# Pay Pal Unique Transaction ID in purchase posts



## OneBigDay (Dec 31, 2009)

Hi all,

After reading a ton and making a few purchases through the forum, I struggled with the Pay Pal thing. This is a public forum so I'll try to stay on the diplomatic side - but Pay Pal is not a bank and I trust them to the same degree I expect a politician to do what they have promised. It might feel good in the moment but is usually rotten if pay close enough attention. So said non banking "I'll hold your money for you while you're not using it" firm kind of gives me that same nausea in my stomach :tinfoil:. I fully understand it fills a niche.

That being said I have just signed up with PP after initially resisting and have a simple question...

When you make a purchase from a CPF merchant, usually the OP/vendor asks you to pay with PP and then post in the specific thread saying that you have done so. *Is there any reason why a person should or shouldn't include the Pay Pal Unique Transaction ID in their public posts?* Is this safe? Can this ID be used by anyone (for either good or bad purposes), or is it better left as private information between the buyer/seller.

Thanks for any thoughts.


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## HypnoticSilence (Dec 31, 2009)

I've been signed up to Paypal for a while, but I've never actually had to send money to others, usually just stores.

This is a pretty good question. Does it make it easier on the buyer-seller transaction, or is this just a needless risk?


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## RAGE CAGE (Dec 31, 2009)

good point...depends on the level of encryption and the information contained within the transaction. It appears they have an additional layer of security available....https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webs...iven/securitycenter/PayPalSecurityKey-outside. Several major financial institutions are using these random PW authenticators as an additional level of protection.
People get very creative with fraud and Social Networking is the new frontier ripe for explotation.
Right now- I am more concerned with portable Card Scanners and skimmers placed on ATM machines. I tend to pay cash in restaraunts whenever possible and not let my card out of my sight- like letting a waiter/waitress take it away from the table.


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## Black Rose (Dec 31, 2009)

I never include the transaction ID in my posts.

I don't know if someone could use the transaction ID for nefarious purposes, but why take the chance?

The buyer and seller will have access to the transaction ID through PayPal, so I see no need to post it publically.


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## OneBigDay (Dec 31, 2009)

RAGE CAGE said:


> good point...depends on the level of encryption and the information contained within the transaction. It appears they have an additional layer of security available....https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webs...iven/securitycenter/PayPalSecurityKey-outside. Several major financial institutions are using these random PW authenticators as an additional level of protection.
> People get very creative with fraud and Social Networking is the new frontier ripe for explotation.
> Right now- I am more concerned with portable Card Scanners and skimmers placed on ATM machines. I tend to pay cash in restaraunts whenever possible and not let my card out of my sight- like letting a waiter/waitress take it away from the table.



Yes, this whole topic is huge but generally I agree with what you are saying. Even as a PP participant I still don't consider it to be "safe". Using Pay Pal in general is taking a risk. For me the red flag in the PP setup process is that *they desperately want access to your bank account* (i.e. the whole "verified" thing). You can't really use PP to send using only the email address of a person without first giving PP access to your bank account. This is completely unnecessary on their part. A credit card is much easier to cancel/reissue with a new number than getting a whole new bank account if something goes awry. There is no obvious reason I can see to be tangled with PP down to the bank account level as somebody who only wants to purchase things. If you want to receive money also, then it is a different story (CC transactions are usually outgoing only).



Black Rose said:


> I never include the transaction ID in my posts.
> 
> I don't know if someone could use the transaction ID for nefarious purposes, but why take the chance?
> 
> The buyer and seller will have access to the transaction ID through PayPal, so I see no need to post it publically.



I appreciate these comments from a benefactors POV. It tells me that there is no value add for anybody involved to post this info publicly. I have seen it done both ways and always wondered why some did it and some didn't. Thanks.


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## HypnoticSilence (Dec 31, 2009)

Yep definitely appreciate the info.

If they needed to clear it up, I'd feel much more comfortable through PM or email anyway.


