Offering PayPal for Bitcoin? You're likely to be labeled a scammer - Read why

[Ron Swanson]

what about buying bitcoins on eBay and paying with PP?

[sidelsky18]

The only legitimate way I've found to transfer back to USD is though big exchanges like BitFloor.

[mco65]

what about buying bitcoins on eBay and paying with PP?

I have done that but only in small qtys... .01, .1 and .25

so far, so good. 

[jakjakman]

what about buying bitcoins on eBay and paying with PP?

Buying isn't really the problem, because paypal will usually favor the buyer in a dispute.  So if you get your coins, you're good.  As a side note, I bought my first bitcoin over eBay as a Casascius coin.  Think I only paid like $25 for it, too. 

[zenrith]

Speaking of scams...

If any of you are aware of Kijiji or Craigslist, this may interest you.

Recently, with the deluge of ASIC's hitting the btc mining market, many GPU miners have been selling their old GPU's as they either upgrade to ASIC or get out of the mining business altogether. 

Whereas this action in itself it legit, the following is not:  Seller on Kijiji offered a HD Radeon 6990 for $200.  When an offer was emailed to them, the reply came back with, "I think 1.5btc will be enough to cover this and shipping".. (included a payment address).

When asked about using Paypal to secure payment of the product instead of btc, 1 person replied, "no, only btc and pay now or the card goes to others" and the next replied nothing at all.

I posit that any coins sent to the address would have been lost to me without a product in-hand.

Be wary of btc's in the murky depths of the web.

[and0r]

haha screw paypal

[Orgonix23]

oh I do loath paypal 
They have screwed me in the past
this post is great, very helpful for avoiding getting scammed
Thanks!

[Nejuf]

So, are there any online services that can be set up fairly easily to send funds from Paypal, and then buy bitcoins?

[Mike Christ]

So, are there any online services that can be set up fairly easily to send funds from Paypal, and then buy bitcoins?

Because you can't use PayPal to exchange currency, you cannot set it up with any exchange.  The only place I know of which you can use PayPal is through VirWox.com -- there, you can buy Lindens, and then trade the Lindens for Bitcoin.  It's a loop hole, but it works--to an extent.  You can only trade 50 PPUSD at a time.  All other exchanges require all your complete identity, IF you're dealing with USD.  When trading between the altcoins, you may remain anonymous.

[btcminer021]

I HATE PayPal. They totally screwed me and locked my account due to a lying buyer. That said, there's something nice about being able to click and send money to someone. Too bad BTC hasn't caught on in the mainstream, yet!

[drewz]

maybe someone should develop a paypal2btc escrow service , paypal is to mainstream to leave behind

[Mylon]

The only way to get there... is the moment PayPal actually accepts Bitcoins and start putting their faith in it. Until PayPal itself likes it and backs it... I wouldn't try selling any bitcoins over paypal. As paypal prefers to agree with buyer, even thus chooses in their favor. Even though bitcoins are non-refundable and completely open. (an accountants wet dream)

Buying bitcoins with paypal... why not, if you have your bitcoin screw paypal.

[Nejuf]

So, are there any online services that can be set up fairly easily to send funds from Paypal, and then buy bitcoins?

Because you can't use PayPal to exchange currency, you cannot set it up with any exchange.  The only place I know of which you can use PayPal is through VirWox.com -- there, you can buy Lindens, and then trade the Lindens for Bitcoin.  It's a loop hole, but it works--to an extent.  You can only trade 50 PPUSD at a time.  All other exchanges require all your complete identity, IF you're dealing with USD.  When trading between the altcoins, you may remain anonymous.

Thanks, work-arounds are what I'm looking for.  I'm open to doing VirWox, but on the wiki it says in whole BTC values only and someone said the fees would be 25%.  Is this still true?  I cannot find such information on the Virwox site.

I only see:
Market Order Fee: USD/SLL   50 SLL   2.90%
Deposit Fee: a variable Paypal fee
Withdrawal Fee: A handling fee of 0.01 BTC per bitcoin withdrawal will be charged.


How legit would you say dealing with the sellers that have a positive rating on here(http://bcchanger.com/bitcoin-sell-orders) are?   

[DeathAndTaxes]

maybe someone should develop a paypal2btc escrow service , paypal is to mainstream to leave behind

I don't think you understand the problem.  An escrow does nothing unless the escrow is held past the point of risk.  Traditional escrow funds are held until seller delivers.  Since BTC is irreversible once seller delivers goods the escrow can be safely released.  The point of no risk for PayPal transaction is 180 days.

So sure I just started the first BTC PayPal escrow.  Pay me today and I will deliver your coins in 180 days.  How many coins would you like to buy?

[alexh]

I have already been scammed three times, but i will do everything i can so that does not happen again with bitcoins :S

[mco65]

I have already been scammed three times, but i will do everything i can so that does not happen again with bitcoins :S

3 times? oustide of the Bitcoin world?
I got scammed pretty HARD once... still pizzes me off thinking about it but its a hard earned lesson.

[tremtie]

Well, unless you're buying from friends. I'm fortunate to live near lots of btc users, and multiple retail outlets which accept it.

[che]

Very infomative post! Thanks!

[eggie]

I'd like to add to this that European banking systems work differently and that money transfers can never be reversed at least in Dutch banks. Also, they allow buying other currencies. There are a few sites that allow you to buy BTC through iDeal (the Dutch way to transfer money) and there is no reason to label them a scammer.

I never liked Dutch banking policies not to refund money but I see their point now. Most they'll do is send the recipient a letter, asking them to return the money to the rightful owner. If that doesn't work, the only thing you can do is sue.

[WildFire.ca]

No point to this post