Paypal in the Philippines.. Finally

[juntzo]

You have to register in ebay.com and paypal.com. The sites have a very good explanation of the processes of buying and selling. Paypal facilitates the transfer of cash with good safeguards so you can't be cheated or scammed. You have to have a credit card and better, a checking account which can be validated by paypal.

I have bought several items already from cookwares, exercise equipment, laptops, etc. and so far my experience has been good. Choose the sellers with good feedbacks.

I don't have any experience about sellers shipping from abroad to the philippines though. Maybe somebody else can chipin any info!

[userfriendly]

How does this work? I have a paypal account in Canada. Can I use that paypal account when buying stuff from there and sending it here (Phil)?

[mr_incredible]

I have read several alleged "horror stories" about Paypal in the States from sites such as these:

http://www.paypalsucks.com/

http://www.paypalwarning.com/

http://www.aboutpaypal.org/

For those with experiences in using Paypal, could you comment on the legitimacy of these claims? And, if we were to assume that they were true, what steps have those responsible for bringing Paypal to the Philippines taken to prevent such things from happening?

[theveed]

user: if you still maintain that credit card in Canada, then yes. It doesn't really matter where the payment is from, as long as the merchant gets paid. Shipping issue has very little to do with Paypal other than the actual shipping charges involved in your sale. They're just an escrow service.

Internet buying 101?

Well, lots of different routes you can take and honestly, only experience can tell you what's a good deal or not.

Needless to say there are some basic guidelines, I'll try to chime in. I've bought golf clubs, cameras, lenses, jewelry, watches, video games, slippers, and all sorts of crap over the net since 1995 or so... Nothing major, but quite frequent.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: Usually you get cheaper rates. In addition, it saves you a lot of shopping time. It's nearly impossible to shop for a small car part or spare item physically unless you know a lot of suppliers, even then you probably need to buy bulk. Over the net, everything can be purchased "tingi" retail.

Con: You usually have to pay shipping. If you're in the US, if an item is available in the mall/grocery/stores, chances are the landed cost will be the same as if you've purchased it physically. Especially true with heavy items. Of course, you still have to wait for the item to arrive.

Pro: Convenience - Enough said... Forgot it's your anniversary tomorrow and it's 1130PM? Go online, buy some flowers to be sent to your special someone in her office the next day. Done.

Cons: Possibility of scams - I guess this is the most troublesome aspect for most newbies especially those not in 1st world countries where cyberbiz is a common thing.

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About scams...

Follow three rules -

1) If it's too good to be true, don't buy it. Ain't no way a 60" Plasma will be selling for P50K. Don't be a fool. If you're looking for a bargain, 15-20% off retail is usually a great deal. Shipping EXCLUDED of course, especially if you're not in the same country as the vendor.

2) If it only takes payment using wire transfer/bank transfer/cash/check etc. There's no security claims with paying by cash (wire is the same thing). ALWAYS pay by credit card. In an event of a dispute (as long as it's before your due date), you can always file a scam report to your bank and they'll cease the transaction from being your liability as they look into the problem.

Along with this advice. Try to buy stuff over the web AFTER your cut-off date. If you buy something within your cut-off date, chances are you'll be billed for the purchase before you receive the item (due to shipping period). If you buy it after, you'll be guaranteed at least 25-30 days before you'll be billed for that purchase.

Finally for #2, whenever you enter a page where you enter your credit card details or Paypal details, it should ALWAYS be a secure site (a padlock sign in your browser and https address not http).

3) Lastly, research: Most bigger companies like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, signature brands, etc are not an issue, just buy stuff as if you're buying it physically. Make sure you note the shipping cost before making the payment. If you're buying something for $20 and shipping to MNL is $20 as well, you better be sure you can't find that same item for P1500 here even if it "costs" P800 only in the US (based on 40 exchange rate).

