What exactly is PayPal?

Paypal is essentially just a way to pay for goods and/or transfer money from one person to another. You can set up your Paypal account to allow you access to your bank accounts and you can make payments to other people from either your bank account or from your credit card.

So you could use your Paypal account to pay for the tour directly from your bank account if you wish. Paypal does provide certain protections for any purchases you make, but you should read up on those before signing up for and using a Paypal account. For what its worth, I've been using Paypal for years and never had a problem. It might also be a benefit to you to just pay for your tour with a credit card which also provides a certain amount of protection for your purchase.

Please visit www.paypal.com. There is a complete explanation there of what it is and what they do. You can link a PayPal account to a credit card or to a bank account.

I use Paypal all the time. One big advantage is that the person you are paying never sees your credit card number or bank account number. I consider this preferable to giving out my credit card number.

Is there any cost advantage while making a purchase in Europe? I'm wondering about fees vs. a credit card.

Thanks

From Paypal Fee Explanation:

"If your transaction involves a currency conversion, it will be completed at a retail foreign exchange rate determined by PayPal, which is adjusted regularly based on market conditions. This exchange rate includes a 2.5% spread above the wholesale exchange rate at which PayPal obtains foreign currency, and the spread is retained by PayPal. The specific exchange rate that applies to your multiple currency transaction will be displayed at the time of the transaction."

It seems to me that if you have a credit card with a fee less than 2.5%, you should use your credit card.

Susan and Monte, as a purchaser there's no fees for you to use paypal. As a merchant paypal charges us the fee to accept money (if we upgrade to the account which accepts credit).

You also do not need to be a paypal account holder to pay by credit. Its a simple way to pay "on line" by credit or bank transfer. To pay by bank transfer, you will need to be a paypal account holder. You literally transfer cash from your checking account to the merchant's account. Its like paying by cash but the paypal has certain protection built in for you.

Its a common payment method on ebay, and recently was acquired by ebay.

Paypal itself does not pay for anything. They either place the charge on your credit card or deduct it directly from your checking account depending upon the option that you select.

Of course it depends upon the institution that has issued your credit card but in my case the credit cards provide superior protection which, sad to say, I have had to use more than once.

I don't believe that Paypal is generally well known in Europe. It is widely used by eBay but mostly in the USA.

George, I disagree. Paypal is widely known in Europe...especially to the collectors or those who are into doing things via online.

One advantage not mentioned of Paypal over a standard credit card transaction is that the seller can set up a Paypal account much easier than setting up to process Credit Card transactions, especially if the seller makes only infrequent transactions. This is why a B&B or small tour operator may be more inclined to use Paypal instead.

PayPal is essentially an escrow service. You send your money to them, and they see (for a small fee) that it gets to the vendor. Like others have said, an advantage is that the vendor never sees your credit card info.

Like any internet site, PayPal is not completely secure, though it is certainly a legit operation. I actually had someone hack into my PayPal account and buy a computer using my info. I got it resolved, but cancelled my PayPal account at that time and haven't used that service since. But that's fairly unusual and I don't think PayPal is any less secure than any other web-based financial service.

I've been given the choice to use either PayPal, credit card or cash, and I was just wondering what is the cheaper option. The cash we would use, of course, would come from an ATM, and we still need to consider that we will need ATM money for food and paying for our B & B's.

If you decide to pay in cash for accomodations don't be shy about asking for a discount from the normal rate. It cost money for the merchant to process a credit card and many will give you a break if you agree to use cash instead.

Paypal is a good way to pay for things.Many sellers use paypal. If you are just a "buyer", you won't pay any fees. If you want to sell , then paypal will charge you a fee if you open a premier account, which will allow you to accept credid cards from others,but this is not you want to do.