Anyone reading this in the same position as I was might be interested to note that Bagi is to fix the config on the paypal module to provide a slightly improvement user experience. Which I've tested and works great and IPN works a treat
The only issue that remains is a Paypal one. When a brand new user clicks to "confirm now" on your shopping cart, if paypal has never seen that email address before it takes them to the credit cart input page... which is really smooth and straight forward for the customer. HOWEVER, I believe Paypal then logs their email address, even if they choose not to set up a paypal account! So, the next time they purchase, instead of paypal taking them to the credit card input page, they're email is recognised, and they're presented with the paypal LOGIN page!
Which is bad, because my site says "you dont need a paypal account, you can pay directly by credit card etc". To be able to by pass the Paypal login, and just make a credit card payment, they have to be hawk-eyed and spot the little "continue" link on the left, which then presents them with the Credit Card input page.
Sneaky little Paypal !!
Guess there's nothing we can do about that. Other than hope my websales increase enough to be able to afford to use a proper payment gateway, which costs about £20/month I believe for something like Paypal Payment Pro, or the Nochex equiv' etc.
Anyway, enjoy! Cheers, Jon