How to Set Up a PayPal Business Account

10 min read

Selling online and accepting payment has gotten easier and easier over the past few years. One option to consider to give your business the edge over the competition is setting up a business account with PayPal, and linking it with your favorite ecommerce platform to give your merchants yet another quick and easy payment option. Ecwid offers an easy-to-navigate PayPal integration that can give you an even greater guarantee of success in your store.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or just an online shopper, you’ve probably heard of PayPal. Maybe you’re already even using it. But did you know that there are different account types you can consider? And if you’re looking to sell as well as buy, a business account might be a good fit for your needs. In that case, no matter what you’re selling, understanding the terms and conditions related to setting up a PayPal business account is absolutely essential to making everything run smoothly.

In this post, we’ll take a step-by-step approach to setting up a PayPal business account. You will also get important information about the fees and requirements associated with this type of PayPal account. So buckle up and read on.

Fees Associated with PayPal Business Accounts

According to Consumer Intelligence Ltd, the cost of sending 2000 GBP from the UK to the United States includes the original amount spent, the exchange rate from pounds to dollars (USD), an exchange rate markup, upfront sender fee, and recipient fee.

Types of PayPal Business accounts

The types of PayPal business accounts can be confusing in their own right. To make it simple, there are three basic accounts: PayPal Checkout, PayPal Payments Standard, and PayPal Payments Pro. Their features vary, as to do their associated fees.

Basic requirements of a PayPal Business account

To get started, all you absolutely need is:

An email address
Your business’s name
A business phone number
The last four digits of your SSN (US-based merchants)
Your date of birth
An employer Identification Number (EIN) (No need to provide an EIN if you selected a sole proprietorship as your type of business)
A business (or home) address
Your bank name, routing number, and account number.

Creating a PayPal Business Account: A How-to

While there is generally some uniformity in the way PayPal works across various markets, the first thing to do is to check the specific details needed for your country. Generally, though, setting up a PayPal business account is quite easy as long as you have the information mentioned above at your fingertips. While these steps are specific to US merchants, they should help give you a run-down of the basic process no matter where you are.

First, you will need to select a suitable business account, as there are different levels of accounts with varying charges and features.

From the PayPal website, select “Sign up” and then “Business account”
Select the business account package with features that most closely fit your needs.
Input your email address (the one you want to link your business account to).
You will be prompted to choose a unique login and password. Enter the details and the registered address.
Input details about your business, and anticipated turnover. If you have a specific figure, input the actual turnover.
Include your Employer Identification Number (EIN), otherwise called the Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).
Now, input your social security number followed by your date of birth for PayPal to confirm your identity.

Having completed these details on the website, you’ll get a notification that your account has been approved, and you can begin to use your PayPal business account.

How Much Does a PayPal business Account Cost?

PayPal prices their services differently. Check the merchant fees page for details on how much you will pay for their services. But here’s a basic breakdown:

Opening an account: Opening a PayPal business cost is free.
Selling with PayPal business: For U.S.-based sales- 2.9% of the value of the transaction plus $0.30. For international sales- 4.4% of the value of the transaction plus a fixed fee based on the received currency plus 2.5% charge for currency conversion. The fees might differ with an increase in volumes, or if you are qualified for micropayments. It is also different if you run a charity.
International payments: Fees associated with international payments are higher and include a percentage fee, and fixed cost (in some cases). PayPal requires a 1.5% international transaction fee for individual business owners to receive payments from other countries, plus a 2.5% currency conversion fee (if necessary).
Withdrawing money: You can withdraw to your bank account for free using PayPal business, but you must have linked the account during registration. To withdraw with a check, you will pay $1.50, and to transfer money to your bank account with a linked debit card, you will pay $0.25 for every transfer.
Sending personal payments: If you are within the US and Canada, you do not have to pay a fee to send payments to friends and families, especially if it is with a linked bank account or PayPal balance to activate the payment. With a debit or credit card in these countries, you will pay 2.9% of the transaction fee plus a fixed fee of US$0.30. International payments are costlier but are within 0.3%-3.9% which is dependent on your method of payment including a fixed fee which depends on the currency type, and 2.5% currency conversion where necessary.
To receive personal payments: Receiving personal payments is free within the US, especially if you- as the sender- use your PayPal balance or alternatively, a linked bank account to make the payment. Meanwhile, other charges may apply for payments made with a credit or debit card. For international payments, you will pay a 1.5% international transaction fee to receive money from a different country, plus a 2.5% currency conversion charge, if and where necessary.

PayPal Business Accounts Work with Ecwid

You can set up your account, determine the associated fees, and learn how to make your PayPal business account useful for your business on your own. But! Ecwid can make these steps even easier. Many people’s lives are embedded in PayPal in such a way that they are tempted to use their personal account to run their businesses. That means that signing up for a business account on PayPal and linking your business with Ecwid will give you a lot of advantages.

The main reason is that opening or setting up a PayPal business account has numerous perks. It grants you access to additional tools services, which can be a great option to explore as a business just getting started. There are three options for taking payments, and two of them have no monthly fees attached to them. Using this option still opens you up to tons of ecommerce integrations, including the one run through Ecwid.

In addition, a PayPal business account gives you access to other PayPal features, such as an online invoicing, virtual sales terminals, recurring billing services, marketing solutions packages, and a list of developer tools. Ultimately, integrating your business and website with Ecwid and PayPal will inevitably open your products up to a larger audience, and make it easier for people around the world to complete transactions in your store.

Final Thoughts

A PayPal business account is a type of point-of-sale service account offered by PayPal, where (individuals and) businesses can accept payments, and be accessible to other services, especially ecommerce solutions. It is easy to set up a business PayPal account, and there are zero fees associated with its setup. Meanwhile, leveraging PayPal comes with a plethora of advantages when used in tandem with Ecwid—a reliable ecommerce platform. This makes the PayPal Business and Ecwid partnership a powerful and viable option to consider for your business.

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Apr 26, 2021

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.