How Does Paypal Work?

Everything is transmitted electronically. A buyer must be registered with Paypal to use the service. Payments can either be funded by funds in the Paypal account or with a credit card. If the account is verified with a bank account, payment can also be made by e-check which will deduct directly from the bank account.

The buyer sends the payment to the seller by supplying an email address. I think they can also use a telephone number now. Once the payment is sent, the receipient will receive notification of funds via email. At that point, you can either accept or deny the funds.

If the seller has a personal Paypal account and a buyer makes a credit card payment through Paypal for an ebay item, the seller must either upgrade their account to a business account or wait 30 days for the payment to cancel. Funds received from existing Paypal account funds or e-checks will automatically go into the seller's Paypal account.

There is a 2.9% fee + .30 per transaction charge for business accounts with Paypal. However, this allows the seller to accept credit card payments.

Sellers who accept Paypal are only protected under the Paypal Seller Protection if the buyer has a confirmed address in the United States. Delivery confirmation must be used for shipments under $250. Signature confirmation must be used for shipments $250 and over.

It is very important to read all of the fine print if you are going to use Paypal. This is most important for the seller. As a buyer, it is simply very convenient and doesn't cost anything.

Hope this helps.

For what it's worth, I've delt with paypal for a couple of years now.
They've ALWAYS came through for me.
Their customer service is great too. Through an error of my own, there was a mistake in crediting my account for a sale I made on ebay, and their customer service dept. resolved the problem with one phone call.

Hard to say that for many businesses now of days.

Paypal automatically subtracts its' fees directly from the incoming payment. The seller has an account with Paypal, which for all intents and purposes resembles a bank account. It is linked to a "real" bank account, and the seller can transfer funds directly from Paypal to that bank account, without charge. When purchasing, the funds are automatically deducted from the existing Paypal balance, or transferred from either the bank account or linked credit card at the buyer's choice. Paypal will always use the account balance for payments first, though.

For that reason, since I prefer to make my purchases via credit card, I do not keep a balance in my Paypal account.

E-checks take 4 days to clear to the sellers account !

Metalman