Ordinarily, using PayPal is smooth sailing, unless you develop a dispute with a seller, in which case, brace yourself for problems.  The only way I found to get PayPal to act is by incessantly badgering them, which is frustrating and time-consuming - but if you don't persist with them, they don't act. 

I recently had an experience with a seller using PayPal where the seller packed china with one paper towel between each piece (there were many pieces) and shipped it in a Top Ramen box.  Needless to say, every item was broken, and after the dispute process failed, I escalated to a PayPal claim, having paid via PayPal.  Twenty-eight emails (and that's just from me) , over two months and much frustration later, I was finally reimbursed, after weeks of irrelevant form letters from various individuals named Sameer or Raya, addressing none of the issues I had raised, and certainly not answering any of my questions.

I strongly recommend using Payal but paying through a credit card instead of a bank account, based on that experience.  PayPal doesn't help you much, if at all, but your credit card company acts immediately, and while the amount is in dispute, you are charged nothing for it.  If you use your bank account with PayPal and the transaction fails, you won't see your money back for quite a while - with credit cards, it's a much different story, particularly when you haven't had prior transactions with a seller.