What Is the Difference Between PayPal amp; a Merchant#039;s Account?

Start-up Fees and Software
One of the ways that PayPal differs from merchant accounts is that with PayPal, you will not be charged a setup fee or be required to purchase software. When applying for a merchant's account, you may often be required to spend between $100 and $395 to set up your account and buy the appropriate software to accept credit cards. Some merchant account providers may not charge a setup fee or may offer special promotions that reduce the cost of software, but with PayPal you will never have to pay a setup fee or purchase processing software.
Monthly and Per-Transaction Fees
Merchant accounts always charge a monthly membership fee that typically ranges from about $7.99 to $25 per month, with additional charges for monthly statements and a 1 to 4 percent charge for each transaction. Some merchant accounts may offer a flat rate instead of a percentage -- typically $0.05 to $0.25 per transaction -- but will also apply a monetary penalty to accounts that do not meet a certain quota of sales. PayPal charges no monthly rates, requires no minimum amount of sales, and in 2011 charges a flat rate of $0.30 per transaction plus 2.9 percent.
Offline Transactions
If you are using PayPal to process customer credit and debit cards, you are restricted to only processing online sales. All of your clients and customers will be required to make credit card purchases via the Web, and all of your face-to-face and order-by-mail transactions will have to be made by cash or check. Merchant's accounts offer the flexibility of adding a portable credit card terminal to process on-site credit and debit card transactions. Some merchant accounts allow you to process credit cards over the phone by entering the customer's credit card number through an automated system.
Approval Process
Though you will be required to complete an application and provide all pertinent information such as your full, legal name, address, Social Security number and banking information -- for funds transferring -- there really is no particular criteria to establish a PayPal account; nearly everyone over 18 years old is approved. Merchant's accounts often require a more scrutinizing application and approval process, and not all applicants are accepted. Merchant accounts often perform background checks, investigate your credit report and evaluate your website, products, services and sales volume before granting you approval. In some instances, you may even lose a portion of your setup fee if your application is denied.
Credit Card Number Disclosure
PayPal is a great alternative for shoppers who prefer not to disclose their credit card information. Credit card information is never disclosed to PayPal merchants under any circumstances. Merchant's accounts on the other hand, offer full disclosure to the business owner, making all credit card information available at each and every transaction.
Direct Deposit And Federal Banking Regulations
PayPal is not a bank and therefore is not obligated to abide by federal banking regulations. Your funds are deposited into PayPal's bank and held until you transfer them to your integrated personal savings or checking account, which can take three to five business days. PayPal also reserves the right to freeze your account activity -- and funds -- at any time for indefinite periods at their discretion for a number of reasons including accepting unusually large payments -- it's rumored that $2,000 or more will trigger this flag -- customer complaints, exorbitant shipping fees and logging in from an unfamiliar IP address. Merchant's account funds are deposited directly into your financial institution account within a 48-hour card processing period and cannot be withheld from you.

How to be Safe When Using PayPal

1. Keeping your Password safe
The first thing you want to do is NEVER share your password with anyone. This makes sense, but it is surprising how many times someone will share a password. Keep in mind that PayPal employees will NEVER ask you for your password. If someone contacts you and says he/she works for PayPal and asks for your password, do not give it and contact PayPal immediately. Also, if you think someone has gotten a hold of your password, change it immediately and contact Paypal.
2. Creating a Secure Password
Again, this is common sense, but it is surprising how many people do not follow this. It is never a good idea to use a password that someone can easily guess: nicknames, birth dates, initials, etc. Always use a combination of letters, symbols and numbers when creating a password. Use random combinations as they are much harder to guess. Keep track of your passwords in a safe manner as well. See my companion article "How to Organize Passwords" in Resources below.
3. Do not 're-use' your password
Once you have created a password for PayPal (or any other site) do not use the same password for another site. While it might make it easy for you to remember if you only have one password for all your Internet sites, it is just as easy for someone else to get into all your sites if he or she happens to find out your password. PayPal has a feature called PayPal Security Key that adds an extra layer of security and uniqueness to your PayPal login. It is a small oval shaped 'key' that generates a random six digit number whenever you click the button. You add this six digit number to your password every time you log into PayPal, making your login truly unique as not even you will know the number until you press the button when logging into PayPal. You can find information about the Security Key in resources below. The key works in both eBay and PayPal accounts.
4. Phishing Protection
Never click on links in emails that ask for your personal information. Even clicking on these links will provide some information to a 'phisher.' It is always better to enter Websites through their original URLs, not through links in emails unless you are absolutely positive the link is legitimate. Again, PayPal will NEVER send an email asking for your personal information.
5. How to identify Phishing emails
If the greeting in the email is generic, like "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear Member," beware. If the email is legitimate from PayPal, it will be addressed to you or your business name, however you have the account set up. If the email is addressed to you, but asks for login information or any other personal information, it is NOT legitimately from PayPal, no matter how professional it looks. Also look for typos or odd syntax in the language of the email as a flag for a phishing email.
6. Report all suspicious emails to PayPal
It is easy to report a suspected phishing scam to PayPal. Simply forward the email to Spoof@paypal.com. I have done this several times and each time I received an email back from PayPal thanking me for alerting them and assuring me that they investigated the email and determined it was indeed phishing. PayPal will also notify you if the email is legitimate. Do not just delete these emails, forward them on to PayPal so they can deal with them.
7. Attachments in PayPal email
PayPal will never send an attachment or software update for you to download or install on your computer. If you get an email that looks like it is from PayPal that contains an attachment or requests you to download software, it is a phishing email and needs to be reported immediately to Spoof@paypal.com.
8. Use your account wisely
Never share your PayPal account. If someone approaches you and asks if they can use your PayPal account to send or receive money, deny the request and contact PayPal immediately. This is likely an attempt to get your banking information.

