When adding my PayPal and trying to buy L$, it says it wants to deliver something to my home address. What is going on?

[Underworldly]

I'm trying to add a PayPal account and buy L$, but the screen it gives me is confusing. I've attached an image (with my info blurred out, obviously) but basically, it is saying it will deliver to my home address... I don't know what this means, because it's a virtual purchase and I was not aware of any physical item. I'm in the UK if it matters - I don't know how it differs for other countries.

It also has selected my card as the default payment method. I don't want to use my card's balance, I would like to use my PayPal balance, however there is no option to select it.

The text underneath the "Pay with" box implies that it's just using my card as a backup, and that it will use my PayPal balance by default if there's enough, or else it will use my card. Is that correct? Will I be aware of all the payments or does granting it this mean that I can recieve spontaneous payments without my confirmation?

Can I get some clarification on both of these points? Apologies if I sound paranoid... I just like to be very thorough with these things and make sure that I don't accidentally agree to something I don't understand.

[Rolig Loon]

Second things first .... That's exactly the way your PayPal account is supposed to work.  If you have a cash balance in the account -- no matter how it got there -- PayPal will use it to pay for any charges that come in.  If you don't have a large enough cash balance in the PayPal account, they will turn to your backup source (credit card or bank account) for the remainder. So, just remember to stuff your PayPal balance with cash from your credit card or a debit card or whatever before you buy L$ with it.

As for the Deliver To address ....The PayPal account has to have a real street address tied to your account so that they know how to reach you if things go horribly wrong.  It's part of verifying that you are a real person that they can trust.  Also, in this case, it's ultimately a backup way that Linden Lab can reach you. Corporate America (or UK) trusts us up to a point.  Beyond that, they want to be able to cover their own losses if you don't pay your bills.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Rolig Loon

[Lindal Kidd]

Hmmm.  You don't go through PayPal to buy $L, and I think that might be your problem.

Now that you have your PayPal account set up and "verified"...linked to your credit card, do the following:

1. Go to the Second Life website and sign in.  That brings you to your Dashboard page.
2.  Click Account (upper left) and then Billing Information.  Set up PayPal as your desired payment method, if you have not already done so.
3.  Click the Buy $L link in the Lindex section of the Dashboard page.
4.  Use the Market Buy (Instant Buy) option to buy some $L.

LL will charge your PayPal account automatically.

[Underworldly]

13 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Hmmm.  You don't go through PayPal to buy $L, and I think that might be your problem.

Now that you have your PayPal account set up and "verified"...linked to your credit card, do the following:

1. Go to the Second Life website and sign in.  That brings you to your Dashboard page.
2.  Click Account (upper left) and then Billing Information.  Set up PayPal as your desired payment method, if you have not already done so.
3.  Click the Buy $L link in the Lindex section of the Dashboard page.
4.  Use the Market Buy (Instant Buy) option to buy some $L.

LL will charge your PayPal account automatically.

This is the screen I get when I either try to add my PayPal account as my SL billing information, or directly try and buy L$ without adding the PayPal account first. I see the same checkout page for both.

 

16 minutes ago, Rolig Loon said:

Second things first .... That's exactly the way your PayPal account is supposed to work.  If you have a cash balance in the account -- no matter how it got there -- PayPal will use it to pay for any charges that come in.  If you don't have a large enough cash balance in the PayPal account, they will turn to your backup source (credit card or bank account) for the remainder. So, just remember to stuff your PayPal balance with cash from your credit card or a debit card or whatever before you buy L$ with it.

As for the Deliver To address ....The PayPal account has to have a real street address tied to your account so that they know how to reach you if things go horribly wrong.  It's part of verifying that you are a real person that they can trust.  Also, in this case, it's ultimately a backup way that Linden Lab can reach you. Corporate America (or UK) trusts us up to a point.  Beyond that, they want to be able to cover their own losses if you don't pay your bills.

Okay... and if my existing PayPal balance is in GBP instead of USD, will it still use that, or will it try and use my card?
Also, what are the chances of them contacting my address? Is it just "for emergencies" and not something I need to worry about?

[Rolig Loon]

15 minutes ago, Underworldly said:

Okay... and if my existing PayPal balance is in GBP instead of USD, will it still use that, or will it try and use my card?
Also, what are the chances of them contacting my address? Is it just "for emergencies" and not something I need to worry about?

When you buy L$, Linden Lab charges your payment method in USD. It's up to the payment method -- PayPal in your case -- to make the currency conversion from pounds Sterling and charge you for that service.  You don't need to do a blessed thing.

The chances of them contacting your address are pretty small, but I doubt that anyone can give you a perfectly satisfying answer.  One of the reasons that Linden Lab requires you to have a payment method on record, as I said before, is to have some way to reach you if you somehow run up a large bill and don't pay it.  Any company wants to have a way to recover if they get into a legal tangle with a customer.  That's why there's an address on your account with the bank, the utility company, Tesco, or whoever you do business with.  If these sorts of things worry you, your ultimate choice is to live off the grid.  Don't buy anything from anybody and don't tell anyone where you are.

EDIT: To be perfectly clear, As Lindal is saying, you have been looking at PayPal's site.  THEY want to know where you are because they are acting as the middleman in this arrangement.  You make a purchase and Linden Lab charges PayPal, which in turn charges you.  PayPal doesn't want to get stuck in the middle, having no way to get the money from you.  As far as Linden Lab is concerned, if PayPal is happy, they are too.  So Linden Lab simply requires that you have a verified account with PayPal -- meaning that you have met their requirements.

Edited March 1, 2019 by Rolig Loon

[Lindal Kidd]

6 minutes ago, Underworldly said:

This is the screen I get when I either try to add my PayPal account as my SL billing information, or directly try and buy L$ without adding the PayPal account first. I see the same checkout page for both.

Oh, OK.  I used an alt and went through the process I described above.  Yes, your name and address show up once you're taken to the PayPal website, and your credit card(s) and/or bank account(s)are listed there, asking you to select one as a payment method.  You are now on PayPal's site, not Linden Lab's; LL won't see that information.

PayPal will use your PayPal balance to pay your creditors, unless you tell them differently.  You can check the default payment method in your account preferences.  Click the Gear icon, then Settings/Money, Bank and Cards/Preferred Way to Pay.  For "Online Purchases" select PayPal Balance.

Once you're sure the PayPal side of things is set up properly, follow the steps in my original reply.