I Wish There Were More Choices (paypal.com)

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	paypal.com
Date:	03/04/09 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It Does Work

Disadvantages: It Works Slowly and Unfairly Though

I think a lot of people reading this will have used paypal before, and those who haven't will at least probably know that paypal is an online finance site that's mostly used for dealing with ebay transactions.

I buy and sell on ebay from time to time, not very regularly, but I've been known to dabble on and off. Of course now everyone who sells on ebay must have a paypal account, so that includes me.

Paypal is like a credit card company in many respects. They offer buyers exceptionally advanced protection really, especially since they'll refund payments for any item that isn't sent recorded delivery by an ebay seller (or some kind of postal service that is trackable online). Great when you're a buyer, not so great when you're a seller. It wouldn't be the first time someone's emailed me to say they didn't like the item because it didn't fit or something, then just gone and got their money back from paypal because I didn't use recorded delivery. And no, not even forwarding paypal the email showing the buyer admitting they'd received it would stop them from doing this.

On the flip side, I can see why buyers don't want to just admit they want to return an item for a refund. Paypal make you send it back using recorded delivery which can be extremely expensive for heavy items. They'll then authorise a full refund, but you're out half the cost of the item in expensive postage!

The biggest gripe I have with paypal is that when I've collected money with them for items I've sold, why do I then have to wait five working days for the money to appear in my bank account? I don't like to use paypal postage because I don't think my kitchen scales are exactly reliable for ascertaining postal weights with, so I have to go to the post office, pay for postage out of my own pocket, then wait a few days to get that money back!

Of course there are also the ridiculous fees that mean I have to pay 21p everytime I receive a payment plus a whopping 3.5% of whatever money I'm receiving! That's an awful lot when I've already paid ebay 10%.

Sadly there's no alternative to paypal if you want to use ebay, so to be honest I try to avoid using ebay as much as possible. High postal prices these days mean it's often more cost effective to just buy new stuff off Amazon or something, and as far as selling goes, I don't really find it worth my while unless I'm selling a small, lightweight and expensive item.

Summary: Not Recommended if You Can Help It.