How PayPal Fees Work

• PayPal Fees Explained
• Fees, Visual Chart

Let’s Break it Down:

• Sending a payment as a “Personal Gift” has no fees ONLY if the money is coming from a bank account or PayPal balance. There IS a fee for debit/credit card transactions, even if it’s a “Gift”.
• The basic fee is $0.30 plus 2.9% of the amount. (So, $20 would be a $0.59 fee)
• There is a fee for international payments and, usually, currency conversions.
• The SENDER usually gets to decide who pays the fee (aka, they pass the burden onto the receiver, most likely)
• There are three types of PP accounts: Personal, Premier, and Business (and Student?). No account type has a monthly fee.
• You need a Premier Account to accept debit or credit card payments. Business accounts are for, well, businesses, and allow you to use more advanced e-commerce features on your website, etc. (aka, you don’t need one of those)
• If you use your PayPal account to request money from someone, you’ll be charged a fee when you receive the payment (seemingly regardless of what method the invoice was paid). Invoicing is great, but this is a surefire way to get hit by fees… Be sure to calculate them in if you do.

Basically, you want your commissioner to Send You Money with a bank account as a Personal Gift. If your commissioner is paying via card OR you’re invoicing them, try to factor in the fees. Ask ahead of time how they will be paying for their item and tell them they are responsible for fees, and that you encourage them to sign up for a Verified Paypal account connected to a bank account. (That’s all I got to suggest about dealing with commissioners!)

(dated 1/21/13 in case fees change)