Or at least PayPal would like you to bieleve.

Introduction

Firstly, if I refer to we or us in this article, I am meaning me... It is a habbit I cannot seem to break.. I am a Person not a faceless organization, if you email me, I will not make the reply seem computer generated, I will try and make is as personal as possible.
Secondly, I am not writing this to try and make you feel that PayPal is unsafe, PayPal provides a service for ebay users and I respect that.

I have written this guide specifically for those who still think that they are 100% safe when using paypal to pay online.
I as a High volume seller have chosen not to accept PayPal for online payments for many reasons MAINLY because PayPal have an attitude that they are doing sellers a favour by allowing them to be a customer NOT TOMENTION THE LUDICROUS FEES!

I write this specifically for the few people who will buy something from me without actually reading the payment methods supported in my listings then expecting that I cancel their order simply because they do not trust my company because I will not accept PayPal.

Just to note my company does not accept PayPal because I feel although it is fine for the low volume seller who uses ebay now and again, me as a High volume powerseller find it makes more economical sense to use our own facility provided by Halifax Bank of Scotland. It is also so much more reliable.

Truly Taken in By PayPal

PayPal like to gain new customers by leading them to bieleve that it is not safe to use a credit card online other than by actually USING YOUR CREDIT CARD ONLINE to load money into paypal and then letting them transfer that money to someone else.
thus they make money from doing so!!! 

ALSO They claim that you can pay a merchant without actually letting that merchant ever see your credit card details.
TRUST ME, If a seller has a Merchant account provided by a BANK, They have a legal and moral obligation to protect those customers and their details. Should they fail to do so, the bank that provides the merchant account would swiftly take action. And that does not just mean limiting the account.

You cannot be scammed if you pay using PayPal....!

This is Incorrect! PayPal make no GUARANTEES. Read there terms of service! Here is one way that the PayPal security centre may not help you!

You pay a seller for an item, That seller has setup a Direct debit with paypal and added a credit card so paypal consider that person to be honest and reliable and will let them withdraw unlimited funds...

The seller waits for the direct debit and card verification to all be confirmed and then cancels the direct debit with the bank and tells bank they have lost their credit card.

The money you paid them, they have received it and immediately have withdrawn it cleaning out their PayPal account.. They have now gone off on a 6 week break to Sunny Spain or Brazil with yours and everyone elses money and also FORGOT to post out your items. YOU THINK YOU ARE PROTECTED? YOU PAID USING PAYPAL, THE SELLER HAS NOT GOT A CHANCE!!! OF COURSE THIS WOULD BE TRUE IF PAYPAL HAD ACCESS TO THEIR BANK ACCOUNT OR CREDIT CARD, You just tell paypal you did not get the item and they wull charge back the money Surely..
OR WILL THEY?

Open a dispute with PayPal, The seller refuses to respond, so PayPal tries to charge their credit card and take money from their bank to give you back your money!
Remember Direct Debit Cancelled, Credit Card Stopped so PayPal cannot get the money from the seller who is now sipping Sangria out of a long cold glass...
PayPal already told you they accept no liability or make no guarantees in their user agreement when you joined up..
This is what they will probably tell you
Unfortunately the seller withdrew the money from their paypal account and you need to take legal action against the seller, BASICALLY they are saying the seller has ripped you off and it is not their problem.

AND YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE 100% SAFE USING PAYPAL?? I am not saying paypal is unsafe and you should not use it, I am just pointing out that they are not 100% guaranteed to recover your money if you have problems. 

NOW SEE WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GOT RIPPED OFF BY A MERCHANT ACCOUNT HOLDER THE SAME WAY!

You pay a Seller who has a Merchant services account for an item that you do not receive. it has been a few weeks and no sign of the item, you try contacting the merchant and no reply so you telephone your Card issuer.. The Credit card companies do not mess about! They do not rely on Cards added to accounts etc.
If they cannot recover the money from the merchant, they will pay you out of their own pockets just to keep you happy and feel good about using their card service....

The merchant knows this and certainly makes his Card payment system a hell of a lot more secure and reliable than PayPal. OF COURSE IT IS IN HIS INTEREST TO DO SO.
ALSO the seller has to agree that they will honour all customer orders before the bank will even consider providing a merchant facility..

