can i open a free account in paypal?

as long as you reside in a country that PayPal allows, you can create an account...there are still countries that aren't included in PayPal's accepted country list

No, you don't need to have a bank account to open a PayPal account...

Attaching a bank account to your PayPal account means you are VERIFIED

That is important ONLY if you intend to sell/accept payments because PayPal's Seller Protection Policy demands that a seller be VERIFIED...a buyer does NOT need to be verified

It would be wiser of you to attach a credit card to your account...

First ,because you'd have added protection of your card's chargeback priviledges if PayPal is unable to collect a refund for you as a result of a bad transaction

Secondly, with a credit card attached to your Paypal account, your shipping address would/could then be CONFIRMED

If a seller wants to adhere to PayPal's Seller Protection Policy, they must ship to a CONFIRMED address...if you don't have one, they can block your PayPal payments

PayPal is as safe as the credit card you use with it...

For any other method such as your transfer from a bank account or use of your PayPal balance, you then run the risk of a bad transaction partner not having any money in their account for PayPal to refund should something go wrong

I've used PayPal for 8 years with only two buyers who tried to rip me off, out of 1000+ transactions (they failed)

So yes, I've found it safe as long as I follow PayPal's rules AND and add the additional protection of using my credit card

You don't need a bank account, but I think you might need some kind of credit card or something.

Anyway, you need a bank account to be certified. I don't trust any paypal seller that isn't certified, because I can't get insured against it. However, some people do buy from non-certified paypal sellers.

On eBay, if you want to buy from a certified paypal seller, you're going to have to pay twice as much, because there are more bidders. So it's definitely worth getting certified if you do want to sell with paypal on eBay.

Outside eBay, it's harder to tell the difference.

Paypal is not entirely safe. But for online shopping, it's better than average.