Using PayPal to receive payments on a website

jasonb

Hi there...

I work in a charity and we're looking to run an event that people will have to pay for. This event will be on our website, and ideally I'd like to have a button on our website so that people can pay for the event via Pay Pal.

I've had a look at the Pay Pal site and from what I can see I need to create a Business Account with them first. Then I can give the Charity's Bank Account Details etc. and I can get some HTML code from Paypal to create the 'PayPal' button on my website.

However, I'm not certain how it all works. A person clicks on the button and agrees to pay the fee. This is then taken from their Credit Card or whatever, and I assume it's paid into our PayPal holding account or something like that? Is that right?

Then, when say 10 people have paid, we can then log into PayPal, see the money in our PayPal holding account and withdraw it to our Bank Account. Is that correct too?

I know that PayPal charge a fee for withdrawing, but is that charged for every payment we receive ( i.e. we're charged 10 times for the 10 payments we got ) or is it charged just the once, when we make the withdrawal to our account. When the withdrawal is made, does it appear on the Bank Statement as PayPal or something like that?

I'm just trying to get a sense of how it all works, any help / or advice is appreciated. Thanks!

J.

Berty

I have a business premier account holder and often receives payment through Ebay to my paypal account. I can instantly send those monies through to my current account. Paypal take 6% of the money received into my paypal account for providing the service.

I do not mind this as it makes it easier for users to pay for goods.

Paypal is a great company with an Irish base so you can be sure they are regulated.

I would imagine being a charity they may process your transactions for free. You should look into this further. I know that on Ebay you can list something for free if the monies is going to a nominated charity.

Long story short, trust paypal and everything you mentioned is correct. That is how they operate.

Get the button on your site and work away.

jasonb

Hi there...

Thanks for the response!

I just realised, it doesn't make any difference if the 6% charge is on every transaction, or just on the withdrawals, 6% is 6% no matter what!

I will look into them doing a transaction free account for charities though, thanks!

J.

jasonb

Found their Sales phone number so I gave them a ring. Very helpful woman on the phone answered all my questions. Unfortunately, we don't get a Charity rate in Ireland, but apart from that it all makes sense. Thanks for your advice...

J.