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I've googled quite a bit, but I'm not sure I have the correct information since I am in Europe, and the info might have been for the US.

I currently have a Personal account on PayPal and I have no need to upgrade, but at some point I will want to receive credit cards.

The "Fees" webpage currently says: enter image description here

So, what will change once I upgrade to Premier? How much will the payments via the credit card cost me? Will the "Purchase" and "Personal Transfer" fees change or stay the same?

EDIT: From the information I've googled myself I've gathered that Premier account charges a fee even if I receive money from PayPal balance. Also, they mention something about a per-transaction fee, but I'm unsure what constitutes as a "transaction".

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2 Answers 2

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If you are using paypal to sell items online, you need a Premier (or better) account rather than personal.

Paypal states:

Our fees are the same for Personal, Premier, and Business accounts. [...] If you use your PayPal account to request money from someone, you'll be charged a fee when you receive the payment.

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  • 2
    If the fees are the same, then what are the differences?
    – stannius
    Sep 10, 2013 at 22:26
  • @stannius The different types of accounts offer different features. See this page.
    – John Bensin
    Sep 10, 2013 at 22:33
  • @stannius, this is explained in the linked article.
    – ChrisInEdmonton
    Sep 10, 2013 at 22:33
  • Are you sure the fees are the same? I've heard that I have pay a fee even when receiving from PayPal balance..
    – Howie
    Sep 11, 2013 at 14:16
  • @Howie, I provide a direct quote from Paypal stating that the fees are the same.
    – ChrisInEdmonton
    Sep 11, 2013 at 15:26
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Summary: the fees used to differ but no longer do. Fees are the same. If you have a personal account, feel free to upgrade it to premier to get access to more features.

Longer answer: the two account types USED to differ but that changed a few years ago (maybe circa 2011?). PayPal wants person-to-person payments to be free (except where they must pass along credit card charges or else they would loose their shirt) but wants to charge merchants for receiving payments.

Originally PayPal required merchants to have premier (or business) accounts, and charged fees for payments made to those account types. Personal accounts had significant limitations on receiving payments, but did not pay fees upon receiving payments.

Eventually PayPal decoupled the question of "is this a person-to-person payment or a payment to a merchant for goods and services?" from the paypal account type. So now the same account can receive both a p2p payment (e.g. splitting lunch costs), on which it will NOT pay fees, and can receive a payment for goods or services e.g. from a web checkout, on which it WILL pay fees. Regardless of the account type.

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