Using PayPal for Online Transactions

by Ron Kurtus (revised 18 November 2020)

PayPal is a popular online financial service that allows you to securely send or receive payments over the Internet. There is no charge to open a PayPal account, and PayPal only charges a nominal fee to the recipient of a transaction. There are several levels of a PayPal account, depending on what sort of transactions you plan to do.

You can send money when you are purchasing goods, making online donations, or sending money to family members. You can also receive payments through PayPal if you are selling items or someone is sending you money. Most online services accept payments through PayPal.

Questions you may have include:

How do you open a PayPal account?
What are the different PayPal accounts?
How do you send or get money through PayPal?

This lesson will answer those questions.

Open a PayPal account

In order to use the PayPal service, you first need to open a PayPal account. From the PayPal home page, click on the Sign up link at the top of the page.

To create your PayPal account, select your country and language. You then have a choice of opening a Personal, Premier, or Business account. For a Personal or Premier account, you simply enter your email address (which you later use to log in), password, address, phone number and credit card number.

Note: You can send your credit card number, since the PayPal website is secure, as indicated by the https:// before the web address ("s" for secure).

However, do not be so foolish as to send your information from an unsecured WiFi, such as from a coffee shop.

There are several additional steps for setting up a Business account.

Once set up, you will receive an email from PayPal asking you to activate your account. Then you're ready to shop, send money, and accept payments using PayPal.

Types of PayPal accounts

The type of PayPal account that you open depends on how you want to use the service. You always have the option to upgrade the type of account that you have, if the need arises.

A Personal account is for individuals who only want to shop online.
A Premier account is for individuals who both buy and sell online.
A Business account is for merchants who use a company or group name.

(See Types of PayPal Accounts for more information.)

Sending and receiving money

There are several ways to send and receive money through your PayPal account.

Use PayPal payment option for online purchases
Send money to someone who has a valid PayPal account
Receive money into your PayPal account
Transfer funds between your bank account and your PayPal account

(See Send or Receive Money with PayPal for more information.)

Summary

PayPal allows you to securely send or receive payments over the Internet. There is no charge to open a PayPal account, and PayPal only charges a nominal fee to the recipient of a transaction.

It is easy to open a PayPal account. You need to give an email address, password and credit card number, along with some other information. You can open a Personal, Premier, or Business account, depending on what sort of transactions you plan to do.

You can pay for goods you are purchasing, make online donations, or send money to family members. You can also receive payments through PayPal if you are selling items or someone is sending you money. Most online services accept payments through PayPal.