Question on billing for the owner

[camerachas]

This question is for the owner or anyone that knows how it works. I am curious about how small merchants are paid. Is PayPal better than a credit card or debit card? Which way costs you the least? I used a credit card but it still says PayPal checkout. Are you using PP as a middleman? Do they add a charge on top of what the CC charges?
I recently had an email from my bank that said linking my PP account to my debit card instead of my checking account added fraud protection. But I wonder if they add a charge for that which costs merchants money. I could also link PP to my credit card but I assume that way adds the most charges to what you are actually paid.

 

[Mike A.]

It's complicated.

PayPal's basic fees are here:

Standard rate for receiving domestic transactions

Payment Type	Rate
Alternative Payment Method (APM)	APM Transaction Rates Apply
Invoicing	3.49% + fixed fee
PayPal Checkout	3.49% + fixed fee
PayPal Guest Checkout	3.49% + fixed fee
PayPal Guest Checkout – American Express Payments	3.50%
QR code Transactions – 10.01 USD and above	1.90% + fixed fee
QR code Transactions – 10.00 USD and below	2.40% + fixed fee
Pay with Venmo	3.49% + fixed fee
Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services	2.89% + fixed fee
Standard Credit and Debit Card Payments	2.99% + fixed fee
All Other Commercial Transactions	3.49% + fixed fee
All Other Commercial Transactions – American Express Payments	3.49%

PayPal vs having a regular merchant account and doing transactions directly is kind of a toss-up. Depends on volume and dollar amounts and what you're using/doing. Generally, PayPal is a more expensive as far as the rate, but the rates alone are not directly comparable since with your own you typically have other fees that come into play that are added on monthly and a bunch of other added costs that all add up. In the end for me as a smaller merchant, PayPal works out to be a little less all counted.