eBay Hacks, 2nd Edition

Use PayPal Without Depleting Your PayPal Balance

Temporarily zero your balance so you can choose how to fund your PayPal payments, even when you have money in your account.

Each time you make a payment with PayPal, the Source of Funds displayed on the Check Payment Details page (Figure 3-8) shows where the money will come from before you pay.

Figure 3-8. Always review where the money is coming from when you pay with PayPal

Click More Funding Options to display the Funding Options page, shown in Figure 3-9.

The choices shown depend on several factors, including which accounts you’ve added to your PayPal account, as well as a set of rules defining a heirarchy of payment methods:

PayPal Balance.

If you have money sitting in your PayPal account (presumably from having sold something previously), your balance is always used first to fund your payment. Only if the amount of your payment exceeds your balance will you be able to choose from among the remaining sources to fund the remainder of the payment. (See the next section of this hack for a workaround.) The exception is the eCheck option, which can be used at any time.

Instant Transfer.

Choose this option to draw the funds directly from your bank account. (This option is available only if you’ve linked a checking account to your PayPal account, a step required to become verified.)

Although PayPal doesn’t actually get the funds from your bank ...