Discussion on PayPal Instant Transfer Zapper | Userscripts.org

Ebay UK, replied by Sheppard

Sheppard — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:09:01 +0000

Change "Instant Transfer" to "Instant Bank Transfer" on line 45 of the script to get a warning when sending money via Paypal UK.

Ebay UK, replied by Sheppard

Sheppard — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:39:58 +0000

Will this work on the UK version of ebay?

Paypal balance?, replied by paka

paka — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:39:57 +0000

fritzfox: I am very surprised that they favor your using their credit card over pilfering your bank account. It seems like they make the same (or more) money from the instant transfer, while not having the risk of a bad charge on THEIR issued card. With any other card, they are using (abusing?) the security of authorizing your card from ANOTHER institution, to back up what amounts to free money taken from your bank account through instant transfer. (Free because they don't have to pay fees normally associated with credit card transactions, yet still charge the same fees to the seller.) The authorization of your card as a "backup source" enables them to instantly settle the charge on the card, should the instant transfer fail. It's a risk-free transaction for them and that's why it is normally the default -- and you can't change it, except per each transaction.

As for using your "float", that is not the best option either. In fact it's the second worst option for paying, since you are still operating under THEIR rules (not your card issuing bank's rules). If something goes bad for you - like not getting the product shipped, or damage, etc. then you are completely at PayPal's mercy. And they have very little if you go by the horror stories out there on the net. Your safest and most lucrative approach is for you to always transfer PayPal balances immediately to your bank account. Get it out of there while you can. Then use a credit card to pay for all purchases, where you get miles, awards, etc. These can really add up over time. Why would you want PayPal to take these away from you? As for their card, I have not read the terms, so I cannot speak as to whether it is as safe as a "normal" credit card, but suspicion is warranted based on their pattern of self-serving behavior.

Remember one thing: A company that relies on your "accidental forgetfulness" in order to improve their profit margins should be eyed with caution. The mere fact that you can't change payment defaults in your personal settings shows their intent.

As for the eCheck option in the Instant Transfer Zapper script, that only pertains to what comes up ONCE YOU GET TO the options page. The script itself, merely prompts you to go to that page when it sees "instant transfer" as PayPal's intended method. IT WILL NOT PROMPT YOU WHEN THEIR DEFAULT IS TO YOUR PAYPAL ISSUED CREDIT CARD.

Paypal balance?, replied by fritzfox

fritzfox — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:24:19 +0000

Hello! I love the prospect of using your script!
My problem is, that I don't want it to charge my credit card. You see... I sell a lot of things and have a good balance in my paypal account (float), AND I have a paypal plus visa card. When you have a paypal card, paypal automatically makes the paypal card the default payment option always. It is annoying as hell when you mean to use your float and you click on the send payment button and it charges your paypal card.
Is there any way to get your script to use the float instead? I'm guessing it is a little more complicated, because in order to use the float, you have to click on the "more payment options" link, otherwise it never shows the option as a radio button (or any radio buttons at all, now that I think about it) before the final "send payment" page. I just hate buying things and letting paypal skip the fact that I have more than enough money to pay for the item I just bought.
For now I am going to switch it to eCheck, and hopefully get the "Are you sure you want to pay with an eCheck?" dialog box, and remember from there. If that is even possible.
Just "lost" $85 tonight >:(

Thanks!!!
--Fritz

Archived Comments, replied by happyfish

happyfish — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 09:25:09 +0000

This is the script that made me fall in love with Greasemonkey. I've only been using it for checkouts through eBay thus far, but it's worked brilliantly. Thanks!

Archived Comments, replied by paka

paka — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:12:05 +0000

sim8: You can do your best to contact the company. But until such time as they change their web page structure, the only SURE way to avoid the instant transfer pitfall is to use a script or add-on such as Instant Transfer Zapper.

Updated: 10/04/08 PayPal Instant Transfer Zapper v1.04 now works with all known types of transactions!

Archived Comments, replied by sim8

sim8 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:52:12 +0000

I see there's only 6 fans here, but if every paypal user filled in a tongue lashing complaint to paypal on their web help form, the case load alone would force them to rethink that irritating corporate sleaze tactic. Why a company chooses to irritate, annoy and con their customer base, I'll never understand... Thanks for script, there are other types of paypal payment pages it doesn't work on. Would love to see it airtight.

