How to Sell With PayPal Online and In Person
Seamlessly sell online and in person using PayPal. This guide helps you manage transactions and grow your business.
PayPal facilitates online and in-person sales for businesses. This article guides users through leveraging PayPal for selling goods and services.
Setting Up Your PayPal Business Account
A PayPal Business account offers advantages over a personal account, including multi-user access and business support. To open one, provide your legal name, email, password, tax identification number (SSN or EIN), and a business description.
The setup requires providing your legal business name, registered address, and contact information, ensuring they match official documents. You will then set up your business profile, specifying products or services offered.
Linking a bank account is necessary for managing funds. Provide your bank name, account number, and routing number, ensuring the bank account name matches your business name. PayPal verifies the account through two small test deposits; enter these amounts to complete verification. Confirming your email address and phone number is also a required verification step.
Accepting Payments Through PayPal
Once your PayPal Business account is established, various methods are available for accepting payments from customers. For online stores, you can integrate PayPal buttons like “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” directly onto your website. PayPal also functions as a payment gateway option on many e-commerce platforms, allowing customers to complete purchases without leaving your site.
Sending professional invoices directly through PayPal is another efficient way to request payments. You can customize invoice details, including item descriptions, quantities, prices, and applicable taxes or shipping costs. These invoices can be sent via email directly from PayPal or by generating a shareable link that customers can use to pay.
For in-person sales, PayPal offers solutions such as QR codes for touch-free transactions. Customers can scan a unique QR code using their PayPal app to complete a payment. Another option is the PayPal Zettle card reader, which enables you to accept chip and PIN, contactless payments, and mobile payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
The Zettle card reader connects to a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, transforming it into a mobile point-of-sale system. It provides a portable way to process credit and debit card transactions on the go. Furthermore, you can generate direct payment links, often through PayPal.Me, which can be shared via email, text, or social media for quick and easy payment requests.
Managing Your Sales and Funds
Understanding PayPal’s fee structure is important for managing your sales revenue. For standard domestic online transactions, PayPal typically charges a percentage of the transaction amount, often around 2.99% to 3.49%, plus a fixed fee, which can be $0.49. In-person payments processed through a PayPal Zettle card reader generally incur lower fees, such as 2.29% plus $0.09 per transaction.
Different rates may apply for international transactions or micropayments, which are small-value transactions typically under $10, with a different percentage and fixed fee structure. These fees are automatically deducted from the received payment. You can view detailed transaction histories and associated fees within your PayPal account dashboard.
Withdrawing funds from your PayPal balance to a linked bank account is a common practice. Standard transfers to a linked bank account usually take one to three business days to process. An option for instant transfers to an eligible linked debit card or bank account is available, though this service typically incurs an additional fee, such as 1.50% of the transfer amount, with a minimum fee.
In cases of disputes or chargebacks, PayPal provides a Resolution Center to help sellers manage and resolve issues. When a buyer initiates a dispute, funds related to that transaction may be placed on hold. Sellers can respond by providing relevant information, such as tracking details or proof of delivery. If a resolution cannot be reached directly, the dispute can be escalated to a claim, at which point PayPal investigates and makes a ruling.
For tax purposes, PayPal reports payments for goods and services to the IRS on Form 1099-K if certain thresholds are met. For the 2024 tax year, the federal reporting threshold is $5,000 in gross payments. Businesses, especially sole proprietors, should report PayPal income and expenses on Schedule C (Form 1040) and may deduct business-related fees.