Paypal users

[Kotto]

So, I use Paypal to fund my shipping costs for ebay sales. For years, the funds came directly out of my paypal account. Recently, the funds started instead coming out of my personal bank account that I have linked to my Paypal. This was done without my knowledge or authorization. So I messaged Paypal, and this is an excerpt from the response:

"In the event that we received a payment for goods and services we need to confirm your identity, I have posted the steps on how to confirm your identity.

If we’re unable to verify the information you provided automatically, you’ll need to upload documentation. Here’s how:

After you’ve logged into your PayPal account, click Claim It/Collect Your Money.
Select Keep it in PayPal.
Provide your information in the fields provided, and then click Submit.
Click Provide Documents. You’ll be prompted to upload documentation for one or more of the following: your Photo ID, Address, SSN or ITIN.
Click Submit each time you’ve uploaded a document.
Click Done when finished.
When you’re finished, we’ll review your documentation and send you an email within 2-3 business days to let you know the status of your account.

Once done, rest assured that the said payment will be funded by the available Paypal balance."

Has anyone else gone through this exercise? Whenever anyone asks for SSN and other personal information, I start to get suspicious.

[OhioCanGuy]

I have not dealt with what you are describing. However, I have noticed that there seems to be an extra step in that you must select whether a payment (buying an Item or shipping for something you sold) is coming out of your paypal balance or from your bank account. For whatever reason they seem to be steering people towards the bank debit option.

Also, Ebay used to own Paypal and sold it (took it public actually). Ebay will be moving away from Paypal as their "preferred" payment choice over the next few years. I recently went to buy something on Ebay (non-breweriana related) from a merchant with over 20k feedbacks and they no longer accept Paypal as a form of payment. They told me they are in some sort of test group for the future. I wanted to use funds from my paypal balance so I did not purchase from them.

As the saying goes, "the only constant, is change".

[Ziphippie]

Login through PayPal or call them direct- do not take any calls or use links provided. Yes, eBay will make more off their own financing. Extra steps are now necessary as Synchrony and Paypal are the Superpower fighting fraud. Ziphippie

[Jim Romine]

I stopped using PayPal when they arbitrarily assigned me a Tax ID Number that wasn't mine (it was actually the BCCA's), then froze my account when the TID# and my personal info didn't match. I spent hours on the phone trying to get them to remove the bogus info, but they wouldn't do it. Several of their folks said it would be easier to forget it and just start a new account. They just froze my account, and said I needed to provide my SS# to get it unfrozen.
Hell will freeze first.
The sooner eBay breaks with PP the better.
Jim

[Giant Beer]

Similar situation for me. I would use the funds in my PayPal account first, which was from occasional sales on Ebay, for my Ebay purchases and then use the credit card that was linked to the PayPal account for the balance. I couldn't figure out why one day it wouldn't work. Turned out to be their identity verification. I had PayPal send my a check less the $1.50 service fee since I wasn't going to provide my SSN. And so ended my Ebay selling days.

[Sea Monkey]

Are you guys sure it wasn’t just as simple as hitting the drop down menu and changing the funding source?

[BostonBob]

There was a recent change about 2-4 months ago. Like many of you, I used to always pay for things using my Paypal balance and if that ran out it went to either my credit card or my checking account. A few months ago I realized the drop down menu no longer provided the option to use my Paypal balance. Last week, I logged into my Paypal account to figure out what had changed. I basically had to accept their policy changes and I believe I had to enter the last 4 digits of my SSN. I don't think it was the whole SSN, but it might have been. They now charge a 3% fee for electronic transfers to your checking account (max $10) or you can request a check for $1.50. I don't like having to pay money to transfer my OWN money to my checking account, but I do like the convenience of PP and I don't mind paying $1.50 a few times year to claim my money. Although with my spending habits my PP balance never seems to grow too large! LOL! Anyway, they made some changes, but now I am back in business.

[kruegerbock]

My recommendation would be to always use the credit card option when paying for any PayPal transaction, unless it truly is a situation where "friends and family" out of the linked bank account is used for people who truly are friends and family. I had a bad eBay transaction on an iPhone for use in Europe that PayPal would absolutely not make right. But the (Chase) Credit Card did.