# Can you pay through PayPal with a credit card? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305 "2008-03-13T23:44:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Walking\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@The\_Walking\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Walking_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/1 "2008-03-13T23:44:25Z")
A gentleman wants to purchase an item from me on eBay. He also wants to pay me through PayPal with a credit card. I was just wondering if anyone knows if this is possible or not. I know there is a PayPal credit card, but he doesn’t have one. It is a Buy it Now auction so he is waiting until we find something out before making an offer. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/2 "2008-03-13T23:46:29Z")
If you have a personal PayPal account, then no\*. If you have a Premier or Business account, then yes, you can accept payment by credit card direct into your account (without the sender requiring a PP account). \*It says “limited”, but I think this means they badger you to upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Walking\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@The\_Walking\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Walking_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/3 "2008-03-13T23:50:42Z")
I have a Premier account. Does that mean it will just be an option when he pays or do I need to do anything besides just having a basic Premier account? Thanks again for the info. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/4 "2008-03-14T00:37:46Z")
You don’t have to do anything. The buyer will sign up with Paypal entering his credit card info. He then can click on the Pay Now button in the invoice you sent or on his My Ebay page, select Paypal and after login and a couple of clicks, the funds are in your account. It will be totally seemless on your side. I have 30 to 50 auctions a week on eBay and in most cases, I have no idea if the buyers are paying with a credit card, bank withdrawl or from their personal account. The only payment method I am notified about is if the buyer pays with an “e-check”, I wait till Paypal tells me the check has cleared and I can send the merchandise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Walking\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@The\_Walking\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Walking_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/5 "2008-03-14T00:49:56Z")
Awesome. I’m relatively new to selling and only pay with bank withdrawal, so I had not idea. Thanks a lot to both of you. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/6 "2008-03-14T02:26:28Z")
Yes, you can pay with credit card. I do, and I have a regular old limited account. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/7 "2008-03-14T02:31:48Z")
We do this all the time. We have a regular PayPal account that withdraws from our credit card. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/8 "2008-03-14T03:48:08Z")
You can, but it will probably take a few days to add. Their new requirements charge a small amount to your card. Once the charge shows up on your bill in a few days, you are supposed to type in the reference number that shows up to verify your identity. They will then credit your account back for the charge amount. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/9 "2008-03-14T07:53:14Z")
[QUOTE=The Walking Dude] I have a Premier account. Does that mean it will just be an option when he pays or do I need to do anything besides just having a basic Premier account? Thanks again for the info. [/QUOTE] Yes - either he will sign up for PayPal (as **racer72** says), or he will be able to pay by credit card, through PayPal, as a one-off - without creating his own account. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/10 "2008-03-14T10:29:39Z")
[QUOTE=EmAnJ] Yes, you can pay with credit card. I do, and I have a regular old limited account. [/QUOTE] I do too… but for cost reasons, PayPal would prefer that “cash” is used. My bank account is the default and I have to change to credit card every time. I can’t figure out a way to make my credit card the default…anybody know if that is possible? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/11 "2008-03-14T16:12:36Z")
Paypal really doesn’t seem to want you paying by credit card. There is a spending limit when signing up for a CC only account. It was $1,000 years ago, I hit that limit eventually then I signed up again with a different credit card. On the new account the limit was like $5,000, but I think it’s lower for new accounts now. As for making your credit card the default, a friend of mine struggled with that for a long time, he had opened a bank account just so he could get “Verified” with PayPal. He didn’t want to give them access to his “real” bank account. The account didn’t have any money in it, but PayPal kept trying to take money out of it when he bought something, which would make the bank charge him an insufficient funds fee. He never did figure out a way to make the credit card the default, I think the best answer is to sign up for another PayPal account with a different credit card and don’t give them your bank account info at all. But beware, if you’ve ever added a particular credit card to a PayPal account before, they seem to keep track and won’t let it be added to any account again. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/12 "2008-03-14T18:19:59Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] I do too… but for cost reasons, PayPal would prefer that “cash” is used. My bank account is the default and I have to change to credit card every time. I can’t figure out a way to make my credit card the default…anybody know if that is possible? [/QUOTE] It’s not. It’s in Paypal’s best interest (although not necessarily yours) to do a bank transfer rather than a CC payment, because the latter costs them more (I think the former may even be free for them, but I’m not sure on that point). Of course, they don’t pass the savings (of the transfer) on to the seller… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/13 "2008-03-14T18:46:43Z")
In order to preserve VISA chargeback privileges, ALL of my Ebay purchases are paid with VISA. I have to do business with numerous sellers who can neither describe nor package their merchandise properly, and there’s lots of fighting with sellers… In some cases, to accomplish this I have to do a WITHDRAW TO BANK ACCOUNT transaction prior to purchasing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Walking\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@The\_Walking\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Walking_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/14 "2008-03-14T19:05:14Z")
I think all of the info has discouraged me from ever using a credit card with PayPal. Since I don’t have one, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. 🙂 I keep thinking I should get one for emergencies, but it seems like a hassle and I’m afraid I would use the thing when I didn’t really need it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/15 "2008-03-14T22:56:45Z")
It’s legitimate to get a debit card to use with Paypal. Secret: If there’s a dispute over a transaction and it was paid from Paypal funds, Paypal investigates and uses their standards. If there’s a dispute over a transaction and it was paid from VISA/Mastercard/etc funding, Paypal investigates and uses the standards established by VISA/Mastercard. VISA/Mastercard rules favor the consumer moreso than do regular Paypal rules. On edit: Wow, I sound like a real pain-in-the-neck Ebayer, huh? In the last $6K in Ebay purchases, I’ve only filed 2 Paypal disputes and done one chargeback… ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-pay-through-paypal-with-a-credit-card/441305/16 "2008-03-15T02:40:38Z")
[QUOTE=The Walking Dude] I think all of the info has discouraged me from ever using a credit card with PayPal. Since I don’t have one, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. 🙂 I keep thinking I should get one for emergencies, but it seems like a hassle and I’m afraid I would use the thing when I didn’t really need it. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure why others have found it difficult. it was very straight forward for us..