I'm trying to figure out how to set up with PayPal. I have $ in my account that I want to access. Do you have a bank account or credit card associated with your PayPal account? If you have a bank account associated with PayPal, is it one that you use only for PayPal or is it a normal use account? I'm wondering if my bank account would be safe, or if I should open another account just for PayPal. Thanks for any help you can give.

I would recommend opening a new account just for PayPal. Just for security's sake. You can open an online checking account at Netbank.com that has no minimum deposit requirements.

It is not my intention to 'bad mouth' PayPal. They may be fine folks in every way imaginable, but I had a very negative experience. I attempted to purchase something once on ebay, something expensive. The seller turned out to be fraudulent. I had used an account transfer in the auction. Most others had used their credit cards. While PayPal advised the others to reverse charges with their credit card company, I was given no such option. I did, eventually, get my money back based on a legal technicality my bank discovered, but it totally skewed my relationship with PayPal in the process. Last time I checked, they still had my account suspended and still said I owed them money. Their user agreement says, or at least said at the time, that the seller (i.e., not me, the buyer) was responsible for losses due to reversal of charges, but because I used a bank transfer instead of a credit card, they nevertheless held me responsible instead. I never did understand why I was expected to eat the cost of having been defrauded while those who used credit cards were not. I contacted them repeatedly about it and never got any satisfaction. Eventually they stopped responding altogether. Perhaps all that has changed and improved. Or perhaps I was just the exception to otherwise perfect service. I won't go so far as to tell you not to do business through PayPal, but I strongly recommend that you at least do not use transfers from your bank account to pay for anything. At least when you use a credit card, you can contact the card company and request a reversal of charges if you are not happy about something, and that is even something PayPal advises in the case of fraud, and seems to be okay with.

You have options of setting up credit card transfers and bank account transfers. Third parties won't see either your credit card or bank account information, but it's good advice to have a separate account/card just for PayPal (so if you do have a botched transfer, the amount of damage it can do to you is limited). I used PayPal frequently for years without problem, though I haven't used it for eBay. I would actually recommend using a bank account, unless you are the type who pays off credit cards every month. Though, as mentioned above, you do have a few extra consumer protections with credit cards.

Last time I checked, they still had my account suspended and still said I owed them money.

You aren't the only one to have that kind of problem. That's why I recommended a separate account, just for PayPal. They've been known to help themselves to money in your checking account that they think you "owe" them for some reason or another. They've also been known to freeze people's PayPal accounts for no reason, so you don't want to keep a lot of money in your PayPal account, or in an account they can get at.

Thanks for the advise. I'll open a new account just for PayPal.

Also, there is a lot of Phishing going on using a phony PayPal website ... it's fraud and all they want is your PayPal password. Don't put any money in a PayPal account you can't afford to lose.

I have used PayPal since it started with no problems. But I do these 3 things: 1. When my PayPal balance goes higher than what I expect to spend soon, I take the money out to avoid having large amounts in there in case they ever do decide to freeze the account. 2. I use a separte checking account just for PayPal. 3. I move the money out of the bank account after the deposit clears in case they ever decide I owe them money, it's not in the account for them to just take it.