PayPal For Dummies

Chapter 1

Getting to Know PayPal

In This Chapter

• Sending and receiving money via e-mail with PayPal
• Discovering benefits of PayPal
• Managing your money (and making money in the process) with PayPal
• Protecting yourself when buying or selling with PayPal
• Utilizing PayPal as a buyer or seller
• Customizing PayPal for your Web site or application

With over 50 million members, you probably already know what PayPal is, or have heard something about it, even if you're not using the service yet. But if you're one of those people who are a little fuzzy on what PayPal actually does, or can do for you, keep reading. You won't be a PayPal expert at the end of this chapter, but I hope you are intrigued enough to want to know more.

You know that great feeling you get when you go to the mailbox and discover an envelope with a check in it? PayPal can give you that same thrill when you discover somebody's sent you money via e-mail. At its most basic level, that's what PayPal is — a way to transfer money over the Internet without the hassle of going to a bank to wire money to somebody else's bank account.

In this chapter, I tell you what PayPal is, a little bit about how the service works, and how you can best use the service to send and receive money. To be able to access PayPal, you need a computer with an Internet connection, you need to be at least 18 years old, and you need an e-mail account that you can use with the service. That's it!

Discovering PayPal

PayPal is an online payment service ...