Hi, this is a question addressed to Lisa and others who earn money from their websites:

What paypal account do you have? Personal, Premier, or Business?

I don't really know which one is right for me. I'll be building a site similar to 2createawebsite, except with forums (after gaining some traffic) and maybe a subscription program.

Any suggestions?

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I don't use PayPal for my site since I get paid through affiliate programs mostly and they send money directly to my bank account of a check made out to me.

But if you plan to be using PayPal quite a bit, I'd setup a business account because it looks more professional when the charge shows up as "YourSite.com" than your name.

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Lisa's answer indirectly brings up the real question you want to ask first, and perhaps you have. Why are you even thinking about it?

I do use Paypal but I need something like it. If you are selling only through affiliates or ads generally, as Lisa says, you may not need it. If you have something of your own and you have a page to offer your product, you do need to have a method to collect payments. Likewise to collect donations if that is part of your site. I agree that a business account is best.

Paypal is not the cheapest but it has wide acceptance if you need that kind of service. People will use it when they might not want to check through using a credit card if they aren't sure about whether you are safe and secure otherwise.

I hate to sound overly negative but I would avoid Pay Pal if all possible. Those guys are sitting on a hair trigger when it comes to shutting down business accounts for the most craziest reasons. I personally had it done to me and an online news oganization that I am familiar with was shut down for days while Pay Pal demanded all kinds of documentation to prove that they were a legitamate business. And this outfit has been in operation since 1999! Ugh! I just use them for "light" purchases only. I would research getting a merchant account and credit card machine if you absolutly have to process online payments. No Pay Pal.

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Mike, your points sound well taken in view of your experience, but there is an old saying, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face."

If you can't work out a problem with Paypal it isn't hard to set up with someone else. But the fact is that a lot of people will buy from a site even if they are not familiar with it if they can pay through Paypal. This is simply because they consider it safe.

If Paypal weren't trying to control spammers and the like we would find that irritating, too. In this case I would consider my own interests and make a decision based on that. I consider Paypal an advantage in securing sales. I guess everyone has to decide for themselves.

James

Go with your gut feeling on this. Lisa and others are bringing up good points, which you should consider. Paypal is not always the best for business deals, because it is more of a personal money thing. They can easily close down business accounts for no reason at all, which makes me mad.

Some really great advice in this post. A really good read. Just a thought.

[link removed: please use sig file to promote programs]

Ok so now i'm confused. Do i get a business paypal account or just use my already existing personal paypal account? I intend to accept payments from my customers on the website.

I use a premier business account with Pay Pal. To date I have not had any problems with them.

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Hi Lisa!

How do you incorporate affiliate links unto your site if didn't use your own html?

Thanks,

Bruce

I'm a bit confused at this question and how it relates to this topic, but I do use HTML with all my sites. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your question.

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Don't put the cart before the horse.
Plan your website, then create it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 Create a Website | 2 Create a Website Blog
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recent Blog Posts...

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What's the diffrence between a premier and business paypal account?

A premier account is an upgraded personal account for individuals who have a high volume of money exchanges and has the added ability to accept credit card payments.

The business account does this and a lot more. From the paypal site you will find these features in addition to the premier account:

Special Features: Premier and Business Accounts Only

Accept unlimited credit card payments.
Subscriptions and Recurring Payments
Implement subscription payments for your content or services.
Debit Card
Get instant access to the funds in your PayPal account.
Mass Payments
Make payments to hundreds of people at once.
Multiple Logins
Give your employees limited access to your PayPal account.
7 day-a-week customer service call center.

It also allows the use of a business name on the account.

If you want to do any business on your site such as selling an ebook or whatever you will want a business account. Good planning suggests preparing for that option even if you do not intend to do so at the beginning of your web site development.

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Thanks for the info James. I will also look on paypal website for more info. I think I might go with the business account

I have a business account with them and never experienced any problems.
Before registering an account as a business account, make sure you can prove that your company is real if they ever were to ask for that kind of information. Be careful when doing business using Paypal though, if you're selling digital goods people can always do a chargeback (take money out of your account after they've already paid) and from what I've read, the buyers usually win those disputes.