Should I keep my cash in Paypal?

Given the economy will collapse in the next week, I have a question...

I have a few hundred dollars in Paypal cash. I have a checking/debit account linked to the Paypal. The bank is Palm Desert National Bank. I realize that cash might be pretty worthless very soon, so where should I keep my money? I am a little on the poor side, and if nothing does happen, it would be a bad thing for me to not have this money as backup.

So here are my options:

1) Withdraw the money from Paypal to my checking account?
-----a. problem....given the current situation in the economy, is it safer in Paypal or a bank account?

2) Keep the cash in Paypal?

3) Put the Paypal money in my checking account and buy gold, food, and ammo?
-----a. problem....what should I buy on a budget of about $300? Or is that too little to even matter?

4) Insert suggestion here.


Thank you in advance for any help

I know the economy will not collaps in the next week. however if you feel this is a true consern here is what you should do.

If there was to be a collaps, your e money mostlikely would be worthless, but so to would paper money.

Your best bet therefore would be to go onto ebay now and buy some presious metal bars, Silver and Gold or something that will have worth, and in that way you'll have some small "money" that has value.

I know, I know, I was just saying that, given the oracle knowledge that the economy WILL collapse within the week, what are my options.

Thanks for the advice....silver seems like a good option on my budget.

I'd transfer it out of PP, yeah. That doesn't strike me as the safest place to have your cash at such a vulnerable time.

I put our extra money into nonperishable food. If the poo hits the fan for real, food will be one of the most in-demand currencies out there. Other good "alternative" currencies would be things people need which are used up - booze, cigarettes (that'd be a big one), ammo, first aid supplies, etc. If the poo doesn't hit the fan, which I guess is still a viable possibility, you can consume the currency items. This is why I get food; we'll eat it regardless, and you should rotate (eat) the older stuff and replenish anyway.

By "extra money" I mean what's left over after day to day living expenses and padding our savings. Don't sink every penny you have into cartons of smokes or shotgun shells, especially if you're on a limited budget. It's a balancing act. If the $300 is the entirety of your savings, think long and hard about blowing it all. If your car breaks down next week and you've spent your savings on canned goods, how will you get it fixed? What if you need to drive away a month from now (going to a safe space, joining family, etc) due to the world going to hell and you don't have a car?

If you fear an ecomonic collapse soon, I'd be more than willing to accept a deposit of your funds into my account. And I can assure you they'd definitely be protected (or put to good use). =)

Otherwise, just withdraw your money and buy a fire-proof safe.

- Mea

reply to post by iceofspades


Ya know, I wouldn't worry too much about it. You are talking about transferring something that is worthless anyway.. cash. If you are truly concerned about it, I would take it and invest in silver (as someone else had mentioned) or in the RDIF chip (come on, you know that isn't going to be unprofitable ).

Remember that what you are seeing on wallstreet is the big boys battling it out for ultimate control. Has little to do with us (unless you are an investor of course) at this point, so keep your head low and realize it is all a game that you can figure out if you quit fearing the worse case scenario which generally will lead ppl to make unwise decisions.

But between paypal and the bank, I don't see either as being any worse or better than the other. And for those thinking of pulling their cash out and stuffing it in their mattress to protect it, think about what you are protecting. Something that is already known to be barely worth the paper it is printed on.

My best advice would be to figure out how to survive w/out monetary means period and to learn to be satisfied w/ the basic elements of life. The most important things really are free... a smile being the best of all!!

(disclaimer: this is just my personal approach on how to play this game of life.. as long as I can realize what is important, all the rest is just icing on the cake and hardly worth fretting over)



[edit on 19-9-2008 by justamomma]

never, and i seriously NEVER leave any money in your paypal account if you have to.

basicly, they are theifs! they can take your money with absolutely no recourse then ban you when you complain and ask for explinations! (like they did to me)

they tried to take £250 from me (edit, they banned my account that contained the £250, not directly tried to take it for a bad transaction) , the reason, a sucpicious transaction! when all i was doing was trying to make a living selling on ebay

when i asked why and how to get it reversed they asked for 3 things, i provided those, so they asked for more and more , basicly taking as much info from me as they coudl so i coudl never open another account ect.

after 2 months of me battling with their customer service, i got an email telling me i was completly banned and effectivly blacklisted from then and that my emails would not be replyed to from that point! and that was just me trying to get answers and my money back and unbanned, for not doing a thing wrong... oh, and they also banned my ex girlfriends and my friends as well as i had transfered money to them ! it was completly shocking, i wouldnt trust them for anything, their corrupt as hell.