How to Put My Form on the Same Page With a PayPal Form

1. Open up Notepad and paste the HTML code for your PayPal form.
2. Save the form and name it as 'paypal.html.'
3. Open Notepad again and paste the code of your own form. In the section where you want the PayPal form to appear, insert the following :<iframe src ='paypal.html' width='200' height='300' frameborder=0><p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p></iframe>
4. Save the form as an HTML file.
5. Test the form by viewing it on your browser. Pressing the PayPal button should take you to the PayPal site, while pressing the Submit button on your form will execute the action that you set in your HTML code.

How to Remove PayPal Sandbox Spending Limits

1. Log into your Sandbox account to begin. Once you are logged in to the Sandbox, click on 'My Account' and then 'Overview'.
2. Click on 'Lift Limits' and follow the on-screen instructions to change your account from 'Unverified' to 'Verified' by linking a bank account or credit card.
3. Wait for your newly added linked account to be confirmed. The spending limit on your account will be removed upon completion of this process.

How to Use Paypal Through Ebay

Sign up for a PayPal Account
1. Go to the PayPal Web site (see Resources below).
2. Start the process of signing up for a PayPal account by clicking the 'Sign Up Now' button.
3. Select 'Premier Account.' This is the type of account you want if you are going to use PayPal through eBay.
4. Pick your country from the drop-down menu and click 'Continue.'
5. Enter your contact information in the provided fields. You will also choose a user ID and password at this time.
6. Read over the user agreement and privacy policy of PayPal by clicking on the links.
7. Click 'I Agree. Create My Account.'
8. Open a new window in your browser and go to your email account. PayPal will send you an email to confirm your registration.
9. Find the email from PayPal. Open the email and click on the link provided.
10. Enter the PayPal password you previously selected. You are now the proud owner of a PayPal account.
Use PayPal Through eBay
11. Sign in to your eBay account and click 'Auction Tools' (see Resources below).
12. Click 'Offer PayPal on All Your Listings.'
13. Click 'Add' to connect your eBay seller's account to your PayPal account.
14. Type in your eBay user ID and password and then click 'Add.'
15. Find the 'Automatic Logo Insertion' box. Click on the circle in the box beside the word 'Off.'
16. Click 'On' and then click 'Update.' Your eBay and PayPal accounts are now linked. You can now use PayPal for all of your eBay auctions.

How to Delete a PayPal Limited Account

Removing the PayPal Limit
1. Log into your PayPal account. Click the 'Resolution Center' tab and look at the list of personal information PayPal requires of you. Sometimes all that PayPal needs to remove limits from your account is to verify your bank information, but in some cases it may require personal information such as address verification or business information.
2. Scan, mail or fax your information to PayPal so the company can complete its additional security measures. The Resolution Center specifies where to send the information.
3. Wait for the limit to be lifted. This may take a few days.
Delete Your PayPal Account
4. Log into your PayPal account and click 'Profile' under the 'My Account' tab.
5. Choose the 'More Options' link.
6. Under 'Account Information,' click 'Close Account.'

How to Code PayPal Recurring Payments

1. Go to PayPal.com and log in to your account.
2. Select the "Merchant Services" tab.
3. Click on "Subscribe" under the Buttons menu to make a recurring payment button.
4. Enter in the "Item Name" and "Item Number" (optional) for this new button. The item number is for your own record-keeping. Insert this if you plan to offer many different recurring payment plans.
5. Enter the recurring billing amount in the "Recurring amount to be billed" field.
6. Enter in the billing cycle. Select to have your customers billed once a month, once every 60 days or once every seven days, for example.
7. Hit "Create Button" to get the JavaScript code for the button.
8. Press the "Select Code" button to copy the button's code information.
9. Open the web page on which you want to insert the button with your website editing software. Then find the exact location where you want to add your button. The button code can only be added in between the body (<body></body>) tags of the web page.
10. Press "CTRL + V" to paste your code into your web page.