Archived Comments, replied by paka

paka — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:01:11 +0000

sim8: I'm not sure whether you are requesting additional functionality or simply to have the existing script work on another page. I'm not familiar with the "Pay one seller at a time" concept, so please explain in more detail what that is and exactly what functionality you are looking for. I'll try to help if it makes sense for this script.

Archived Comments, replied by sim8

sim8 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:01:37 +0000

Could you add a line for the Review your purchase page(s) at https://payments.ebay.com/..... page which goes like: Don't want to pay all your sellers at once? [IMAGE TO CLICK] The image looks like "Pay one seller at a time" and it's tagged like <input /> and the source of it is https://securepics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/check.... It's another sneaky pita that we wish would go away. Can you make it auto-click with this script? I can supply page source. BTW, thanks a bazillion, this PP thing has really been irking me. I had been trying to use the following, modified, found around here somewhere, but it kinda broke some page functionalities. All it does is highlight scam suspect words like duct tape, with variations like 'pay all your sellers at once' and 'ship'
javascript:void(s='change');s='('+s+')';x=new RegExp(s,'gi');rn=Math.floor(Math.random()*100);rid='z' + rn;b = document.body.innerHTML;b=b.replace(x,'

Archived Comments, replied by paka

paka — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:58:48 +0000

08/23/08 UPDATED: Due to changes to the PayPal site, all versions of this script prior to this one will not work. This now works for regular Send Money links directly in PayPal and PayPal payments made through eBay. It has not yet been tested with money requests, invoices or on shopping carts, but should work there also - FEEDBACK REQUESTED. Please report any anomalies by commenting in this forum. Thanks!

Archived Comments, replied by redina

redina — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:52:31 +0000

I always found the extra steps PayPal insisted on as something I'd like to avoid and this script sounds very useful! Does anyone know if this script works on PayPal shopping carts yet? Thanks!

Archived Comments, replied by dpfox

dpfox — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:05:11 +0000

Doesn't work if you try to pay money request or PayPal invoice

Archived Comments, replied by paka

paka — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:40:05 +0000

Thanks Oscar for spotting that - it's fixed now!

Archived Comments, replied by oscared

oscared — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:19:14 +0000

I just analyzed the script, line 57 (var GMrealTruthTxt....etc) isn't proper closed (the ' of the word CAN'T)
I fixed that and works perfect, thanks a lot.

update the script when you have a sec.

Archived Comments, replied by oscared

oscared — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 02:58:48 +0000

I wasn't able to make it work. clicked in the orange button.... and BUM! bank transfer.. then I turned on the automation.. and doesn't work either.
I'm using the latest greasemonkey and FireFox 3.beta 3 can that be the problem?

Archived Comments, replied by paka

paka — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:02:20 +0000

So what's the big deal here? Why should i care?

Here's a little interesting background on PayPal's "Instant Transfer" process:
To implement Instant Transfer, PayPal authorizes the transaction amount on the user’s credit card without clearing it, [to avoid] taking the risk that the transaction would not be paid. Following the implementation of Instant Transfer, credit card funding declined markedly.
source: http://itp.nyu.edu/blogs/js960/2008/03/01/readi...

If this is true, then when you allow PayPal to do "instant transfers", they are using the security of your card to make a huge additional profit while the card company is taking most of the risk. Yet the card companies never see any of that profit because the transactions are settled only if the instant transfer falls through. PayPal benefits because they still charge the seller the same high percentage as if it occurred with a credit card, yet PayPal does not have to pay their dues to the card companies which settle the transactions, eliminating the highest part of their overhead in any given transaction. Very slick - and yet it robs you of the primary benefits of using the card: delayed payment and rewards such as air miles and cash back. The final insult with instant transfer is that since your card is authorized anyway, those authorized funds are not available for your use. Since there's no real advantage to instant transfer, you might have just as well used the card!

Archived Comments, replied by Jesse Andrews

Jesse Andrews — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 01:05:28 +0000

The following is an archive of comments made before threaded discussions was implemented (November 16th, 2008)