I havent had a problem with paypal as of yet but I dont like how they hold funds when a case is opened. I've read some horror stories as well where money has been taken out of the bank account. Is it worth me getting escrow and putting it all there or is my bank account safe?
Withdrawing to your bank account is fine, just do it in small increments and not at all once or you risk your Paypal getting limited. But it's usually a good idea to keep enough money in your Paypal account to cover a return or two just in case.
Paypal and your bank are likely secure enough. They spend a lot of their resources to ensure that your money is safe. I think if you follow blt938's advice you'll be fine.
My experience is that you should at least keep enough money in your paypal acct to cover for at least 2-3 returns. If you're selling legit items and going for a long term income from eBay, you pretty much have to play by their rules, and in the worst case scenario, they're going to debit your bank account anyways and get you in trouble with your bank. No need to burn a perfectly good ebay/Paypal acct because you don't have funds to cover for returns and disputes. What I do it to keep at least enough money to cover 2-3 returns and when paypal funds go up beyond that I withdraw to the bank. Since I run like a dozen paypal accts each linked to a bank account, I keep one master bank account that's absolutely not linked to anything (don't even use the ATM or do on line banking on this acct, just to be extra safe!) to deposit funds into from paypal bank accounts. Then I will write paper checks to move money between the paypal bank accts to master bank account.
I think paypal is the safest way of keeping the money because it is only gateway between the email and bank account.Most safety and easy way is we can link our email account directly with paypal account.
I am sorry....wat?! Its far from the 'safest' way out there... It can be 'convenient' yes... safe? no.
How is it safer than me putting my money under my mattress and sitting next to it with a shotgun, while an army of private mercenaries is near by in case someone comes within a mile of my house? Just saying you might want to think of things through before saying something is the 'safest', 'best' or 'sexiest' (Unless it's me you're talking about). Besides, if Paypal was the safest place to store money, how come there's still places like Fort Knox? Wouldn't the government just hand over all their gold and tell them to keep it safe? Jokes and a point aside, what an earth do you mean by this email gateway? It's a possibility for someone to use your money if they get their hands on it, just as a Visa or a Mastercard (Debit cards, or a credit card if you have one linked to your Paypal).
If you really want to keep your money safe, you can use like 30%-40% in bitcoins (safe as long as you keep your wallet offline) and the rest in bank account, PayPal and other accounts. Don't put all your money in one place and try to purchase stocks, etc. Invest and make more.
Just withdraw it from ebay and be calm. Even if you are sure you will win the dispute dont risk at all
Keep at least two bank accounts: 1 checking and 1 non-checking (there should be no ATM/debit access of any kind and no way to transfer money from this account aside from transfers between accounts online). Checking is used to pay bills, withdraw money from paypal, accept international wires, send wires, etc. This will be your "public-facing" account. As soon as money hits your public-facing account, immediately move it over to the other account, either in full or as much as you can.
Why don't you just try to save your money in safety deposit box? And every single month add more money to it in your local bank.
My friend puts his money into Georgia (country, not state).. He get's 14% per year on USD fixed term deposits there in micro finance comapnies....
How many cases are you going to realistically have open at one time? It isn't really a big deal its a cost of business. The money will be returned. Just make sure you win the case.
I am not sure what country you are in but if your paypal is legit and you are in the US get a paypal prepaid visa card. You can transfer up to $300 a day and $2k a month to your card from paypal instantly and go straight to the atm and pull out all your cash.