Ron - I too like Paypal - it's not perfect, but it is the best payment option out there right now - IMNSHO.
However, there are renters who are scammers. In the last 2 mos. there was a renter right here on TUG who, after the rental disputed the charges and got their money back because of some trivial things, like not enough toilet paper. I will try to find the post so you can read it.
Does this happen most of the time - no!
Does it happen occasionally - yes!
This is the way I look at it - I'm not going to get ripped off - period.
If the money is sitting in my Acct. and it's easy for Paypal to just take it back, they have very little motivation to investigate. If the money is not readily available, they have a lot more reason to prove their case.
If you want to leave your money sitting there - go for it - but I'm not going to make it easy for someone to make a fraudulent claim.
For someone who does 1 or 2 rentals a year - this will probably never happen - but for someone who does many rentals - it's only a matter of time.
YMMV
I think its a bigger deal for folks that rent only a few times a year..their scammer antenna arent very well developed. And if they do get scammed, even just once every 2 years, its 25% of the time. If I get scammed once in two years its only 1%.
Frankly I choose not to believe that the credit card companies and paypal would reverse a charge for a weeks lodging based on trivial stuff. (not that toilet paper isnt important) I think the poster you are referring to probably left something out of their story
Having said that one of the posts in this thread made a good point. It doesnt matter how quickly you remove the money. If pay pal thinks you owe them and your account carries a negative balance, you wont be able to use the account. They will get the money.
By the way I dont leave money in pay pal very long either...I spend it right out of there with the paypal debit card, or just send it of to the transfer companies for new timeshares
I think what I object to most is not your advice, Its good advice given your assumptiions. What I object to is the assumption that everyone is out to get you...I cant live that way...