Is "Sandbox" safe?

[MonkeyShoulder]

I recently tried to purchase something from an online company ( http://teqdepot.magedemo.co.uk/ )

when I wished to pay by Paypal, the form allowed me to enter my email and password, but repeatedly told me that there was an error in my details and refused to continue. I opened another tab and logged into my Paypal account using the same email and password, with no trouble.

Then I noticed that the URL of the page asking for my details was labelled sandbox.paypal etc. I had the feeling that they were spoofing the paypal login and were stealing my login details. 
I backed away and cancelled the transaction, then changed my password with Paypal.

Am I being too paranoid?

[MTS_Jennifer · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Thank you for posting to the PayPal Sandbox Community.

If the merchant has PayPal Sandbox enabled on his website no live money movement will take place. The PayPal Sandbox servers are completely separated from the live servers, and any money movement is virtual money. This means that if you attempted to pay the merchant you wouldn't be able to log in to your live PayPal Account. The PayPal Sandbox Servers still keep PayPal credentials safe.

Essentially what happened was the merchant you were purchasing from still had their website set to Sandbox for testing. Your Live PayPal Account could not have been used because the live PayPal Account Credentials are never shared with the PayPal Sandbox Servers.

Thank you,

Jennifer

PayPal