I'm sure most of you are at least somewhat aware of the situation regarding the creator of Minecraft, Notch's struggle with Paypal. I for one thought it was a fairly uncommon but nonetheless utterly shitty thing to happen.

Well it seems I was wrong. Not about it being utterly shitty thing to happen. But rather that it's not uncommon at all.

Another recent victim is Gametail - an upcoming online retail outlet that seems to have been shot down at the first hurdle by none other than our friends at Paypal.

Bastards.

Anyway, by all means turn this into a Paypal hatred thread.

I stopped selling on Ebay when they made Paypal mandatory for listings in my categories.

Paypal. The very word can be used to summon evil demons from their realm into our

some strange noises behind me too scared to look oh my god oh my god ohmyg

Can anyone give a fair explanation of why Paypal is so bad, I haven't had any problems with them. I have used them as both a seller and buyer using ebay.

Additionally, is there a better alternative? I don't like giving my credit details out to so many online companies, so I much prefer an organisation like Pay Pal.

The Paypal Man! He has hooks for hands.

Are you hooked on Paypal yet? Because you will be...

I use MoneyBookers... They seem okay, never had problems with their services. ;)

Personal experience: they 'upgraded' my account twice. Making it completely unusable to the point where I couldn't even access the funds in there. Unfortunately I'm not a business, you see.

You can only change your account type twice and that seems to include times where they take it upon themselves to change it for you. So the second time they changed it completely buried any further possibility of me continuing to use the account.

Luckily I didn't have any funds in there as I learned my lesson the first time around.

Lessons learned from the experience of others: they seem to be able to steal your money at whim. And yes, I do mean just take it and keep it for themselves. They even openly claim such things even when they're not even trying to provide any kind of real explanation for doing so.

Yeah, I'd say that's pretty bad.

As for alternatives, mostly your only real alternatives are credit and debit cards where possible. I still use Paypal but via Direct Debit. I never leave any money in the account.

It comes down to them acting like a bank, but not not being one, therefore not being under the same laws and regulations banks are. They can upgrade your account, close it down, "freeze" it, and you cant do anything. But sadly, like Steam they get all the praise from across the web.

Basically, has gained a reputation for taking money without explanation, usually from businesses, although I've heard some horror stories about them from customers.
It's like DRM. Until you get screwed by it, you don't give a damn. Unfortunately, they're the only worldwide alternative to cards on the internet.

Yeah, I see Paypal as a necessary evil for the odd purchase on Ebay, but I use it the same way as you do Navagon. I simply use the direct debit feature and never leave any money in the account for them to zoink.

Although I did notice that this method of purchasing no longer works on Gamersgate for me; I only have the option to use Paypal via credit/debit card when buying from there now.

Paypal has not allowed several purchases from my paypal, only because it's an international transaction. It's a common rule of thumb with them.

Funny thing... my country is not listed on Paypal. I asked them multiple times why its not possible for me to make an account, and they answered me that according to the law here their company needs offices here in my country, and also to be labeled as a bank which will follow all applicable laws.

My guess is they can't do that, lol.

It must have only changed recently as I used to be able to buy anything I wanted with said method. Oh well, thanks for the info though.

Of course, the plus side is that the fewer ways to spend money makes me inversely more wealthy.

Whats that? Transaction fee for registering my credit card? WELL FUCK YOU TOO PAYPAL.

Paypal has been a terrible company for along time. Their business practices are, at best, shady and unethical. They stole money from my Paypal account and I haven't done business with them since. They really can, and you have no recourse (as I learned). For those who think, "they can't just steal money from you! That'd be illegal," you have to remember that they're a private business and you agree to their rules when you sign up. They have control over your money, and are free to do whatever they want with it.