[edit on 19-9-2008 by boaby_phet]

Originally posted by boaby_phet
i wouldnt trust them for anything, their corrupt as hell.

I can second that! I've had some terrible business dealings with them too.

But like most companies, they're still out to make a dollar -- so what can we really expect from them? Honesty?..

- Mea

reply to post by iceofspades


IMO, if you're just now worrying about getting prepared, then you're a day late and a dollar short. I really hope I'm wrong about that, as I would love to have more time to prepare myself, but all indications are that the crisis is upon us. My advise is to get all of your cash in hand ASAP, and turn it into food and other necessities.

Check if paypal adheres to the electronic funds transfer laws and protocols and you country.


In mine they dont, but all financial institutions HAVE TOO.



Because they dont they can steal your money, oops.

If you aren't spending that money through paypal, get it the hell out of your account. Trust me.

Withdraw to your bank account then withdraw it to cash if you're worried.

reply to post by MurrayTORONTO


do you think that Euro would also collapse together with the US $ ?

reply to post by iceofspades


I am going to play fearmonger here.

First, you are worried about paper that currently only has a value of a few copper pennies at present anyway. You have it stored online which is currently even of less value, since it is represented by positive and negative charges on a metal disk in someone's server which is one power outage or system failure away from being erased.
You are worried about where you should transfer that mostly worthless asset to in the amount of $300 US. Do you not have anything invested in the market? How about a retirement, insurance or medical account? Arent you worried about those drying up? I would worry about what is invested and the interest gains than a few hundred dollars in cash. Your entire future well-being is at risk of being destroyed right before your very eyes.

Fearmongering over.

Honestly, I dont think you have much to worry about right now. This is a dip in the economy, but I dont think the entire US banking system is going to go under. If you bank with Wachovia or WaMu, or have insurance with AIG, then you might want to pay attention to how they progress, or just move to other institutions. Otherwise, just pull the money out of the PP acct, secure it in something that has physical actual value and stash somewhere safe.

Well...there's never a bad time to start getting prepared! I'm in the process of moving my money out of Paypal and I think I will purchase 10 one-ounces of silver, which should cost from $150-$200, and spend the rest on canned foods. I've been looking all over online for good places to buy from that can ship immediately, but I guess silver dealers don't know how to design sites that look legitimate. Maybe I should go to my local metal dealer? Or do they rip people off?

Thanks for your help everyone.

Canned Foods..no

These: Daily values of all your vitamins, calories, .etc entire day's worth of food in one bar. 9 days for $4.50
www.alwaysbeprepared.com...

Mayday bars

Good deal I'll be sure to buy a bunch of those along with some other long-lasting food sources.

I will never ever again have anything to do with paypal.

About 2 years ago I am taking a nap on the couch one evening. Phone rings, I pick it up and it's paypal. They ask me "Did you just make a purchase of $1800?". I'm like NO! I tell her I did not authorize any such payment. I tell her since she called me, I can not be sure she is actually calling from paypal, so I would like to call her back. She is like ok fine and the call is ended.

I immediately call paypal to discuss it. I talk to them etc and everything seems to be ok. I then the next day and $1800 is gone. I'm like WTF. So I call paypal back again and ask why they approved it anyway. And they are like oh now you have to put in a dispute thing in writing, and fax it over etc. Their excuse is that the other side had a right to dispute it as well.

I went crazy on them. They called and asked me if I authorize it, I say no and they expect me to do all this work to get my money back? No way.

