How to Receive Payment Via PayPal for Online Sales

1. Create a PayPal account by clicking the 'Sign Up' link on the top of the PayPal page (see Resources). Select a Premier or Business account and click the associated 'Get Started' button to follow the prompts and complete your registration. Note that the email address you sign up with is the one that you use to log in to PayPal and the one you give out to receive PayPal payments, unless you change this on the Profile Summary page.
2. Add your selling preferences, such as sales tax and shipping costs, by clicking the 'Profile' link under the 'My Account' menu. Click the desired links under the 'Selling Preferences' column to follow the prompts and enter the information.
3. Click the 'Request Money' tab on the PayPal menu to create a money request that you email to your customer. Enter the buyer's valid email address, a purchase amount and click the radio button next to the 'Goods,' 'Auction goods (non-eBay)' or 'Services' choice. Click the 'Continue' button to send the money request. The customer receives a secure login page that allows her to pay the fee and then PayPal notifies you via email that you have received this payment.
4. Create an invoice to send your customer a more formal-looking document that contains your business information. Enter the purchaser's email address, include a note (optional) and enter the details, including quantity and description, in the text fields provided. PayPal also allows you to specify a sales tax rate and shipping fee for the transaction. Click the 'Continue' button when finished to send your invoice. Your customer then receives an email with a secure link that takes her to the customized invoice page where she completes the transaction. If the buyer is not a PayPal user, she can still use the invoice to make a payment on this page. A notification is emailed to you after payment is received.
5. Click the 'Merchant Services' tab on the PayPal menu to add 'Buy Now' or 'Add to Cart' buttons on your website. Generally, if you are selling one item, such as a spa package, you will use the 'Buy Now' button; otherwise, use the 'Add to Cart' button to offer multiple products. Fill in the required information to create your button(s) including item name and price. Additionally, you can specify whether the button should have special features, like a drop-down menu, and you can save the button to reuse it again. Click 'Create Button' when finished to get the HTML code needed to insert the button into your website and watch for emails to notify you that a payment is received.
6. Enter your PayPal email address (the one you used to sign up with) where appropriate to receive payments on seller sites like eBay and Etsy. PayPal applies your instruction, such as sales tax, that you entered for your account (Step 2) to process the transaction. An email notification from both the seller site and PayPal is sent after a payment is made.