PayPal operates in 190 markets and manages more than 133 million accounts. PayPal currently allows
users to send, receive, and hold funds in sixteen currencies: Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Czech
koruna, Danish krone, euro, Hong Kong dollar, Hungarian forint, Japanese yen, New Zealand dollar,
Norwegian krone, Polish zloty, pounds sterling, Singapore dollar, Swedish krona, Swiss franc, and
U.S. dollar. PayPal operates locally in thirteen countries, and payments from international buyers are
automatically converted to your desired currency.
There is a conversion fee for accepting foreign currencies from your buyers and having them converted
to U.S. dollars. Because PayPal is not a currency dealer, they must purchase foreign currencies
from a bank. PayPal receives a wholesale rate (twice a day) and adds an additional 2.5 percent
above this rate to determine their retail foreign exchange rate.
PayPal
PayPal is the largest of the online person-to-person payment services.
Thankfully, eBay had the presence of mind to acquire this previously independent
service in 2002, so it has now become the de facto standard for
paying for items bought on eBay.
PayPal allows buyers to safely click and pay with a credit
card, instant transfer, or e-check directly from eBay after they’ve won an auction
or made a purchase. PayPal conveniently integrates into all eBay transactions.
If your auction uses the Buy It Now feature or is a fixed-price listing,
you can require buyers to pay for their purchases immediately with PayPal
payments.
To accept credit card payments, you must have a premier or business
account. Buyers may join when they win their first auction and want to pay
with PayPal, or they can go to www.PayPal.com and sign up. The story’s
slightly different for the seller. You need to set up your PayPal account before
you choose to accept it in your auctions or sales.
Here are more than a few particulars about PayPal accounts:
- auction payments are deposited into your PayPal account. Choose one
of several ways to get your money:
• Have the money transferred directly into your registered checking
account.
• Receive payment by check (PayPal charges $1.50 for the check).
• Keep the money in your PayPal account for making payments to
other sellers.
• Withdraw the cash from an ATM with a PayPal debit card and get
back 1.5 percent of the money spent on purchases.
• Shop online with a virtual credit card that carries your balance to
any Web site that accepts MasterCard.
- PayPal has its own feedback system (actually called a reputation
number). The number after a username reflects the number of unique
PayPal Verified users with whom this user has conducted business.
Buyers will see a link to your Member Information box on the Send
Money Confirmation page. The higher the reputation number, the more
likely the user is experienced and trustworthy. Clicking the number produces
a report, giving information on
the seller.
- As a seller with a premier or business account, you can choose to accept
or deny a payment without a confirmed address. A confirmed address
means that the ship-to address indicated by the buyer is the same as the
billing address on the credit card the buyer chose to register with
PayPal. On the Accept or Deny page, information about the buyer is
shown, including verification status, account creation date, and participation
number (same as your reputation number).
- PayPal assesses your account $10 for any chargeback. The fee is waived
if you’ve fulfilled the requirements in the PayPal Seller Protection policy
(see the next bullet). To specify whether you want to accept a credit
card payment from a buyer without a confirmed address, log on, go to
your account, and then click the Profile tab. Next, scroll down Selling
Preferences and click Payment Receiving Preferences. If you accept payment
from a nonconfirmed address, that transaction will not be covered
by the PayPal Seller Protection policy.
- The PayPal Seller Protection policy provides up to $5000 in annual
chargeback protection, unauthorized card use, and nonshipments. To
qualify for this protection, you must do the following:
• Be a verified member of PayPal with a premier or business
account: Allow PayPal to confirm with your bank that your checking
account and address are your own.
• Ship only to a confirmed address: PayPal confirms that the
buyer’s ship-to address coincides with the address to which the
credit company sends monthly bills. Fraudulent shoppers often
ask you to ship to another address don’t do it.
• Keep proof of shipping that can be tracked online: Here’s where
those delivery confirmation things come in handy. For transactions greater
than $250, you must get a signed proof of delivery from the shipper.
• Ship tangible goods: PayPal doesn’t cover goods that are transmitted
electronically.
• Accept only single payments from a single account: Don’t let a
buyer try to pay portions of a purchase from different e-mail
addresses. Someone who’s trying to pay using several accounts
may be attempting to defraud you.
• The transaction must be between U.S., U.K., or Canadian buyers
and sellers: Seller protection isn’t extended to other international
shipments.
Other requirements change from time to time. Check PayPal’s help area for
updates. But know that if a transaction is eligible, Seller Protection Policy
Eligible will appear on the individual Transaction Details page.
If you have a personal PayPal account, you may still be able to accept credit
card payments, but you will have to pay a hefty fee. You’ll pay 4.9 percent of
the total amount collected, plus the standard $0.30 transaction fee. Seller’s
fee tiers for business and premier accounts are adjusted based on the prior
month’s transaction volume.
To receive the lower rates from PayPal, you must apply for merchant rate
pricing. Once your sales go over $3000 a month, you must log into your
PayPal account and apply. If you can’t find the link, call PayPal sales at
866-836-1648. If your sales dip below the minimum tier of $3000, you do not
need to reapply.
A brilliant feature of PayPal is the ability to download your sales and deposit
history to your computer. Although PayPal also offers files that integrate with
QuickBooks, the standard downloads
are rich in features. Rather than importing just sales figures, you see
each and every detail of your transaction dates, names, addresses, phone
numbers, amounts, and more. Even fees and taxes (if you charge sales tax)
are broken down separately, making bookkeeping a breeze. The download
imports into Microsoft Works and Excel.
Downloading your history will help you calculate income taxes and sales
taxes, reconcile your accounts, predict sales trends, calculate total revenues,
and perform other financial reporting tasks. It will also give you an excellent
customer database. The deposits download gives you detailed information
for all the deposits that you receive: payments, PayPal transaction and
deposit fees, refunds, rebates, and any adjustments made to your account.
Follow these steps to download your sales and deposit histories:
1. On your PayPal Main Overview page, click the History tab.
2. Click the Download My History link, on the left side of the page.
3. Enter the time span and the file format for the information that you
want to view.
4. Click the Download History button.
The information appears on the screen. Or if the servers are busy, you’ll
receive an e-mail (usually in a minute or two) when the reports are ready.
5. Save the file in a directory that you can conveniently access for
bookkeeping.
You can just double-click the file to open it in Excel or Microsoft Works. You
now have all the information you could possibly need to apply to your bookkeeping
program. | 
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