So, I put it through my Paypal account and onto my Mastercard - I do not have my bank account set up as "back up", which is important here. It is listed, but I was very clear in the way I set it up that if I order on my Mastercard, not to take from my bank account. I asked one of their service people about this (Michelle) on one of my first purchases, and apparently you can set up your account that way. Thus, it is set up the way I wish, no ifs, ands, or buts. It's been working well for two years.
To make sure I could afford it, I transferred an excess on top of my regular payment to my credit card. (Which means I'm sitting at a very happy number right now.) Naturally, that drained my bank account, but who cares? I'm putting it through my Mastercard for the points right now. (So close to buying some very cool gadgets from the points book!)
Naturally Paypal does exactly what I asked them not to do, and doesn't even try my Mastercard, immediately withdrawing from my bank account. (It's not like they're out of practice; I've been using my Mastercard before this purchase!) I don't have overdraft, so naturally it sits there for an hour and gives me a $35 fee before bouncing back. So, lovely, I'm at $-2.14 today. I guess I'm not paying back what I owe for the pop fund at work today. :/
I contacted paypal and haven't heard back. This is fine, I'll deal with them when they get back to me. As much an "instant" generation as I live in, I can handle four days or so waiting. However, they told Chris the money went through, and so now the poor man is shipping a violin that hasn't been paid for! Yes, I know I'm good for my money - if I say I will pay you x amount, I will ALWAYS pay it - but it feels terribly wrong. So I contacted him and let him know that paypal didn't put the money through, don't ship!
Maybe I'll just get a money order written up. :/ Apparently paypal is having a blonde moment, and I'd love to get the violin in time for lessons. (It would be ridiculous to show up for lessons with no violin.)