Paypal insecure?

They are not a bank and cannot be held responsible to you like a bank. They can put a hold on any account they have access to.

1. Get a separate bank account at a different bank than you now deal with and no links to anything else in your life.
2. Put a minimum amount of money in the account, enough not get bank charges.
3. Remove any money they transfer to it ASAP.

Coincidentally to this thread. After reading I decided to check my paypal account, I haven't used it in a while and zd quite frankly your comments were a bit alarming. So I try to log in and the site doesn't recognize my email. I call them and my phone number is not on record or recognized. I finally get an opportunity to speak with a real live person explaining that I can't access my account. I was told that just recently, this morning, someone had created a new user ID and email address on my account, not me for sure. Seeing this as suspicious, paypal stopped all activity on my account. The rep indicated that an email was sent notifying me of this. Sure enough, there it was, a notification of suspicious activity. The rep indicated that if they got access to my password on my paypal account they most likely have accessed other accounts where the password is the same. So I can say in this case paypal was on the ball.

I agree with others that PayPal is fine until you have an issue. I've used them many times without a problem. I had a disagreement with a purchaser last year over a $8,000+ pair of amps. The buyer called his bank to stop payment at which point I asked for a return of the amps. The buyer discovered that the problem was due to a jumper dislodging during shipment. He immediately called the bank to have them reverse the stop payment. PayPal held my funds for three months before finally releasing them. Along the way every PayPal rep claimed payment was still being held by the bank. Finally after three months I spoke with a rep who told me the bank had released funds right after the buyer called them back. In doing a search on the internet I realized mine was not an isolated case.
I still use PayPal for small purchases but I will never trust them with any
large purchase again.

I'm like Hevac1, I have a separate account for my PayPal, and only put enough money in it to cover a purchase. I've sold a few things, small stuff, but got the money from PayPal and put it in another account.

As a buyer I have been saved a few times by Ebay's buyer protection, but it's true that anyone's best defense is good feedback. And any time money changes hands there is risk involved. I would never send anyone a dime by certified check for an item to be mailed to me. Anything could happen and there would be zero recourse. No different than sending a suitcase of cash through the mail. So while Paypal's promises might be vague, at least it gives the buyer some comfort that he might see his money someday after a sale goes bad. I had a seller die on me once, and PayPal took the money back from his account, since he hadn't withdrawn it, and I did get a refund. Took two months, but I got it.

But in the end there are crooks out there who know how the system works, and we know the banks are not going to take the fall for anyone, so, in the end feedback is all we really have to go on.