June 14, 2005

• "Cleared" likely refers to both the depositing bank and your bank actually getting documentation sent to their respective proof departments to make the transaction officially post to both accounts. Probably they're doing something like placing an electronic hold on the funds in your account, making it look to you like the money's been withdrawn, but it's actually still there in the account, just withheld from your sight. Once the transaction is run and clears both banks, then the funds are withdrawn and the hold is removed. Understand that I don't know how Paypal or its "echeck" works, so there's a fair amount of speculation in the above, but I do know a little about banking and how transactions are run. One thing that confuses me, though, is how it could possibly take six days, if both banks are in the US. In the days of Check 21, it really shouldn't be taking so long, particularly for an electronic transaction, unless it's just a case of Paypal dragging its feet. If Paypal is just dragging its feet, then the method of payment you chose (theoretically) shouldn't really matter, though I'll say that what few times I've used Paypal, paying with a credit or debit card didn't result in a six day wait for the seller to receive payment.
• FYI, be cautious when using PayPal, as you should be with any online transaction... meaning monitor closely any accounts you enable for use online. I received a call from PayPal about a month ago asking if I had intended purchase of some $7K piece of equipment, which had been somehow been authorized. (And I take more precautions with my info and my computer than most.) PayPal only noticed because I'd had no activity for almost a year, and then this large single charge appeared.
• Definitely. For security reasons alone, I feel more comfortable using a credit or debit card. That way you're only legally liable for up to $50US after filing a successful dispute with your bank or credit card company. I'm not sure if that same standard applies to echecks.
• I'm against giving paypal my bank info. I use my credit card on it. (of course now that I'm selling stuff on ebay, I need to give them my banking info or I'll never get my money!) I would guess that they are 1)making sure the info clears and 2) sitting on the interest for a week. When paypal first started, sitting on the interest from transactions for a day or two was how they made their money.
• I'd advise against using Paypal: someone once used my account to pay for $1,500 in web design services. The only reason I got the money back the next day was my bank; Paypal was extremely unhelpful. They mailed me documents to sign, which I had to mail back, after which I got to wait a month for Paypal to get their end of it figured out.
• Like all online services, PayPal is a big target for phishers and crackers. Monitor your PayPal account just as you would any other online bank account. drjimmy11, the deal with eChecks is that, as you've noticed, they're kind of annoying. Any time you give PayPal money from your bank account - either by sending someone an eCheck or by transferring money from your bank into your PayPal account - PayPal will withdraw the money, then sit on it for six or seven days. I presume this is a waiting period to make sure that there are no disputes for the charge to your account. If you are going to be making a lot of online purchases with PayPal funds, my advice is to transfer a chunk of money from your bank account into your PayPal account. It takes a week for the funds to clear, but once the funds are in your PayPal account, paying someone is simply a matter of clicky click click, and the payment is sent. In other words, after the money has passed the one-week waiting period, PayPal will transfer the funds instantly. This takes a little forethought on your part, but having an existing PayPal balance makes paying for eBay purchases unspeakably easy. If you're not planning to pay for many things with PayPal, or if you just don't want to tie up a chunk of cash in your PayPal account, then stick with the eChecks. You can also use a credit card for online purchases, but I would recommend against using a Visa debit card. Credit cards and PayPal purchases both come with a certain amount of buyer protection which is usually not available to Visa debit cards. PayPal's buyer protection does apply to eChecks. And you'll see a lot of horror stories in this thread, but take note that all of them were eventually fixed by PayPal. It may have been a hassle, but no one (so far) has complained of having to eat a fraudulent PayPal charge.
• Use PayPal if you can afford to lose the money. Not saying THEY are unscrupulous, but am saying that if the vendor screws you, PayPal is as useful as tits on a boar hog, as my daddy used to say.
• I've had the same problem. It turns out that payments through PayPal are only instantaneous if you've got a credit card associated with the account as a source of backup funding. In my case, I had a credit card and a bank account associated with PayPal. But the CC number changed at some point for reasons I can't remember - and PayPal became very, very slow about payments.
• Making your handle here coincidentally appropriate.
• thanks everybody. Looks like I am better off taking money from my bank account, paying off a credit card, than using the credit card through paypal. It should happen quicker, and Visa or Mastercard offer their own fraud protection.
• The payee does see your echeck as soon as it goes through, and receives another notice when it clears. So if you're a trustworthy eBayer you might be able to get the camera as soon as you send the echeck through. As far as security with bank accounts, I opened a separate account when doing the t-shirt stuff so that it only contained what people had paid for their shirts and now lies empty in case of further PayPalage. There's nothing for PayPal to take. But that's still, as others have said, not as good as using credit cards.
• It is probably worth noting that since ebay bought paypal a year or two ago I've heard a lot fewer complaints about it. I would imagine that ebay would invest some time and manpower into customer satisfaction so they can get a piece of the pie when you sell something as well as when someone pays you.