Probably because of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I’ve recently been asked at least a dozen times “Is it safe to shop online?”. Rather than respond to all those emails, I’ve decided to dedicate an entire Groovy Series to online shopping covering everything from online payments, great deals and cash back options. Hopefully the series will help a few Groovy readers learn a few things about online shopping so you to can take the plunge and enjoy the benefits of NO lines, great deals AND (not to forget) cyber debt. 
So, when it comes to shopping online, it’s important to not only “feel” safe but (more importantly), to “know” your privacy and financials “are” safe. This is probably why 1 out of 5 people I know tell me they don’t shop online. They’ve heard “stories”… And they all think it’s a guarantee that if they shop online, their going to get scammed in some way, their identity will be stolen and, their kids will end up pregnant…. 
Honestly, with all the safeguards Credit Card companies have put in place with online shopping, the above concerns are probably more likely to occur when using your card at the local Red Robin when the meth addict teen scans your credit card and copies it for later use. Sure… this can happen online as well which is why I’m going to first talk about an alternative to using your Credit Card online.
PayPal is probably the #1 Online Payment vendor which was originally introduced in 1998 to help solve the Payment and Privacy problems of the Internet. Essentially the way it works is after setting up a PayPal account from their website, PayPal acts as the middle man between you and the Online Retailer.
How Does it Work?
Like a Credit Card company, PayPal first validates a few pieces of information about you (Name, Address etc..) and then creates your account based on your email address. Once your account is created, you can Purchase stuff online using your PayPal account funding the transactions either from a linked Bank Account or a Credit Card. The groovy “secure” thing about PayPal is when you buy something online, all you provide to the vendor is your email address and PayPal takes care of the rest (vendor must accept PayPal as a payment option).
Another nice thing about PayPal is the ability to use it to send someone cash OR, receive cash from someone (perhaps from last nights poker game…). All that’s needed is the email address and if the person you send cash to “via their email address” does not have a PayPal account, the email they receive will walk them through the process of creating a new PayPal account. Again, very simple and secure (and free in most cases). Personally, I use this option to send cash to missionary friends in Africa. Simple, secure and very fast!
Who is PayPal? Can I Trust Them?
EBAY (I’m guessing you’ve heard of them) started using PayPal in the beginning and acted as the escrow between the buyer and seller of online auctions. It worked out so well that that in 2002, EBAY acquired PayPal. Since then, PayPal has quickly grown in popularity because of it’s ease of use, secure concept and great customer service (fraud complaints and resolution etc…). Online Vendors / Retailers also like it because they know it has solid backing by EBAY and won’t be going anywhere. In other words, their money is safe once it hits their/your account (plus, money sitting in a PayPal accounts gains interest like a bank / money market account.
PayPal is Convenient
PayPal is not only secure, it’s also a quick way to pay. Once your account is setup, all you have to do is memorize one login and password (your PayPal account). Since you can link a checking account or credit card to the account, your good to go! PayPal will remember your shipping address and all of your payment options for you. This makes things way easier than having to pull out your credit card every time you want to buy something and typing in all the numbers, secret codes etc..
PayPal offers limited buyer protection, through one of it’s policies. If you don’t receive your product, or feel it was advertently misrepresented then you can file a buyer complaint within 45 days of the original purchase. If the complaint is found to be valid, the seller will have to give you a full refund including shipping. Paypal will usually only go as far as to file legal action and/or remove money from the wrong party’s PayPal account balance.
If you’re interested in selling things online, PayPal has good options for you but, they do charge fee’s for processing. Just something to keep in mind.
Alright sounds good, where do I sign up?
1. Open your Internet Browser and Type in the URL http://www.paypal.com/.
2. Click the Account Link of your choice to continue. The registration process is pretty self-explanatory, be sure to fill in your real info, PayPal will keep it confidential.
Note: Starting out, I recommend using the Personal Account. It’s free of all fees and should be all you’ll ever need. Plus, if you want to upgrade later, it’s as simple as a few clicks. To compare the 3 accounts however, click here. PayPal lays an account comparison in a simple to read format.
Once your account is created, go ahead and Login. It should take you to your Account Overview page. Next you’ll want to set up your account so you can start buying! To do this:
3. Click My Account > Profile. You’ll now be at the main page where you will Edit and Enter Information about yourself and your Payment / Shipping Options. Please remember that most online stores will only ship to your PayPal shipping address when you’re making purchases through.
Setup is all finished, you now have one groovy PayPal account for buying and selling stuff online!
**Note: Never ever share your PayPal login information with anyone, and use a strong solid password / pass phrase.**
Again
Never ever share your PayPal login information with anyone!
Okay, awesome I’ve got PayPal, now what do I do with it? How do I go about buying things?
Luckily they’ve already thought of this, PayPal allows online retailers to easily integrate their checkout systems with PayPal. All you have to do is shop and add things to your cart. Once it is time for Checkout, look for the option to Check out with PayPal or pay using PayPal.
Sometimes PayPal even offers rewards for using it, such as cash back!
Here’s a few picture examples of what to look for!
Have a groovy time with PayPal! Would love to hear everyone comments so please feel free to drop a note below. If you have a question, please use our Free & Groovy Community Tech Support Forums!
Yup I use paypal, way better than using a credit card. I don’t have it hooked up to a checking account though, just a mastercard. So in such I have double the protection.
Funny article. I’ve been using Paypal for a long time. Looking forward to your follow-up articles on cash savings!