As a seller, you need to take certain steps. These steps are based from a U.S. perspective, paypal has different terms by country. Rule #1. They can take any and all money. From bank From credit card from paypal How do you protect yourself? Paypal: You must have a bank account You must have a credit card You must agree to let them take money from either Sweep all money from paypal to bank account Set up bank account a certain way (see below) Add a credit card, and then call the credit card company and tell them you LOST it. They will change the number. Credit card is never double checked by paypal after initial time Paypal cannot charge because number is changed on your card Bank: Have only a checking account, and withdraw all money besides the minimum (Some banks have $100 accounts) When you create the account, specify disallowing all overbalance charges (overages) If paypal makes a charge, dispute it immediately as unauthorized Did I mention sweeping all money from the account? Name and I.D.: Home Address: Use a post office box for the ebay and paypal registered address. You will get all packages there, so don't use a U.S. Postal box, find a proper place locally with a clerk. Convenient place to drop off fedex or ups. When you register a p.o. box, you are required by law to list another address and phone info. Most local post boxes don't care. Use real info, use fictional info. It's up to you. Phone: Get a prepaid phone that is month to month contract with a unique phone number. Approximately $25-$50 USD (Or get a land line) Use the phone number to confirm the google account you will use for ebay or paypal. Use the phone for the ebay account Use the phone for paypal Once the contract / phone needs topping off, let the phone lapse / go inactive You should now be protected from paypal, aside from collections notices. This is when your debt is sent to a third party agency for collection, it will show on your credit history. While these measures may seem extreme, it's up to you to decide how much you believe in paypal's customer service. Some other advice (on shipping): Only ship tracked Never use US Postal Service for items over $99, as insurance claims can take over a year. You can get free padded mailers on the US Postal web site, they are flat rate with a 4 pound limit. 4 pounds shipped for $6.00 If shipping overseas only use Express Mail! Priority mail tracking stops at the customs entry point (which paypal does not accept as proof of delivery).
Looks like the same method as used by scammers!! Surely you could get a Pay As You Go mobile, something like Tracfone over there? Even cheaper - the kind you have to keep topping up. They're common in the UK. I have my debit card for my bank account registered to my PayPal. It means if the Direct Debit is declined, it'll decline on that, too - same account. What's the point in using the P.O. Box? That costs money, and surely they need a proper address that ties in with your payment details etc?
Excellent advice, thanks for sharing! I've learned a few of these tricks recently, specifically cancelling my cards so the account numbers change and make them nonchargeable, it has saved my ass many times for impending fines due to direct debits. Xbox Live has been a particular annoyance with them setting up recurring bills when I specifically choose the option not to, so much money has been wasted. I just request a new card and it solves that problem without me having to deal with Microsoft.
Although this gives you maximum protection. It is very likely your paypal account will be short lived if you do this. (well depending on volume too) Paypal uses mostly automated systems to scan accounts transactions for suspicious activitiy. Doing some things (Like pulling all money out of your account) will make you appear high risk to the system and it will flag you. At which point it will ask for additional verification. If you don't want to be flagged it is important to do things that Paypal thinks new users do with your account. Typically new users start with buying a couple of items and then after a while they will sell some low dollar items. If you sign up for paypal and list a $700 item and it goes through they are going to flag your account for "verification". The less verification the better. With withdrawing money don't just transfer it to another paypal address. You can pull some money out or even most of it but paypal never likes to see it all disapear. Don't establish a pattern or an amount that you pull out every time as this will also get you flagged. There are many Visa gift cards that can be registered and have a name on them which is important for verification. Also some gift cards have routing numbers that come with them. So it appears to be a bank account with paypal. Paypal can't actually see what name you have on the bank account in many cases. Also note Paypal logs IP addresses. If you check paypal on certain computers they will "link" the accounts together. They do this especially with people with unpaid balances. The easiest way to protect yourself from a company like Paypal is for them to never truly no who you are. Make sure if you open a bank account you do it with real information. In the US it is a felony to open a bank account with fake info. However paypal is not a bank (as they like to remind you of over and over again) Also you may want to make this thread members only as to not appear in google. For more information on this topic google "stealth paypal" "stealth ebay"