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## matrixshaman (Dec 31, 2009)

There is NO reason to post the unique transaction ID. If a seller asks you for it (I've never seen one ask) then send it via email or PM. And YES that unique ID can be used for nefarious purposes but AFAIK it would not affect your money. Personally since most banks offer free checking accounts I open a totally separate account in another bank and keep a very minimal amount in the account - only adding money as I expect to make a purchase.


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## HypnoticSilence (Dec 31, 2009)

matrixshaman, that's a pretty interesting take on the whole idea. I might consider doing that as well.

Low maintenance, and pretty safe. That's definitely a good tip if I ever saw one.


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## RAGE CAGE (Dec 31, 2009)

matrixshaman said:


> There is NO reason to post the unique transaction ID. If a seller asks you for it (I've never seen one ask) then send it via email or PM. And YES that unique ID can be used for nefarious purposes but AFAIK it would not affect your money. Personally since most banks offer free checking accounts I open a totally separate account in another bank and keep a very minimal amount in the account - only adding money as I expect to make a purchase.


 
good point- I also use a seperate low limit card for on line puchases- another layer of protection- I have seen too many scams and swindles in my line of work and tend to be overly cautious.


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## Light11 (Dec 31, 2009)

I use a credit card that has an option of email-text m. charges,the way this works, everytime anything gets charged i get an email-text m. this way making my p.p. a little safer.


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## tiktok 22 (Dec 31, 2009)

matrixshaman said:


> Personally since most banks offer free checking accounts I open a totally separate account in another bank and keep a very minimal amount in the account - only adding money as I expect to make a purchase.



This is how I set up my Paypal from the start. I just can't understand linking a large account or an important account to something like Paypal...


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## will (Jan 1, 2010)

I think most sellers here ask for a post indicating 'paypal sent' as a means of making sure that they see the paypal transaction. 

No need to post the unique transaction ID, if there is a problem, the seller could ask for that in a private message or email. 

Paypal will sent a message to the seller that a payment has been received. The seller can also go into the paypal history to see payments received.


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## RA40 (Jan 2, 2010)

If the seller is a frequent participant to the BST section, a quick update indicating  can be posted. If not, the buyer posting PP sent indicates to others viewing the thread the transaction is a done deal, move on.

I wouldn't post the transaction code, that detail is available in the two parties PP transaction screen.


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## OneBigDay (Jan 3, 2010)

It sounds unanimous that the PPUTID is private info only between the buyer and seller. I appreciate everyone's comments.

I didn't bother to open a new bank account, but I did set up a separate sub-account with the intention of PP only use. I'll see how it all goes.

Happy New Year!


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## Apollo Cree (Jan 3, 2010)

Lots of people have claimed that Paypal has frozen their Paypal accounts for strange or unclear reasons and hung on to the money while they investigate the problem. Even for LONG periods of time. 

I'd recommend against leaving any large amounts of cash in a paypal account. If there's a dispute, it's a lot better if they are trying to get the money back from you than if you're trying to get the money back from them. 

You should also worry about electronic transfers from anyone. It's often true that if someone transfers money into your account electronically, they can reverse the transfer, even at a much later date. 

This even applies to things like your paycheck. 

If I had much money in a paypal account, I'd link it to a separate bank account, and then transfer money from that account to my real bank account via paper check. Or even via cash. 

Since there's a potential degree of "law enforcement" or "weapons" taint to things related to this site, I'd be doubly careful.


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## RA40 (Jan 3, 2010)

There have been various discussions about PP accounts and they seem pretty consistent in separating them from your normal banking accounts. Don't keep excess funds in them longer than necessary. I use mine based on the C-card. I've not felt comfortable having account info in their hands, that is my main reason. Plenty of buyers and sellers here that have a multitude of stories about PP, good and not so. I've done PP both ways and also used money orders in a past time. 

Any transaction whether as buyer or seller, do it straight up and carefully so that you are covered. Namely proof of the transaction beginning to end. Don't jump steps because it leaves either open to discrepancy. 

Browse the Cheers and Jeers section for some additional reading. This is not to scare you, just to bring awareness of various transaction here:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/forumdisplay.php?f=20


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## ascent (Mar 16, 2010)

Hi everybody! Do you think a different person can possibly find my transaction by the transaction ID? Just by being a paypal/non-paypal user? I couldn't find anything about it neither on the paypal websire nor googel. Thanks for any responses!


