Preferred method of payment?

This is a question for the American CPF members.
Say, if you would buy something for me (in the US, of course) and
send it to me in Europe, what would your preferred method of payment be?
I'm trying to get a picture of how this works, so any responce is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Greetings,
Velcro

MasterCard/Visa/Paypal in that order.

PayPal, US money order, US cash in that order.

PayPal, Visa/MC, Money order, Cash, in order.

Paypal +3%, or US Cash.

I've seen Paypal mentioned here a couple of times but I don't really know a lot about it, so I did a search on Google. Among the hits are several critical websites about Paypal. Horrible treatment, unaccessible accounts and other stories...

Anyone know more about this?

Greetings,
Velcro

Originally posted by Velcro:
I've seen Paypal mentioned here a couple of times but I don't really know a lot about it, so I did a search on Google. Among the hits are several critical websites about Paypal. Horrible treatment, unaccessible accounts and other stories...

Anyone know more about this?

Greetings,
Velcro

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">My experience with Paypal has been consistantly excellent. Any good or service used by Millions of people will produce a few bad experiences. Paypal has just recently enhanced their services with regard to converting between US dollars, Euros, and a few other currencies.

To buy something? Visa. If I'm dealing with an unknown supplier, Visa is more likely to protect me than any other system if I get a bad product or am overcharged or otherwise ripped off.

To avoid any confusion, I mean that if you buy something in the US for me and ship it to me in Holland, how would you like me to pay you?

Greetings,
Velcro

PayPal is great. I've used it for a long time for both my online business and personal stuff. They work with international credit cards and some currencies, directly. Never had any of the problems those web sites mention (I've read them too).

The only "problem" with having an online business and using PayPal is that they require the buyer to become a "member" which slightly complicates the buying process (i.e. selecting a user name and password, for example). Most people just want to quickly pay for the item they're buying and move on.

I still use PayPal but I have a problem with their ever-changing rules.
When they started they guaranteed satisfaction but insisted that 30 days pass before they would intervene on your behalf.
Then without notice they changed the policy to say that they would only intervene within 30 days.
Then they changed it from guaranteed protection to "we'll try" to protect you.
Now they've recently switched again and are now charging extra for their protection.
You almost have to go through the rules with a fine-tooth comb every time you sign-in.

Originally posted by Velcro:
To avoid any confusion, I mean that if you buy something in the US for me and ship it to me in Holland, how would you like me to pay you?

Greetings,
Velcro

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">In that case Paypal. I have been using them for over a year and never had any problems.

We live in an imperfect world.

But to facilitate transactions and payment in our fast-paced, internet-integrated world, I have yet to find anything as convenient as Paypal.

I've had very few problems with using it to send and/or receive funds.

I have had NO problems using Paypal. I do use it as a buyer, though not as a seller (don't sell anything yet). I do not keep funds in my paypal account. I use it as a transaction service. Unless the recipient has a business account, he cannot receive from Credit Cards, only bank account. Until you have a Verified account, you have a limit to how much you can send (cumulative). To become Verified, you must verify both A bank account, and A credit card.

Also, you must become Verified before you reach the limit. My account is Verified Personal, not a Premiere or Business.

Originally posted by Charles Bradshaw:
Unless the recipient has a business account, he cannot receive from Credit Cards, only bank account. Until you have a Verified account, you have a limit to how much you can send (cumulative). To become Verified, you must verify both A bank account, and A credit card.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">And with all those safeguards you'd think that you were protected wouldn't you?
The thing is that by PayPal's rules (last time I checked -- it's been more than 7 minutes now) A person can go from verified to non-verified without notice.
And it doesn't matter if they were verified at the time you sent the money -- PayPal only looks at their status at the time you file the complaint.
You could send your money to a verified recipient who could then switch to non-verified after he's taken your money and if there was a problem PayPal could leave you high and dry claiming that the guy was non-verified.
And even when the recipient is verified, PayPal's protection is still laughable.
I made a purchase for $6.00 which never arrived and the seller simply fell off the face of the Earth.
He was a Verified Premier seller (and still is according to PayPal) but when I filed the complaint PayPal refunded me only $1.63 with no explanation. Maybe they deduct some sort of investigation fee.
I'm not sure how this protection works now that PayPal is actually charging for it so things may have changed.
I'm not trying to bash PayPal so much as to inform.
If you use it as a convenience between people that can be trusted then it's one of the greatest things around.
But if you use it thinking that you're protected against fraud then you're in for a shock.

Yeah, PayPal has been handy for me to make purchases. But it troubles me that from time to time they suggest I should give them access to my bank account. What the heck is that all about?