Is paypal safer? I've read some horror stories about paypal. People have had money taken out of their bank accounts with no options of disputing those transactions.
If I were to do a paypal account again (I closed the one I had) I would use a separate back account for it.
I think you have more protection from fraudulent charges with a credit card.
That's a good question. After years of successful internet buying, my credit card number was finally stolen and used fraudulently. I'm trying to use either paypal or google checkout, or at least retailers that seem big enough to be "safe", i.e., no dodgy little mom 'n' pop shops, unless I know them. My main objective is to keep my credit card number secure to avoid going through that hassle again. As it happened, though, hassle was all it was as all my money was refunded. This was actually paid for by my banks insurance, not from tracking down the crooks and breaking their legs. It might be the case that if a vendor charged you through paypal, but didn't deliver a product, paypal would tell you to take a hike, but that doesn't really sound like them to me. They are closely associated with EBay, and have all sorts of protections for that kind of transaction. It stands to reason that given their business model, they would be about as safe as Visa itself, but I don't know this for sure. Anyone know what PayPal's fraud policies are?
I don't even have a paypal account yet. I was both doubtful and plain lazy to set it up. The only credit cards I have are American Express (which other countries don't seem to take) and Visa. My amex is my parents' sub-card anyway, and my Visa card is associated with United Airline's bonus miles card. I'm lucky the parents take care of my credit card bills (I spend responsibly as their son), but I don't want them worry about me buying "drugs" online, you know. They may think i'd gotten hooked with illegal substances or with the Mafia or whatnot.
Credit card's has more consumer protection, i think. A few weeks ago, I used Visa card to buy some adrafinil but never got the product delivered to me! I think credit card offers more protection too. I was threatening the seller to refund my card or re-send me new adrafinil, because I don't want to take the 40 dollar loss. I think it works. Paypal may not go after the seller.
My main objective is to keep my credit card number secure to avoid going through that hassle again. As it happened, though, hassle was all it was as all my money was refunded. This was actually paid for by my banks insurance, not from tracking down the crooks and breaking their legs.
whoa niner, so the crooks got away? they're just gonna suck money out of other ppl's accounts in the future. but at least you got your money back.
additionally, i think it depends on the sites and their cc encrytion/transaction softwares etc, like how much length they go to in order to protect your card #, the scrambling technology etc. That's why I'm okay with using cc on reputable sites like Amazon and ebay but not badly-done sites.
Edited by HYP86, 12 August 2008 - 07:59 PM.