Shutdown
I recently reported that Paypal shut me down. The main reason I posted that on the site was as a friendly warning to our readers that it may not be worth playing around with Paypal. Oddly, I had just made that decision myself (specifically in regard to Paypal MyCash cards), but I had $1500 worth of MyCash to deal with. I didn’t think small numbers would be a problem, and since I hadn’t been doing much MyCash action recently, I didn’t think it would be a big deal to unload that $1500 and then go cold-turkey from there.
I was wrong.
One thing I would note: I reported a while back on receiving a warning email from Paypal. Just recently, I received a second email from Paypal – Warning #2. I now think it’s possible that once you receive a second warning, you’re being watched. It’s not just a mass mailing like the first one. In general, I’m not sure if it’s worthwhile for someone to play around with Paypal (if having a Paypal account is important to you – see below), but I’d especially mention this to those who already received a second email.
When I tried calling in and seeing if there was anything to do, it was like talking to a stone wall. I just tried for a minute and I saw there’s no one to talk to. Â One thing the rep from the Paypal security team mentioned is that “you had been warned repeatedly”. Presumably, Â the second warning is the “repeated” warning, which is why I’d caution specifically those who were warned twice.
I’m not entirely positive that it was just the MyCash that caused the shutdown, see the comments to the previous post and you may be able to glean another Paypal sin I was committing. I honestly hadn’t realized that was an issue at all, but I’m now beginning to think it is. (Sorry for being so vague, but I’ll leave it at that.)
Paypal Shipping
Now…life without Paypal.
The first thing that hit me the next day is when I needed to print out a shipping label to send out a small package. I had an order of gift cards which I was shipping out to CardCash, and I had always used paypal.com/shipnow to print out shipping labels. It’s a great way of paying for shipping directly from your paypal account, and you have all your payment methods saved anyway in your  paypal account, so you don’t need to start pulling out your credit card.
Okay, not so terrible, I reasoned. I’ll head over to usps.com and print out a label there.
Turns out it’s not so simple. Usps.com only sells Priority mail online. You can’t buy the cheaper USPS First Class Package. Honestly, it was probably a difference of $2-$3, but it was starting to bug me.
I do realize that I could try opening another unconfirmed Paypal account, and I should be able to do something like printing shipping label, but I haven’t done so yet. I ended up just stopping by the post office, since it was on my way anyhow. Shipping labels are slightly more expensive at the post office, and they also charge $1.05 for tracking (which comes free when you purchase a Paypal label), but it wasn’t so terrible.
eBay Buy
The bigger issue is buying and selling on eBay.
As for buying, I learned that most items can be purchased without a Paypal account. When eBay directs us to Paypal to pay, you’ll see an option on the screen of “Don’t have a Paypal account?”, which allows you to process a payment through the Paypal system with your credit card, without an actual Paypal account.
One headache over here, at least for now, is that most of my credit cards are attached to one of my two Paypal accounts, and they probably won’t let me use a credit card that’s attached to a Paypal account. I have to try it out and see. If they don’t allow it, then I’ll have to use a spare credit card which isn’t attached to either Paypal account for eBay purchases. I would remove the card from my Paypal account, but they don’t allow removing a card on a frozen account (although I’m able to login and view all past transactions).
An interesting scenario arises with purchasing e-gift cards on eBay from Paypal Digital Gifts. When purchasing such e-gift cards, they don’t allow the option of purchase without a Paypal account. So I’d only be able to purchase these items if I opened a new Paypal account.
Additionally, I currently have a couple hundred dollars of eBay e-gift cards which probably will need to be used with a Paypal account, so I’d need to open a new Paypal account to use them up.
Luckily, none of my eBay e-gift cards are partly used. When you use up part of an eBay e-gift card, Paypal ties the gift card to that particular Paypal account and it can’t be used with another Paypal account. If I had a part used eBay gift card, then I’d be completely out of luck. Even opening a new Paypal account wouldn’t remedy that.
eBay Sell
Now for selling on eBay.
I haven’t been selling on eBay recently, but if I’d want to do so I’d need a Paypal account. Now, again, assuming I can open a non-confirmed Paypal account, I’d be okay with selling small amounts. But if I was pushing real numbers it wouldn’t work, since Paypal has a $500 monthly withdrawal limit for non-confirmed accounts. If I wanted to sell on eBay, I’d probably need to use the account of a friend or family member.
So, these are some reflections…from the morning after.