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## Robin24k (Mar 17, 2010)

OneBigDay said:


> For me the red flag in the PP setup process is that *they desperately want access to your bank account* (i.e. the whole "verified" thing). You can't really use PP to send using only the email address of a person without first giving PP access to your bank account.


I used PayPal for a long time before adding my bank acount (and the only reason for that was so I could sell things using PayPal)...granted you'll be unverified, but unless you're buying high-value goods, I doubt sellers will care.

I only use virtual credit card numbers for PayPal, so each time I buy something, I add a new card and close the virtual number right after the transaction goes through. :thumbsup:


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## rogue54 (Dec 2, 2011)

I might be getting off the topic and if I am sorry about that. I have noticed in other places many people have trouble with Paypal receiving money sent to their account. I have just recently had this problem also. I had money transfer from my account from Paypal, and seen where they told me that it would take 3-5 days for the money to be sent to my account. I called Paypal and asked about this and they told me that it had to do with the federal reserves holding my money. I thought this was strange so I did some research and found that the longest period anyone had with ACH transfers was 24 hours. I emailed them the next day and told them what I found and asked them again why my money was taking so long to get to my account. The reply I got was totally different than what the person on the phone told me. They said that I have a low seller rating on Ebay and that this was the reason the transfer was pending. Now here's the thing. The money I received had nothing what so ever to do with anything selling on Ebay. So I called them back and asked them why I was told one minute that the problem was the federal reserve then the next time I was being told I had a low sellers rating. They could only tell me this was out of their hands and that this was only a speculated amount of time for the money to transfer into my account. Now here is what I found fairly odd. 15 minutes after I got off the phone with them the pending transaction was completed. Coincidence? I think not!! I find that the is some shady tactics being used by Paypal to make addition money. I am feeling they are holding onto peoples money addition days to get interest off of it before they give us our money. I could be wrong, but I truly find this very suspicious. Has anyone else had the same problem with Paypal?


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## egrep (Dec 3, 2011)

Posting the transaction ID is patently absurd and useless. The recipient will receive a notification from Paypal directly. As for trusting paypal or not, Ive had no problem using Paypal since it started. I have one or more bank accounts for 'backup funding' and maintain no balance unless someone Paypals me money. I never fund the account otherwise.

YMMV, but it works for me.


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## OneBigDay (Dec 12, 2011)

Now that I have been doing this for a while I understand the pipeline and all the pieces involved. I would never post a unique transaction id on any public forum now that I have had some time to absorb the whole process. At the time I started this thread I was pretty green on the forum and was trying to avoid PayPal but found it impossible to interact with other forum members without doing so. No real regrets in signing up at this point but I don't trust PayPal any more than I did 2 years ago.



rogue54 said:


> ... I find that the is some shady tactics being used by Paypal to make addition money. I am feeling they are holding onto peoples money addition days to get interest off of it before they give us our money. I could be wrong, but I truly find this very suspicious. ...



This is exactly the kind of thing that sets off alarm bells for me too. For example just last week I had a transaction with a Chinese merchant. I did not have enough funds in my account so I used the "e-check" method that supposedly takes 3-5 days to "clear". Funny thing is those funds were gone from my bank account within a few hours of the transaction, however, the paypal status remained in "Pending" for another 4 or 5 days. I would really love to know what they are doing with my money in the time it is gone from my bank account until the time they inform the seller that the transaction is "Completed". Keep in mind the money is completely invisible from my view during this entire 5 days - gone from my bank account, not showing in any holding place like my paypal balance, and the merchant has not received the money yet. Whatever happens during this 5 day period is unknown and not transparent to either the buyer or seller. Now imagine holding on to a couple hundred bucks for 5 days at a time from hundreds of thousands of people? You all can draw your own conclusions from this but I expect that if there was a fully transparent alternative to PayPal we would see mass exodus from said service.

Great tip from Robin24k on using virtual credit card numbers. I had looked into this in the past for online purchases in general but there were only a couple banks offering this service. I can't remember why I didn't sign up? I may look into this again.


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