Teach Me About PayPal

[Ayla of Duluth]

I've been hearing more and more about how we need a PayPal to purchase things off websites like ebay and etsy. I have a debit card from wells fargo. I've never had a credit card. I'm 19 and I don't qualify, due to the low balance in my bank account. [I only keep enough in it to keep the account open from month to month.]
But what is PayPal? How do I use it? How do I get one? etc..
Help! I really want to start buying things off people's etsy accounts, and I need a paypal to do so. :3

[Spindrift]

Paypal explained:
http://www.epinions.com/review/finc-Financial_Services-Online-Bills-PayPal/finc-review-70D9-334CD902-3A09939E-prod6?sb=1

Basically it connects to your bank account or debit card and you can use it to make sure you have a secure payment (instead of say, giving your bank/card number to people directly online).

[Ayla of Duluth]

Oh how delightful. :) I feel like an old person because everyone around me is using PayPal and I had no idea what it was. xD

[AniaR]

it can take a few weeks to validate if you connect it to your bank account

[Syrenia]

I've quite honestly had my account information stolen from PayPal quite a few times, so I refuse to use it. So if you do decide to use it, keep a tab on your account. I had a person in Washington use my account info to get themself Cox digital cable... I live in Arizona and don't even have internet. I steal my internet from my mom. lol

[Mermaid Momo]

i have a student paypal .since i'm 15 turning 16 may 25, i'm not old enough to get a job so it's connected to my parent's account. They put money in it from time to time depending how my grades are, my attitude and if i do my chores+ money i make selling art at school and they can see what i spend it on and when and how much and they can see when i get money from else where put into my account. I find this the easiest to use because i don't have to worry about fee to keep my bank account open if i don't exchange money for a few months and i feel really secure with my parents looking over it.

[Kanti]

Paypal's alright but yea, you should keep tabs on all your transactions if you decide to connect your
bank account to it.
I haven't had any issues so far.

You don't necessarially have to connect any accounts to it, though. You can attach a credit card rather
than your bank and it's basically like swiping your credit/debit card onto an online store.