Paypal Advice Please

Bubbles

Hi

Just wondering if anyone can give me any advice? I've just sold my first couple of things on Ebay. One of the buyers has paid already which is great, only thing is though they have paid through Paypal by credit card and I only have a personal account.

I kinda knew that there were different Paypal accounts, didn't really know much about them though, I thought that that any payments received through Paypal were charged. Now, after reading about them, I've discovered that there's no charge when using a personal account rather than a business one.

I'm not sure what to do now, contact the buyer and ask if they could pay by debit card or just upgrade. Is a business account really worth having, does it attract more buyers or is a personal account sufficient? And, shouldn't the person have known which account I had before they paid?

vultura

In most cases you'd need a premier or business account to accept payments from credit cards. AFAIK personal accounts can only accept payments from accounts that have been credited with money and are not drawing from a card.

Once upgraded you pay a % to paypal for each incoming payment, you can downgrade to avoid them, but it can only be done once.

The different accounts make no difference to buyers, I don't beleive they can tell what type of account you hold.

sleepy

The buyer doesn't know which account you have. If you only have a personal account, you shouldn't display the paypal option in ebay listings.
If you have displayed the paypal logo, you have to accept all kinds of paypal payments.
If you plan to sell a lot, you should upgrade, as otherwise you can't really list paypal as an option officially, and many people (myself included) search only for paypal auctions.

sleepy

Oh, and paypal being an american company has problems understanding that switch cards are debit cards. It thinks that mine is a credit card. So you will only really be able to accept payments from people who pay with funds from their paypal account unless you upgrade.

Bubbles

Thanks for the advice! I will upgrade my account.

I was thinking that the personal account would be able to accept debit cards.


Cheers

vultura

Bubbles wrote:

I was thinking that the personal account would be able to accept debit cards.

Shame they can't.

From Paypal site:

Which PayPal account type is right for me?

PayPal offers three different account types, Personal, Premier, or Business. Each account type has access to a different set of features and capabilities. Keep reading for a discussion of these features, which will help you decide which account is right for you.

Personal Accounts are for use by individuals only and cannot receive credit card payments. Personal Accounts include all of our Core Features (see below).

Premier Accounts are for members who have a high transaction volume, need to accept credit card payments, or would like access to our special features. Premier Accounts include all of our Core Features, as well as our Premium Features (see below). Premier Accounts may operate under an individual name.

Business Accounts are for business use only. Business Accounts include our entire Core Features, as well as our Premium Features (see below). Business Accounts can operate under a company or group name.

Core Features:
Send Money
Request Money
Auctions Tools
Website Payments
Account Insurance
Downloadable Log
Email-based customer service

Premium Features:
All of the Core Features
Do business as yourself, under a corporate name, or group name
Accept unlimited credit card payments
Payment Receiving Preferences
Subscriptions
Mass Payments
Multi-User Access *For Business Accounts
Advanced Downloadable logs
7 day-a-week toll free customer service

Business and Premier Accounts are assessed a transaction fee, which is a small percentage of each payment received. See our fee schedule.