1st time for using ebay. Any risk with giving my credit card?

[ghworker2010]

I want to buy something off ebay for the first time. If I use my mastercard is there any risk of fraud. Have you had any bad experiences with ebay recently?

thanks

[Pib]

None....I've used Ebay for many years to buy hundreds of items while living in the U.S. and in Thailand. I always use "PayPal" to pay versus giving any seller my credit card number. PayPal maintains my "source of payments" like my credit card data. When PayPal pays someone, your credit card info is not provided to that seller....the seller just gets money from PayPal.

[NanLaew]

There's always a risk of fraud regardless of who you purchase from online. You can rest assured that the chances of your one-off purchase exposing you to instant fraud is pretty remote.

But here are some tips.

Do not use a card with a large (available)credit limit.

If you think you are likely to indulge in internet shopping again, consider getting a new, LOW BALANCE credit card and use that EXCLUSIVELY for online purchases.

Take time to set up a PayPal account with only a single, registered card as form of payment and backup funding from a checking account. Using the new, low balance card with PayPal will limit the amount that any scammer can get before the issuing bank steps in and/or you discover the fraud.

I have used eBay and amazon.com and a few others for well over 12 years and whenever the PayPal payment option is offered, I chose to use that. I have never been scammed as a result of online purchases but I have been a victim of ATM skimming in that time, neither of which was in Thailand.

[ClutchClark]

None....I've used Ebay for many years to buy hundreds of items while living in the U.S. and in Thailand. I always use "PayPal" to pay versus giving any seller my credit card number. PayPal maintains my "source of payments" like my credit card data. When PayPal pays someone, your credit card info is not provided to that seller....the seller just gets money from PayPal.

This is the best advice you can follow for Ebay purchases.

Good luck and pay attention to seller feedback.

Cheers

[attrayant]

Credit cards are just about the safest way to make any sort of purchase. If you don't get what you bought, your credit card issuer can do a charge-back.

[Kabula]

No problem.

Consider signing up for PayPal. I've use it for about 10 years no problems. I always got refunds on defective merchandise.

[phazey]

Paypal (an Ebay Company) offer great buyer protection - best to use it imho

[bino]

Paypal (an Ebay Company) offer great buyer protection - best to use it imho

Ditto. PayPal is the way to go on Ebay.

As mentioned, PayPal maintains your data, and simply "pushes" the money to the seller, instaed of giving your credit card number and letting the seller "pull" the sales amount (or whatever they want)

Because PayPal is an ebay company, Ebay offers great buyer protection to people who pay with PayPal. Ebay seems to take fraud and scams very seriously... whenever I have had to raise a dispute it has always worked out in my favour.

[Chicog]

+1 use Paypal.

[Crossy]

+100^^^, as a buyer PayPal is the safest and most accepted payment method.

There are horror stories, but they mostly revolve around sellers having their accounts frozen for various perceived infractions.