The difficulty with Pay Pal, and it may be trivial, who knows, is that it is a de facto bank, so should be subject to banking regulations wherever it operates. Here in the US, that means minimum reserve requirements, solvency requirements, and compliance with the Uniform Commercial Code. However, as far as I know, PayPal doesn't think it's a bank, nor do they they are a credit card company. Caveat emptor, which means you should read what people who have used PayPal have to say on Epinions.
epinions.com
epinions.com
Let me pose a hypothetical. Some nasty person steals your identity, opens up a line of credit in your name, sets up a PayPal account, and buys thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. What is your recourse?
Hypo #2: you buy goods from a stranger using PayPal, but the goods were fraudulently misrepresented and are worthless. What is your recourse?
I can't give you the answer, because I don't know. I know, or could figure out, what the answer would be if PayPal was a bank, or a credit card company, although the fact that you are in New Zealand and the person you are buying from may be in the Soviet Union makes the transactions complicated.
This is why professionals engaged in international transactions use international letters of credit which will be funded when the goods are delivered and are of the quality and in the condition bargained for.
Personally, nothing I have bought on eBay has been in the condition bargained for, and I don't use it anymore. Your mileage may vary. |
