How to Accept Credit Cards on eBay

1. Set up a PayPal account (see Resources). You will need to provide PayPal with personal details such as your address and checking account information. PayPal will verify your checking account, making two small deposits of between one and 20 cents. You will need to check your bank statement for the exact amount of the deposits, then enter that information on the PayPal site.
2. When you're listing your items, eBay will ask you to select payment methods. Under PayPal, you can enter the e-mail address you used to set up your PayPal account. Payments will go to that account.
3. Ebay requires sellers to offer PayPal as a method of payment. However, you can also offer alternative ways for your customers to pay with a credit card. Google Checkout is a popular alternative. You can set up an account with it by clicking on the link below (see Resources).
4. If you sell a lot on eBay, you may want to consider establishing yourself as business (sole proprietorship), rather than an individual seller. You can set up a merchant account with both eBay and Paypal. The main benefit of this is lower transaction fees. The drawback is that the IRS will look more carefully into your taxes. To qualify for a business account with Paypal, you have to have been registered with Paypal for at least 90 days. You must have received at least $3,000 in payments in the last calendar month. To keep the account active, you must maintain at least a $1,000/month sales average.
5. If you are a merchant, you may also want to consider Authorize.net (see Resources) as an alternative to PayPal. It has over 200,000 users and lower fees but is still much less popular on eBay than PayPal.