

I have a checkbook for most non-store transactions that don't take credit cards. That's how I pay my boat yard. That's how I pay my marina. That's how I pay my carpenter, electrician, plumber, HVAC guy, and all the other people who have worked on my house.

I've bought one thing off Craigslist in my life (paid cash) and I'm unlikely use that to buy things very often. Once in a blue moon, I run into a retailer who won't take credit cards.

A couple of times every year, I have to pay for something by wire transfer. That's a serious PITA... particularly international transactions denominated in a foreign currency.

I only use PayPal for eBay transactions and I always pay by credit card when I use PayPal.

[Issam Abed]

I have a checkbook for most non-store transactions that don't take credit cards. That's how I pay my boat yard. That's how I pay my marina. That's how I pay my carpenter, electrician, plumber, HVAC guy, and all the other people who have worked on my house.

Thats assuming the tradesmen you deal with know you and trust you to take a check from you. We do the same when we machine parts that are non automotive . Net 30 and a check in the mail comes to us

however I am looking for a payment system outside of paypal for processing small transactions (for e.g. buying a set of wheels on vortex or helix lights on craig list).

Google checkout? Does not seem that popular.

[Vision33r]

I had credit card info stolen out of paypal from two different cards!
do not trust them at all

online 'security' is a falsehood

That's really your fault because you either got Phished or keylogged.

That goes with anything online, you're lucky it's not your bank acct.

All you have to do is get a security token added to Paypal to enable 2 factor sign-on so the hackers need more than just your password.

[Vision33r]

Paypal alternatives:

Skrill
Propay
Squareup

I don't really accept any of these because they really all have similar policies to Paypal.

If you ever setup ecommerce with other CC merchants then you may realize that Paypal is actually pretty reasonable.

- No admin fees
- No business requirement
- Money transfer pretty quick

[ATL_Av8r]

If you can, only link an American Express card to Paypal. In my experience, as long as you've got your documentation in line they'll go to bat for you a lot harder than the other card associations.

[Zack90]

There are so many alternative of PayPal but i use one of these:
Traditional Merchant Accounts
Google Checkout
Amazon Web-pay