Understanding how Paypal works...

[ambipur2]

Hi there.I'm having trouble getting to grips with Paypal.Recently,I've had a couple of refunds,and they don't seem to Do anything.. I don't grasp why a refund doesn't go back to my bank account?

I have a paypal account,it's linked to my bank account,and ( I think!) I pay by my debit card,though it shows up in my bank as a direct debit payments.Which is confusing enough...

Ok,so I pay for items regularly,via Paypal,but I don't keep a "balance",as it comes from my bank account.

Recently,I had two refunds,one of £4,and one of nearly £100.I can't see where these refunds have "gone",they seem to have been "completed" so I thought they ought to go back to my bank balance,but they don't..So why do payments still keep minus-ing from Paypal account,IF the refunds have cleared and this refund is now my paypal balnce..

I suppose because they are payments, ie amounts deducted, but it looks like they're being taken twice,as now,I have had a random Paypal bank from my BANK account,of £29.

I haven't Bought anything on Paypal,for that  specific amount,so I haven't got a clue what's going on!  Surely if I have a paypal balance,there shouldn't be anything coming out of my bank account,let aone for a random amount I do not recognise? Can they have somehow,lumped some smaller Pyapal payments togther,or..? God knows...

Is  only some of the things I buy, being used by the refund/paypal balance,or what? I'd assumed ,if the refund has cleared,and I have nearly £100 as a paypal balance,and recently purchased items have come to say..£50,in bits and peice,and my current paypal balance stands at £62 ( which shows they're using my refund to buy with) where has this Paypal payment of £29,come from,that's showing up in my bank account? I haven't got anything in my pYpal account for that amount,I have made several small ( under £10) purchases,but no exact £29 amount.

I'm wondering if it was a larger Paypal amount ( I pay for my coal delivery,via Paypal) of £33,that they took say,a few quid of,from my bank,and the rest from my Paypal balance,or something,but that sounds bizarre..Can anyone make head or tail of this? I'd be very grateful for some pointers,sorry if this all sounds a bit odd..it all seems very odd,to me,but it's not funny,because I'm having real trouble keeping tabs on my money,refunds in,bank payments out,and paypal-balance payments out..I can't see where everything's going! Maths also,isn't my strong point,so it makes it hard for me to try and grasp,I'm worried that things might be somehow,geting paid for twice or something?

[snowshoe]

Here's a few tips as to how things work:

Refunds:

* If you pay with your PayPal Account Balance or your Bank Account, refunds are always credited back to your PayPal Account Balance.

* If you pay with a card, refunds are always credited back to the card that used.

Order of Payment Sources:

PayPal will first look at your PayPal Account balance, if you have insufficient funds, PayPal will then take the funds from your Bank Account.  PayPal will do an instant transfer from your bank account assuming you have a current linked and confirmed credit card.  If the card is not current or no card, then the transfer from your bank account to pay for the purchase can take a few days, possibly up to 4.

If you have a credit card and no bank account, then the credit card will be used. This all happens assuming you don't elect to choose a funding source. Note, If you have both a bank account and credit card, you can choose to pay with your credit card on the PayPal Checkout screens by using the pay with another source option. There you can select your card from the dropdown.

It is possible to pay using the funds in your Account balance and the remainder with a credit card however, you must first elect to pay with your credit card. Your available balance will be used up and the remainder is charged to your card. As this now looks like you've sent a single payment, you remain eligible for Buyer Protection. You would not be eligible for Buyer Protection, if you paid for the item with two separate transactions.

What you cannot do is split a single payment between 2 bank accounts, 2 credit/debit card accounts or a bank account and a credit/debit card account. In addition, you cannot split a single payment between 2 PayPal accounts.

Using Prepaid Type Cards:

Per PayPal's own Help FAQs, they state the following: You can't link a gift card, prepaid card, or one-time-use card to your PayPal account.  From our experience the exceptions are, PayPal Products or Green Dot Money Packs or a Prepaid Card that allows you to register both your name and billing address.

Suggest not trying to link a prepaid card to your PayPal account unless the card is a PayPal Product or a Green Dot Money Pack or you have contacted the prepaid card issuer and registered both your name and billing address with the card.  Note, there’s still a risk that the registered prepaid card may not be accepted if the name does not match the PayPal account name or the billing address is incomplete.

With many prepaid cards, there's no owner name or billing address information nor is there a way to include that information on the card.  There’s only the card number and an amount.  PayPal can see the amount but, their security checks cannot confirm the card owner as there’s no name or address info.  When that happens, you are asked to use another funding source.

If you try link the card, you may have some dollar amount removed however, the linking process will fail.  In other cases, you can link the card and may even have a small amount deducted from the card while trying to confirm it but again, you may not be able to use it for a purchase.  As for how you go about getting that dollar amount returned, you may need to contact customer support for assistance or the card issuer or both.

[ambipur2]

Thanks snowshoe..I think I've gradually,worked it out,for some reason,I thought refunds went back into Paypal.In essence,I didn't think it was posible for me to Have a paypal "Balance" as I thought all transactions ,both debits and credits,went from,or to,my bank account,I never pay cash into Paypal.I had some slight confusion,regarding how I pay,I think,orignally,I used to pay with my bank debit ( not credit) card,but then,some times later, I set up direct-debit,from my bank account,I suppose this was part of the  "verification" process..

I think,stupidly,I forgot this,( it was some years ago) and still thought it was somehow coming out of my card ! ( I know,I know..)

I think..whatever the payment is,showing in my bank account,was some kind of..partially-funded payment,perhaps from the first,£4, refund,and something I bought around the same time..and subsequent purchases will come from the second,larger refund.

It's just the "time lag" factors,from when I buy things,when the refund(s) cleared, and how long things take to show up in my bank account etc..I have emailed Paypal,to be sure,and asked them if they can clarify,break it down for me,so I'll know what's what.I think I was just confused,my bank is doing that thing,it shows no activity,for days on end,and then,suddenly,you get ten all at once...and it's easy to forget a payment here,a refund,another payment,another refund,etc etc..

Thanks for your time and effort,much appreciated 🙂

[Katie_24601]

Hi, i have around £12.00 in my bank account and i recently purchased an item off of ebay at around £25.00hoping to oay in a few days. In paypal it says payment completed and on ebay it has the pound sign filled in - paid, but my back account has not showed money exiting (on paypal it does), and any way i dont have enough to cover the costs (im 15). What do i do!!! HELP!!!!!! 

katie

[kernowlass]

You are not allowed to have a paypal account until you are 18.

If you don't have enough in your bank account the payment will fail and paypal will put your account into negative until you pay them back.

Or they may read this and take action against your account as you are underage.