Speaking of scams, how does Paypal work....

search on PayPal for many opinions and experiences. Bottom line, PayPal, eBay, AudioGon are not responsible for you making a good deal. You need to do your homework, figure out if you can trust the seller (feedback helps) and as far as sending funds securely, PayPal works great. I use it a lot, (I transfer funds directly from my checking account) but I do my homework on WHO I am buying from and have NEVER had any problems.
hope this helps,
angela

I assume?? you can always dispute the charge with VISA if you don't get the goods, etc.

Sugarbrie: That's not entirely correct. You are paying Paypal to deliver money to another party. You authorized VISA to pay Paypal, and as long as Paypal delivers the money to the other party then they have met their obligation. It is possible that Visa/MC would assist in a situation like that, but as I understand it--they are not obligated to. When you pay someone directly with Visa/MC or whatever, then you have recourse with Visa/MC if the other party does not deliver the goods or even if the goods are damaged or not as advertised. All that being said, I have used Paypal quite a lot and really like the service. It's fast and does provide a traceable transaction should you need recourse. So far, all of my transactions have gone smoothly, so I can't say for sure what happens if you do have problems.

Paypal also provides you with the option of wiring funds from a checking account (which they prefer) to the payee. But you have to take steps to protect yourself; after all, your credit card and checking account numbers are travelling over the internet and there is always the possibility that they can be hijacked. Not a slam against PayPal's security ot integrity, just a fact of internet life.

What I did was to open a separate checking account at my local bank that I use exclusively for PayPal. I never keep any money in this account per above. When I make a purchase on ebay or wherever, I transfer funds to this account and then use PayPal.