How long does PayPal take?

I usually do money orders or checks for online purchases but I bought something that I couldn't resist that required PayPal. Even though I've had my PayPal account for about 5 years, I still had to spend about a week getting everything verified, etc. before they would let me send money.

I finally got that done, and sent the payment on Saturday. Now they are saying it will be the end of this week before it "clears". I thought PayPal was quick. Why is it taking a week for payment. All the guys that say "paypal sent" in the B/S/T forum, does that mean it takes a week to get there? It would be much faster to mail a check or money order.

When I used my account 5 years ago it didn't take a week, but then back then you didn't have to jump through hoops to get verified.

It should take 3-4 business days. It takes that long if you transfer money from your bank account. You are using an E-check, and it has to clear just the same as a real one. If you used a credit card or the balance in your paypal account to fund the transaction, it would be immediate.

I have a credit card on my account, actually it's been there all along. Now that they require a bank account to verify you then I had to add a bank account.

I think when I buy something with PayPal, the transfer is immediate. I often get an email from the seller within minutes. Usually the package gets sent the same day. Unless it's from England where it gets dispatched the same day.

I also have a credit card and a bank account. I think I have a choice but I don't choose so the bank account is used.

Paying by PayPal is so easy, it's almost sinful. The only thing I have to do is enter my password.

The seller doesn't get my credit card number, and I don't have to enter my address because PayPal has it. Hard to go wrong.

Sometimes I have things sent to a different address. PayPal remembers those too. All I have to do is check a box.