I haven't used PayPal yet, but now I understand how it works. Very simple. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/finding-out-how-paypal-works.html
Yes Pat! it is very Simple, but..... and there is always a but! Please my friend, be very aware of their refund policy! also they have a nasty habit of Reducing or closing your account when they feel like it.
Be careful if you use them to accept payments.....and forget about it if you plan on primarily accepting payments from the Philippines. 9/10 are fraudulent and PayPal will snatch it out of your account and give it back to the account holder and you will be left footing the bill for any products you already sent. They will also lock your account and the process for getting your money out of PayPal can take 6 months or longer (while they sit on the cash making money off the interest). Google "PayPal sucks" and you will read some real horror stories. If you are just a buyer then you don't have much to worry about. Have a strong password (upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters should be in all passwords you have) and never log on to your account on a public computer or on public wifi.
I never have figured out how Paypal WORKS, but I have learned how it does not! I did some consulting work and they insisted on paying me through paypal, so far so good. I did the work and exceeded all expectations and payment was made to my paypal account. I left the money in there for 14 months because I didn't need it and thought I may make a purchase one day. The day came when I wanted to make a purchase and paypal would not let me make the transaction. The money was there, there was no question of the payor wanting to yank his funds back. The amount I had in my paypal account exceeded the purchase price by at least 25%. The reason paypal would not let the transaction go forward was because I had not linked my account to a bank account or credit card. After a long phone call, I cancelled my paypal account and they had to send me a paper check for my balance which I believe they charged me $1.35 for the service. One other person has wanted to pay me with paypal since, I just told them bye and good luck. If paypal has my money already and I'm buying, my liability can't be more than the purchase price and shipping of the item so they do not need my bank or credit card information.
