Do You Need A PayPal Merchant Account?

Absolutely! Here's why:

• PayPal is quick. A PayPal transaction takes seconds. Any other method takes minutes. The time difference could cost you a sale.
  
  
• PayPal is easy. It can all be done with a mouse. That means impulse sales. If your customers have to get up and go find a credit card or checkbook, they might change their minds and move on to the competition.
  
  
• PayPal is flexible. Buyers don't need a credit card. They can pay by echeck, too.
  
  
• PayPal is international, honoring 6 different currencies.
  
  
• PayPal is safe. It has been around for a long time, and it's now owned by eBay. Most people trust both of these companies, and eBayers, in particular, trust PayPal.
  
  
• Your merchant account is free. Your shopping cart is free. Your PayPal store is free.
  
  
• You get paid, immediately, when your customers use a credit card. If they use an echeck, it takes a few days, but you don't have to worry about bad checks. PayPal takes the risk and deals with any problems.
  
  
• Money that accumulates in your PayPal account earns dividends through a money market fund.
  
  
• PayPal offers credit and debit cards so you can keep all of your business income and expenses in one account. If you ecome an exclusi
  
  
• They offer great, detailed, downloadable reports that can go straight into Excel for analysis and generating financial statements.
  
  
• Fees are reasonable.

Here's how:

• First, you need a credit card and checking account, which will be verified by PayPal. Don't skip this step. Customers are warned never to do business with an unverified PayPal member. This step includes giving them your credit card # and your checking account #. PayPal deposits a few pennies to your checking account and charges a dollar or so to your credit card. When you report these transactions to PayPal, your account becomes verified. This step is a bit of a pain, but worth it in the long run. A verified account gives your customers confidence. An unverified account makes them suspicious.
  
  
• It can be very frustrating, especially after reading the note on their home page that says it only takes a minute. It takes several days to verify your bank account, so you want to get this out of the way before listing anything. Once you're open with PayPal, life gets easier. They deposit funds, instantly, and send out a detailed e-mail, that comes from the buyer's e-mail address, so you can hit "reply" and be in direct communication with your customer. They deposit your money into a money market fund and pay dividends. They'll send you $5 for every new customer you send them, and they even offer a debit Master Card/ATM card against your account or a regular credit card, if you qualify. Their fees are reasonable, too. If you make PayPal your only payment method, they'll give you a 1.5% rebate on purchases, when you use your card, and, after you get established, you can request a lower merchant rate.

For general information on what PayPal is and how it works, please read What Is PayPal?. For more information on PayPal merchant tools, please read PayPal and Merchant And Auction Tools.

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