He gets a cheaper method of processing credit and debit cards For example send him £500 using a debit card, it costs him 25p to receive it. or 1.8% if you paid using a credit card.

WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND IS GOING TO FIRSTLY GO TO THE TROUBLE OF GETTING A MERCHANT ACCOUNT THEN MESS IT UP FOR A FEW QUID??

PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT TO OBTAIN A PAYPAL ACCOUNT, ANYONE CAN JUST SIGN UP.
Anyone as Anyone or Anyones former ex-flat mate....

In fact, dishonest people can easily setup with PayPal.
(I accept this is no fault of Paypal and is due to the nature of the Internet but it is a fact)

TRY GETTING A MERCHANT ACCOUNT FROM A BANK! They run Credit Checks, ID verification, They require Business Plans and More You would not go to all that trouble just to rip people off.. Not to mention the Police knocking down your door if you did. And we are Talking Fraud Squad.

How could you possibly say that you only trust PayPal. Yes fair enough if you are talking about PayPal compared to AlertPay or StormPay etc then yes use PayPal. Personally, When I look on ebay to buy nowdays, I will only ever buy using my Barclaycard.
and from a seller who has their own merchant services account Simply because I know what I know being a merchant account holder myself.

What I am trying to say to you is, Remember that PayPal want you to think that they are the only secure way to send money over the internet, They make big money from doing so of course they do, that is their business !!
BUT REMEMBER THIS, They will never lose out so never rely on their security centre to get your money back if the seller has done a runner with it...

How does it work. De we see your card details?

I Myself Personally uses a service called Protx you may have heard of Protx or the likes or WorldPay etc/ they actually communicate with the banks computers in real time to authorize payments online.
A simply payment authorization gateway, Exactly the same sort of thing that PayPal or ebay uses to charge your card.
Protx is like an online version of those machines you enter your PIN into at Tesco.. Protx is a Virtual Terminal and nothing else,
When you make payment online using the Protx form, your card number is kept absolutely private and secure at all times, You enter your card number into Protx form and then that information is sent to our Merchant account issuing (the Acquiring Bank) Halifax Bank of Scotland who then communicates with your card issuer to either Authorize or Decline the Transaction. it is that simple. We never actually see your Card number, Expiry date etc and it is not stored by us, All we get it confirmation of the payment.

We do accept Payments over the Phone and have also been provided with the appropriate (MOTO) Mail order Telephone order merchant number by Halifax Bank of Scotland,
How we process Telephone orders is simple, you call and ask to pay for an ebay item, I login to our personal terminal and ask for your name, Address and postcode. I then ask what card you are using, the card number and the other relevant details. As you tell me these, I am typing them directly into the Protx terminal. NOT WRITING THEM DOWN ON PAPER. I then send the details to the bank for authorization and they dissapear from my screen. WE NEVER STORE YOUR CARD DETAILS AND PUT YOUR SECURITY AT RISK! And my memory is not that good.

I Personally have a STRONG Bielief that I must treat other peoples credit card details as I would expect my own to be treated. ALSO I AM HAPPY TO HAVE A MERCHANT ACCOUNT NOT HAVING TO RELY ON THE LIKES OF PAYPAL! Firstly it is cheaper for me and secondly I feel that the Halifax Bank of Scotland is actually doing me a favour providing me a service YET their attitude towards me is that I am a Valued customer, They offer outstanding customer support and service. It is a shame PayPal are a bit Mixed up on that front......

To Sum it up

Paying me using your credit or debit card is SAFE, SECURE and you can be rest assured that you will never get ripped off!
I do not speak for all merchants but can assure you that if they are bassed in the UK or USA, the chance of being ripped off are very slim.

If after reading this, you are still a die hard PayPal only user, I would say, Sorry but I cannot help you and would politely guide you towards buying from another ebay seller. 

All I will say is, Just wait until paypal freeze your account and give you the headache of having to fax pointless information to them and if you sell also not being able to accept payments from your customers for a week or too.
Oh how I love PayPal and they way they carry on ;-D

I truly hope this information was useful and if you still have concerns and need assurances, call me using the telephone number on my about me page or listing you are looking at..