Credit Cards, cash advances, PayPal

Factual Questions
1

My credit card charges a higher interest rate for cash advances than for purchases. I just found out that if I buy a gift card at a store, it counts as a purchase (which is good).

But PayPal is, at its most fundamental level, a cash transfer system. If I tie my credit card to my PayPal account, do transactions THERE count as cash advances? Since they represent pretty much the only accepted form of payment for ebay purchases, I don’t want to find that I’m being dinged at a higher rate when PayPal submits a charge to my credit card. OTOH, I also don’t want it chained to my checking account, just in case I want to bid on something when my balance happens to be low.

Thanks for any insights you can provide.

2

At the time of the transaction PayPal will ask you what “type” of purchase you are making. If you are purchasing goods or services then PayPal will code the transaction as such and you shouldn’t get dinged with the higher fee by your card issuer.

From their help section: