But I thought you had to link a bank account to your PayPal account, or is that only because I'm a seller?
I can't say anything about sellers because I have only used PayPal as a buyer, but you don't have to link your bank account. I did when I first established an account with PayPal but I deleted that link and now only use a credit card.
Thinking about it, I need to have a bank account linked to my PayPal account so I can move my sales proceeds, so to protect myself I never keep more than a minimal amount of money, i.e. what I need to cover my outstanding checks, in my account.
Alternatively, I could leave my sales proceeds with PayPal and work with the balance, but I prefer not to work that way, and it would be non-interest-bearing money while my bank pays me a munificent 3/100ths of 1% interest.