I wouldn't do it, but I did get the issue elevated to the point where they did the work. Took about a week of calling to do that. After a 3 week wait, I finally got my money back.

Lucky for me I had just gotten a nice bonus from work, so money was not that tight for me at the time. But if it had come at another time it could have really screwed me over.

They suspended my account when the dispute started. Kept sending me emails telling me I had to do stuff to "reinstate" my account. I told them where to stick it, and have never used them again. I got pretty lucky in my results, but the stuff they actually expected me to do, and the run around even after they called and asked me to approve and I said no was enough to make me never want to use them again.

So I dunno what you should do with your money, but I don't think paypal is anywhere near the best thing.

Originally posted by iceofspades
Given the economy will collapse in the next week, I have a question...

I have a few hundred dollars in Paypal cash. I have a checking/debit account linked to the Paypal. The bank is Palm Desert National Bank. I realize that cash might be pretty worthless very soon, so where should I keep my money? I am a little on the poor side, and if nothing does happen, it would be a bad thing for me to not have this money as backup.

So here are my options:

1) Withdraw the money from Paypal to my checking account?
-----a. problem....given the current situation in the economy, is it safer in Paypal or a bank account?

2) Keep the cash in Paypal?

3) Put the Paypal money in my checking account and buy gold, food, and ammo?
-----a. problem....what should I buy on a budget of about $300? Or is that too little to even matter?

4) Insert suggestion here.


Thank you in advance for any help

Leave your money in Paypal and don't listen to crazy people.
Enron people had bought stock in the company cash in the bank is not the same.Your paypal money is insured.
Im sure some crazy people will reply to this with oh but blah blah blah.
Don't listen to them.They haven't taken there meds.

For one thing, the use of Federal Reserve Notes (FRN's) in America is, in reality, a compulsory-adhesion contract with the Federal Government & it's not easy to get out of it: It's even harder since the 9/11 attacks & the Patriot Act. It has to do with your Birth Certificate & if you have a Social Security Card. More examples of such hidden laws are here on ATS. As I've said, it's not easy to legally get out of those contracts, but thousands of people have already done so...A few links to get started with research:
Sovereign Life
Natural Person
Liberty Maven
ExPat World

And you'll need legal forms & advice/instructions to help:
EZ Remedy 4 U
1 Stop Legal Forms

Of course, this will take time, effort & run up some legal expenses...However, there's a thread here on ATS that can help focus on more immediate preparations for actual survival on a shoestring budget.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by MidnightDStroyer]

reply to post by Interestinggg


Maybe you should take your own meds pal. Paypal customer service is worse than the horrible cingular wireless.

Paypal is the worst company I've ever dealt with in my life.

I had a paypal account for many years without problems, but I've heard nothing but nightmares for the past couple of years and I had my own nightmare with them about 10 months ago.

They are like a Bank, but charge you for every transaction and unlike a Bank they will not stand up for you if & when some scammer comes along. All paypal does is facilitate scammers.

I sold a product and was paid through paypal by another paypal user who did a charge back for $200 after receiving a hard drive that included their recovered data from their bad drive. PayPal allowed them to rip me off for my hardware & work - not to mention put my account 130 in the negative. I gave them all the receipts, but they did not do anything for me but give me a hard time acting like I was the scammer when I was the one being scammed through them.

I gave PayPal the Serial Numbers of Both drives in question & I offered a glimpse of the Customers data which included PICTURES & personal information of the Scammers who's drive I was asked to recover (How else would I have that info without having done the work?), but paypal just couldn't be bothered with it and chose to ignore me, took my money for other items I sold on Ebay that was left in my account ($70) and probably dinged my credit.

Paypal is a great idea, but the company is corrupt & greedy and once you have a dispute they will discard you even after you've had a pristine record for 7 years like I did. Yes, I could of pay the trivial $200 to keep my account, but I was both pissed off and broke at the time.

I almost forgot what the thread is about - I hate paypal so damn bad.

[edit on 20-9-2008 by verylowfrequency]