I was just having a mooch around and came across something in Folksy where it said I need to have a Business account in Pay Pal in order to receive payment, ( mine is just a normal personal account that I’ve had for a few years) Is this a new thing? Is this why a payment hasn’t gone through from a customer who paid 4 days ago? I am still receiving payments on there from other sites I sell on but not Folksy. Has everyone else upgraded?
I just have a normal PayPal account & have never had any issues with payments through Folksy- or any other site for that matter. So it’s never been a problem for me.
Hi Kim, never had a problem with payment on either of my folksy shops, hope you get it sorted.
As for paypal it is far easier to have a separate paypal account, it doesn’t cost anything to have a business account and it keeps everything in one place, all your sales and all your business outgoings, you can download your accounts (i do it monthly) far easier for book keeping and if ever there is a problem with the tax man everything is there in black and white and can easily be confirem through my paypal business site.
Hope that helps 
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I thought you needed to have a business account on Paypal as you are a business selling goods and therefore need to pay fees? I’m sure that’s what I read when I signed up some time ago.
If you open a business account on Paypal you can also opt to have a micro account, which is valuable if you sell lower priced items. I think Micro account charges are 5% plus 5p. but you will have to check on this. There is a point where you are not better off with a micro account, I think it might be transactions which are over £12. but again you will have to check on this.
That’s interesting, I’ll check that out. Thanks
No I’ve never had a Business account, just the normal one. I’ve used it for years for e Bay and Folksy and Etsy etc. You still have to pay fees whether it’s a business account or not. But now I’m wondering if it’s mandatory for Folksy (although I’ve never had a problem receiving payments up till now)
i have 2 accounts - one just for business for folksy etc and one for personal selling and buying on ebay & internet - to make things easier.
in order to have 2 accounts, i had to open a business because paypal don’t let you have two personal accounts - i think that is the only reason i opened the business one. am not sure what difference is between the two though as both have same fees.
i could have got it all wrong though…
Way back when I opened my Paypal account you had to have either a premier or a business account in order to be able to accept credit card payments. If you had an ordinary personal account you didn’t pay fees on money received so of course if you were trading that was against their T&Cs.
I’m not sure the option of a premier account even exists now, or what the difference is between that and a business account, but that’s what I’ve got.
Yes that’s how I remember it Helen too.
Edited to add: this shows the difference between the accounts:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/pop/choosing_account_type_signup-outside
I think the difference between personal and business account is a business one can receive payments via credit/debit cards etc but personal ones can’t?
@folksycontent can you advise why Folksy says a Paypal Business account is needed?
I’ve been using a personal account for over 4 years now and I’ve never changed over to business because I don’t need the micro account charges, and the personal one seems to do everything I need. I use the paypal buttons for my website through using a personal account, and customers can pay me using debit/credit cards too. So, not really sure why I’d need to change over, other than personal preference to keep business and personal transactions separate for my own records. I’d love to know if there is any other reason to get a business account though if anyone knows.
Jo
Paypal buttons and credit card transactions aren’t available on the basic personal account, the basic account also has a very tiny yearly receiving threshold so most people have upgraded to premier (still a personal account) without really remembering they’ve done it since it only takes the click of a button to move from basic personal to premier personal.
The most useful benefits of having a business account over a premier then is being able to use your business name for the account instead of your own name (especially if it bears no relation to your business name), you can take payments from customers who don’t have paypal accounts themselves (more people than you would first think) and if I remember right the thresholds are higher for business accounts compared to premier (although premier are pretty high so this may never be an issue).
Premier accounts will get the job done 9 times out of ten it’ll only be the customers without a paypal account won’t have the “pay without an account” option showing as an option at the end of their folksy purchase and will in all likelihood abandon the order if they don’t see an option that they have used before to pay other sellers with a business account.
Leanne
You can definitely take payments from people who don’t have paypal accounts with a premier account; I have done so many many times.
Going by the list of features @BigBirdLittleBird posted above, both the premier and the business accounts are effectively ‘business’ accounts - but the business account permits multi user access; as a sole trader I don’t need that.
Ah, and I’ve just check the Folksy Help and it says ‘You should have a Premier or Business account on PayPal if you’re selling on Folksy.’
So a premier account is fine if you already have one; I have a feeling that it is not an option you can select for new accounts, now it is either personal or business. Which to be fair makes it a whole lot less complicated, I think…
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I use my normal account in paypal and never had a problem. I print off all invoices but I don’t use their labels. I produce my own shipping labels and my own delivery notes on my own business headed paper.
I must be on a Premier account then, not personal. I can’t remember changing it, but I must have done. I’m definitely not on a business account, so the Premier is fine for selling
Mustn’t matter one way or the other now then.
Both these links seem to recommend a Premier Account but as @HelenSmith says things may have changed with PayPal as regards receiving credit card payments on personal accounts - however Folksy are recommending you have a Premier Account.
http://folksy.uservoice.com/knowledgebase/articles/58078-setting-up-a-paypal-account
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/pop/choosing_account_type_signup-outside
Being verified is good from the buyer’s point of view too (you need to get verified to get a Premier account as far as I remember). This is from the PayPal US.
Hello!
I’m not sure why some personal accounts seem to be able to accept payments through Folksy - as far as we are aware you do need a Premier or Business account on PayPal in order to receive payments through Folksy. PayPal are phasing out the old Premier account and so if you are creating a new account or upgrading from Personal, you will need to choose ‘Business’.
To have a Business account, you just need to tick a box. You don’t need to be a limited company or provide any documentation and PayPal do not report tax or anything like that. There are just some subtle differences and it allows greater functionality.
To check what kind of account you have, please log into PayPal, go to your Profile & Settings, click on ‘My Account Settings’ and you should see your account type at the top of the page.
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I have no idea what sort of paypal account I have…I set it up in 2006…
I am not very technically minded and Sian I couldn’t find where it said Profile and settings. (no surprises there for me…duh)…any clues welcome…
I just hope it is an account that is OK…it has always worked well for me and I know that on the auction site they told me that I had to register as a business despite being an oldie…so I am hoping that paypal is a business account as well.