I believe you can specify the amount you're depositing into your account, though someone correct me if I'm wrong. My issue is with just not trusting PayPal. I do use them every now and then when I absolutely must, but I just don't store credit cards or bank accounts with them any longer.
Sorry if I'm not clear. I mean you can make a purchase using Paypal and a credit card without having an account. This is separate than having a Paypal account, funding it and then purchasing via transfer("purchase") to another Paypal account.
Usually true, but not always -- for people in "high risk" countries Paypal sometimes refuses to accept a credit card unless you create a Paypal account first.
Got it. Thank you. But isn't this a separate issue and more to card issuance by Visa/Mastercard/Diner's etc? Won't Stripe likely have the same restrictions to cover themselves...or in time after they've been burned enough as well?
While true, there is an annoying edge case: If you have (at some point) linked your credit card to a PayPal, then PayPal forces you to log in to pay. You simply can't use the non-login path if the card has a PayPal account.
Some reasons why this is annoying, that I can think of: (1) It makes the process more complex. Some people just close their window when forced to log into something. (2) It makes writing tutorials/documentation harder. 'Just fill in your credit card details' becomes a long sentence listing the different things that can happen. (3) I have had some customers who complained that they had forgotten about their PayPal account and had to go through the "forgot password" sequence in order to pay. I imagine that the percentage of people who didn't complain but simply closed the tab is higher.
> If you have (at some point) linked your credit card to a PayPal, then PayPal forces you to log in to pay.
This is not true. I have a long unused PayPal account that hasn't been canceled, and on the occasion that I do end up buying something from someplace that only accepts PayPal, upon entering my information they ask if I would like to sign in and pay with a large "YES" button, or a very small "No, continue without signing in" link which acts the same as not having an account with them at all.
Edit: see Colin's child remark to the parent comment of yours. this may only happen in non-high-risk countries that allow payment without accounts.
Thanks. It is entirely possible that my information is out of date.
If you know of a site where I can trivially test this (ie., small amount, no signup or shipping required), I would be happy to test. I am not in a position to test my own stuff as it is currently all based on recurring payments (which requires a PayPal account).
