Setting up paypal

[gh]

Just been asked if we accept paypal from an enquirer, so we tried to add this to our site, help, so many options, can anyone advise me what one is the best to use. Eventually when this is installed; will they be able to click on our site and pay from there? or am I being too hopeful.
Bit of a novice with paypal, grateful for any advise on this.

[Hells Bells]

Johnel, on my way out now. I'll get back to you in the morning about it. God knows I've had loads of experience either way. You can set up an email wizard in Outlook which was quite useful before I used my online booking.

[janskov]

I just give my email address as a reference.
Have tried some of the fancy buttons, but found it to just complicate things.

[gh]

Thanks Janskov; it is complicated, secretly hoped HelenB you would see the post and advise TTFN

[Hells Bells]

Helen, not complicated at all, just tedious. Now, listen verrry carrefully, Ah'll say zees only once!!!

1. Set up a paypal account. To send and received money, and transfer it to your bank account, you will need an email address, a bank account, and a credit card (this gives you back up funds if your bank account is empty). You will probably need a premier account.

2. Paypal will either debit or credit these accounts with a small sum of money. There will be a link on your account page to verify the account. You will need to enter these amounts, which will be on your bank or credit card statement, to ensure you can accept payments, and transfer them to your bank account. There may also be a 4-digit code on your statement which you will need to enter too.

3. Now you have a verified account, you can accept payments from your guests. All you need to do is log in to your acount, and email your guest for the amount they owe you. If you want to, you can also download a payment wizard from the website, which you use with your email account.

Check out https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/websc ... nt-outside
for more help. There are several merchant tools you may (or may not) want to use, buttons on your site etc. I have paypal linked to an availability calendar http://holiday.booking-system.net/Choos ... 60&CID=103, which I got from http://holiday.booking-system.net/Choos ... 60&CID=103. They set up the calendar to work with my Paypal account.

Problems you may encounter.

If you are successful, you may find you have exceeded you account limit, and have to send Paypal some ID, due to EU money laundering rules. These are usually faxed copies of your passport and proof of your address (recent utility bill). As these need to be in the exact name of the Paypal account holder, make sure you set up the account likewise (same initials isn't good enough). It took me several attempts to send the required documents, so make sure your fax sends decent copies.

The good points.

Convenient, easy for your guests, and it's a brilliant method of returning their damage deposit. If you give a partial (or complete) refund within 60 days of receipt, the Paypal fees are refunded too. The easiest way is to keep the refund in your Paypal account.

The bad points

Sometimes your guests make a mess of the payment, and they may have to verify their accounts before they can send you the money, especially if it is for 2 weeks in August.

The fees can seem a lot, but you can always surcharge your guest, or ask the to pay by e-cheque, which takes longer, but only costs a small amount. I have sent money from Uk to my French account for about 5 euros.

Any more questions, just ask.

[sunny by nature]

How much do you usually charge for the Paypal fees? They say 3.4%, then something small like 30p for the transaction, but if it's an international payment the currency exchange rates come into the equation too. I've tried varying between 3.4% for straightforward and 4% for international payments, but I'm always short. How are you meant to work it out?

BTW I wish I had had these great instructions when I was pulling my hair out in April. Paypal account is now set up, but bald patches give away my novice status!

[vrooje]

I included the 4% fee in our price increase a couple of years ago, so that I don't have to ask guests to pay the fee. That's what larger businesses do, and for us it was simpler to do it that way.

Others here ask guests to split the fee with them... I don't think any solution is significantly better than the others, at least not by general consensus.

As for how to receive payment, I include a link in my e-mail (created using the "buy now button" merchant tool) when I respond to an inquiry. I haven't gotten as advanced as Helen and linked to my availability calendar!

I haven't yet figured out how to make the eCheck possible from the link, but I agree, that's a very nice way to go -- E5 is usually around a tenth of the normal fee.

I had to go through the same thing Helen did regarding the money laundering rules in the EU. It was a bit annoying, but even while the thing was processing, my account was not affected in the least. I suppose we should all be so lucky, that we're successful enough to need to fill out extra paperwork.

I don't mind the account verification thing. Yes, it's a bit annoying that the guests have to do it, but I take payments 8 weeks in advance, so when my guests e-mail me apologetically about their payment being delayed for a few days, I am very gracious about it. I get to be an accomodating landlord, and still get my money well in advance!

[gh]

Now, listen verrry carrefully, Ah'll say zees only once!!!

'Now, listen verrry carrefully, Ah'll say zees only once!!! ' 'Well, in that case, could you please speak slowly.' "Rene"

Brilliant show, brilliant post HelenB, thank you so much, will work on adding the link over the weekend.

[Hells Bells]

Brooke, I think that when your guest opens your invoice, they can select 'other payment options'. The echeck will be available from there I think.
Helen.

[Hells Bells]

Hi Brooke, when you click the pay button on the invoice, it gives your guest their default method of payment, but there is a small link underneath which says 'more payment options'. If they click this link, it will give them the option to send by echeck instead of card or instant bank transfer. It take much longer to be received in your account, but is much cheaper. I have used it to transfer money when I was in France for 3 weeks last winter, and I needed some funds into our French account to pay some bills. I forgot to do the transfer before I left home,.

[vrooje]

Do you know if there's any way to get the eCheck to be the default payment method? I'm sure they'd make it difficult for us, since PayPal doesn't make as much money with that method...

[Hells Bells]

Brooke, I don't think so, as your guest has to choose the method of payment from their page. Paolo may know more, as he has mentioned echeck before.

[paolo]

If the above excellent advice is too technical for you, remember that you can also just say: "Please pay to this email address: ..........." Because all you need to send a payment by PayPal is the recipient's email.

I 'invite' people to share half the 3.9% fee (international transfers). I have had one person sarcastically thanking me for the 'invitation'. Brooke's way of incorporating the fee in the rate is better, but then all her payments come by PayPal.

I don't know anything about echeck as default, I wasn't even aware the fee was lower for that. This seems a good way round because the echeck only takes a few days to clear.

[Ciapolin]

We are still having problems setting up an account - it says we already have something set up but when we request a reminder password, it says it has been set to our e-mail address, but never arrives.

Some things are just not meant to be!

[Hells Bells]

Carole-Anne, can you not set up a new email address just for thepaypal payments? It keeps them separate from your other mail that way too.