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O.K. I'm not a huge fan of PayPal. My biggest gripe is they just got big and stupid. (Holding funds for weeks until a customer gives positive feedback on ebay

O.K. I'm not a huge fan of PayPal. My biggest gripe is they just got big and stupid. (Holding funds for weeks until a customer gives positive feedback on ebay? I have had mixed results on customer service.) That said, what product are you selling that you require a picture of the customer? I see this trend popping up and don't like it. While I have had problems with PayPal practices-- PayPal employees who don't care, etc., when I have given PayPal a receipt from UPS, or Fedex that proves the package was delivered, I did not have a problem with a dispute. (I don't trust usps when I have a gut feeling a customer will file a dispute.) So what are you selling? I would never ask a customer for a picture ID. Maybe it's just my generation(grew up in the 70's--80's, but I see this trend of mandatory photo ID popping up lately; and don't think it's the right road to go down. Map the IP--fine. Have a gut feeling the customer won't pay ask for cash(leave it up to the customer on delivery of the cash--wire transfer?). I would not ask for their ID, unless I strongly expected fraud. If I have to give some company, besides a bank my picture; I don't shop there. Asking for anyone picture is beyond rude these days, along with any Photographer taking my picture without my consent. This whole people picture taking thing is done, because of the Internet, and image databases like Google, and have Bing have developed. I see stores putting up "Happy" employee pictures, and it is just rude, an invasion of privacy, and should be abolished? (I have a friend at Costco who is mortified the company wouldn't take down his picture of him doing his job. It was one of those customer appreciation pictures.) Oh yea, you don't need a Costco card to use the pharmacy. I looked into buying stoptakingmypicture.whatever and the com is taken. I'm not sure I want to take on another cause; especially because most of you don't seem to care who snaps, asks, or posts your picture? I go on FB, and no one seems to care? Yes--I understand the need for ID at DMV, Airport, and passports, etc.) To any store, or company(Home Depot comes to mind) some of us are really tired of the proliferation of cameras, and don't go to your establishment like we used to. (Plus--most identity thiefs I have run across(just one so far), sent me a perfect scan of her Drivers license without my asking. I didn't place the order, and never heard back. It is so easy to fake an ID these days. I would be suspicious if any customer sent their ID, even if I asked for it.)

r2pleasent 11y ago
Let me start by saying that I agree with most of your points 100%. I am an advocate for privacy, and I think it's crazy that businesses need to ask people for photo ID to make fairly simple purchases. I sell digital goods for online games. This means I do not have shipping receipts that will make me eligible for seller protection. The reality is that more and more businesses are providing services and products which are intangible. I'd imagine more than 50% of PayPal transactions these days do not involve shipping labels, yet their entire claim system revolves around them. What I've noticed in the past 5-8 years is that Paypal has really cut down on real fraud. When I started doing business in 2007, there were kids who couldn't have been older than 15 years old buying stolen PayPal accounts on sketchy forums, and using them to buy digital products like MMO currency. We'd get hit quite regularly with real fraud. Today, it seems that there are much less of these stolen accounts in circulation. Paypal has clearly cleaned up their act and put a bunch of security measures in place to prevent unauthorized access to people's funds. Nonetheless, unauthorized claims and chargebacks still happen. These days it's just people who spend a bunch of money, and decide later to try and get it all back, everyone else be damned. There's not much you can do to screen for them placing those disputes. All we can do is collect as much information as possible, from all our buyers, to make sure that no real fraud gets through our systems. I do feel that if we did not have security measures in place, the stolen Paypal accounts might show up again. But yes, long story short, I really wish there was a better way than collecting people's ID's. Unfortunately, we are in an awkward transition where it is very difficult to prove someone is who they claim to be, without requiring invasive evidence.

r2pleasent 11y ago

Let me start by saying that I agree with most of your points 100%. I am an advocate for privacy, and I think it's crazy that businesses need to ask people for photo ID to make fairly simple purchases. I sell digital goods for online games. This means I do not have shipping receipts that will make me eligible for seller protection. The reality is that more and more businesses are providing services and products which are intangible. I'd imagine more than 50% of PayPal transactions these days do not involve shipping labels, yet their entire claim system revolves around them. What I've noticed in the past 5-8 years is that Paypal has really cut down on real fraud. When I started doing business in 2007, there were kids who couldn't have been older than 15 years old buying stolen PayPal accounts on sketchy forums, and using them to buy digital products like MMO currency. We'd get hit quite regularly with real fraud. Today, it seems that there are much less of these stolen accounts in circulation. Paypal has clearly cleaned up their act and put a bunch of security measures in place to prevent unauthorized access to people's funds. Nonetheless, unauthorized claims and chargebacks still happen. These days it's just people who spend a bunch of money, and decide later to try and get it all back, everyone else be damned. There's not much you can do to screen for them placing those disputes. All we can do is collect as much information as possible, from all our buyers, to make sure that no real fraud gets through our systems. I do feel that if we did not have security measures in place, the stolen Paypal accounts might show up again. But yes, long story short, I really wish there was a better way than collecting people's ID's. Unfortunately, we are in an awkward transition where it is very difficult to prove someone is who they claim to be, without requiring invasive evidence.