PayPal - personal or business account? Thread poster: Luke Hubbard (X)
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Luke Hubbard (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:13
German to English
Hi,
I've just opened a business bank account and I think that some agencies and clients will want to do PayPal payments. I looked at both business and personal and I think I'm sort of in between. I'm using it for my business but with the business account I don't need to create invoices or get payments via my website. Which of the two do you use?
Thank you
| | | | Tomasz Sienicki
Denmark
Local time: 00:13
Member (2007)
Danish to Polish
+ ...
AFAIR PayPal will force you to switch to business account once you start receiving payments anyway.
| | | | Lincoln Hui
Hong Kong
Local time: 06:13
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
It doesn't cost anything to open one anyway.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 00:13
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
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[Edited at 2019-02-14 16:17 GMT]
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 00:13
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Luke Hubbard wrote:
I think that some agencies and clients will want to do PayPal payments. I looked at both business and personal and I think I'm sort of in between.
I find it very difficult to find answers to PayPal related questions. All responses from more than 3 years ago are useless, because PayPal changes its system now and then. What was true when I got my personal PayPal account is no longer true for people who register today.
Shortly after I registered with PayPal and started getting payments, PayPal forced me to upgrade from personal to premium due to exceeded some threshold. PayPal no longer offers premium accounts (I still have a "premium" account but I can upgrade to business if I want to). I do pay the same transaction fees as business account holders do.
I suspect Tomasz is right: if you use a personal account, and PayPal believes you need a business account, they'll just freeze your account for a week or two and force you to upgrade.
Remember, you are allowed to have both a personal and a business account, but if you start out with a personal account (and all your clients have your personal account's e-mail address on their records) and then switch to business, you're going to have to spend a lot of effort getting all your clients to change their records to reflect your new PayPal e-mail account, so it may be better to use business from the start.
Receiving money with a personal account is free, but every time anyone here talks about PayPal fees, they always talk about the fees that a business account would typically have, so I suspect most people here have a business account (or a premium account).
[Edited at 2019-02-14 16:14 GMT]
| | | | | PayPal web site info on this question | Feb 15, 2019 |
I was researching this question a short time ago, not for receiving translation payments but for some small-time online selling. Here's what Paypal itself says (below) Regarding fees, if you go to this web page the word "fees" in the last part is a link. I didn't end up carrying out my small time selling project, but I would check carefully what types of fees are associated with transactions as there could be significant differences -- with a personal account definitely being cheaper. If there ... See more I was researching this question a short time ago, not for receiving translation payments but for some small-time online selling. Here's what Paypal itself says (below) Regarding fees, if you go to this web page the word "fees" in the last part is a link. I didn't end up carrying out my small time selling project, but I would check carefully what types of fees are associated with transactions as there could be significant differences -- with a personal account definitely being cheaper. If there are very significant differences, and it is not "illegal" (i.e. doesn't violate the TOS of Paypal), I'd carefully consider a Personal account vs. a Business one. But again -- I don't have a PP account -- I just did some research. Sellers on sites like ebay (+others) were by and large in favor of using a personal account because of fees. On the other hand, if the difference in fees (personal vs. business) is negligible, the business account would obviously sound more professional to clients.
https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/topic/PAYPAL_BASICS
What is the difference between Personal and Business accounts?
All PayPal accounts allow you to send and receive payments.
• Personal: Recommended for individuals who shop and pay online, or wish to send or receive personal payments for shared expenses such as splitting of dinner bills or rental charges; for casual sellers or non-businesses who wish to get paid online, and who also make online purchases.
• Business: Recommended for merchants who operate under a company/group name. It offers additional features such as allowing up to 200 employees limited access to your account and customer service email alias for customer issues to be routed for faster follow-ups.
Fees:
For complete information on PayPal transaction fees, please see the fees section of our User Agreement or click Fees at the bottom of any PayPal webpage. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 18:13
German to English
| Wait before doing anything | Feb 15, 2019 |
Brexit could potentially affect cross-border financial transactions. I would wait before committing to any course of action. Since you're just starting out, basic financial services should suffice for the time being.
| | | | Luke Hubbard (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:13
German to English
TOPIC STARTER | Useful replies | Feb 17, 2019 |
Hi all,
Thank you for thoughts. Just reading the difference between the two sort of confused me as although I'd be using my company name, I don't have employees and I won't be using the invoice service etc. Therefore I'd have a business account but wouldn't be using all the features. In terms of payments, I'd rather do bank transfers but obviously some agencies may prefer to do use PayPal. What I may do to begin with is get paid using my personal account and then transfer that betwe... See more Hi all,
Thank you for thoughts. Just reading the difference between the two sort of confused me as although I'd be using my company name, I don't have employees and I won't be using the invoice service etc. Therefore I'd have a business account but wouldn't be using all the features. In terms of payments, I'd rather do bank transfers but obviously some agencies may prefer to do use PayPal. What I may do to begin with is get paid using my personal account and then transfer that between my current and business bank accounts. Once work starts building up and if most clients use PayPal to pay me, then I'll consider the business account. ▲ Collapse
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