If you're buying from ebay. Go with those with a lot of feedbacks (positive) and those with ebay stores. While it's not a guarantee, your batting average will be much, much higher.

Always contact sellers if your question HASN'T BEEN ANSWERED IN THE AD. Nothing is more irritating than buyers who don't read the Terms and Conditions and sends an email asking for it. If you have issues (like Int'l shipping rates) that aren't addressed, email the guy. If the ad says NO INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING. Don't ask if they do.

With smaller/individual sellers, most of them are very flexible with terms as long as they receive the payment. If you want to, you can ask them to mark the item(s) as samples/gifts etc. if you want to avoid being taxed heavily here (not recommended, as a citizen you should pay your taxes, but it's your "diskarte" if you want to).

Most larger sellers won't entertain such requests. They'll ship the item with an invoice inside, as soon as it lands in MNL, they'll assess the tax (they being Fed-Ex/UPS/DHL) in their offices. If shipped via USPS (US Postal Service), you'll have to get your item from Philippine post offices (whichever office is nearest to your shipping address: NIA road for QC, etc.), they'll open the box in front of you and will get the invoice and bill you the tax before they'll release the package.

If it's marked as a gift, sample, return product (defective), etc. There should still be an invoice but the values would be 0 (zero).

We (Big Bert's) once asked for a Euro chemical company to send us their product samples, they sent us 8 bottles (1.5liters each) and it's clearly marked as samples, the post office guy was quite disappointed to not get anything from us. But that's legit samples.

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If you have relatives in the US, best would still be ship it to them as a lot of retailers offer free shipping. If they visit the Phil often enough, it's worth the wait.
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Last word about credit cards...

STOP WORRYING!

Most credit card fraud are committed with standard, physical transactions. If you ask folks who work for credit card companies, most frauds are made in bars and restaurants.

There is literally no difference if you hand your card to a stranger (waiter, gas boy, cashier in the grocery) vs doing it online. Doing it online offers you a much greater security since the credit card data is ENCRYPTED, unlike manual transactions.

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About PAYPAL. There's really nothing to worry about as they're just a middleman for SELLERS who can't get a merchant account to take in credit card. For buyers, makes not difference, it just saves you time from entering your Cc info all the time.

Advice:

1) IGNORE ALL EMAILS from PAYPAL as they almost NEVER email you other than the initial activation and sign-up details. Craploads of phishing emails sending you "Please update your personal info" will be a common thing. Just ignore it.

2) Basic security - pick a good password, preferably with letters, caps, special characters and numbers combined. This is one place where annoying text speak works... If your password is *iWaNt2uzePaypA1" it's a lot better than "Iwanttousepaypal". Change your password every few months, whether you use it or not. If you rarely use Paypal, remove your card info...

3) Watch your budget... Clicking is a lot easier than pulling out your wallet and signing a piece of paper... Not for impulse buyers with limited budget as you can get into trouble quickly hehe.

Hope I've helped.

[userfriendly]

Thanks Veed, very imformative.

Paypal is not bad. I once had the misfortune of buying an mp3 player from ebay which the seller never shipped. I paid using ebay. After several unsucessful attempts to contact the seller, I filed a complaint with paypal. It took sometime but I was eventually refunded my money. Don't remember the details anymore.

[j_avonni]

This is good news!



:yawn: [SIZE="1"]3239[/SIZE]

[theveed]

This just in...

New! Withdraw Your Funds to Your Philippine Bank Account Now you can add your Philippine bank account to your PayPal account, so you can withdraw your money directly to your bank. It saves you time and gives you faster access to your PayPal funds!

Plus, there is no charge to withdrawal amounts over PHP 7000*. So go ahead and add your bank account today!


*For withdrawal amounts of less than PHP 7000, there is a nominal fee of PHP 50.

[juntzo]

the only issue for me is that you can't withdraw dollars to your local dollar account. it has to be converted to pesos for your local bank and they charge up to 3.9% plus other fees! ouch...