INTRODUCTION TO PAYPAL:
Many people know PayPal as the way they pay for their eBay purchases. Some are surprised to learn that PayPal is not just an eBay function. It can be used to sell items, take donations, accept subscriptions, or to collect recurring payments. It is an easy and inexpensive way to take credit card payments without going to the trouble of setting up a merchant account with a bank and either processing the cards yourself or going through an online payment gateway for real-time processing. The customer does not have to have a PayPal account in order to make the transaction.
TYPES OF ACCOUNTS:
PayPal account holders must be 18 or over with a debit/credit card or bank account and e-mail address. There’s 3 levels of PayPal accounts: Personal, Premier, or Business Account. The Personal Account is touted as being for “Online Shoppers”, and it allows you to send and receive payments for free and to “shop safely—Your financial details aren’t shared with sellers”. The Premier Account is described as being for “Casual Online Sellers”. With it you can accept credit cards and other payment types for low fees. PayPal says it is “ideal for casual sellers on eBay and all over the internet”. The Business Account is for business owners. With that account you can accept all payment types, including credit cards, for low fees. PayPal says it is “ideal for businesses that need a merchant account” and that you can “Do business under your company name”.
PAYPAL OPTIONS:
- Although you can receive payments with a Premier Account, PayPal encourages you to either create or to upgrade to a Business Account when you begin to set up for website payments. On the “Website Payments Standard”, transaction fees charged to the vendor are between 1.9% and 2.9%, depending on your sales volume. You are also charged $0.30 USD per transaction. There are no monthly fees, no setup fees, and no cancellation fees. Alternatively, there is a “Website Payments Pro” account which requires a monthly fee, an application, and an approval process prior to its use. Unlike the “Website Payments Standard” account, the “Pro” account requires that you have a shopping cart of some sort. There are additional features with the “Pro” account, and the transaction fees can be slightly higher.
- PayPal payments can be integrated seamlessly into compatible stores. If you don’t already have a store, PayPal offers its own free shopping cart. You should know your way around html if you hope to set up this store on your own.
- PayPal Email Payments offers a quick and secure way to bill your customers and accept credit card, bank, and PayPal payments online. You don’t even need a website—you can just email your customers a payment request that they can click and pay. PayPal promotes Email Payments as being:
- Faster. Stop waiting for checks—your customers pay with one click.
- Efficient. Email invoices through the PayPal site, or by using your Outlook or QuickBooks programs.
- Low-cost. Receive payments with no merchant account fees, setup fees, or monthly fees. All you pay are low transaction fees to receive payments.
- Another PayPal component is called Virtual Terminal. This can be used to accept payments for phone, fax, mail, and in-person orders. Again, your customer does not have to have a PayPal account to use this feature. PayPal can process payments “in your offline store, at trade shows, or wherever else you might meet with your customers.”
For more information, go to: http://www.paypal.com/
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