PayPal Payment Standard is ideal for small businesses just starting out in e-commerce as it by-passes the expense and hassle of applying for and setting up an Internet payment gateway through a bank or credit card processing company. It can scale to handle increased sales and an expanded product line and can even be used to process transactions at your physical location.

PayPal Payments Standard enables you to accept funds from all major credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover), eChecks, bank transfers and personal PayPal accounts. Their merchant fees are scaled according to sales volume. Currently their charges range from 2.2% to 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction depending on total sales. There are no monthly fees or minimum contract lengths.

To become a Paypal merchant you must first open a business account with them. This can be done in a few minutes and there is no charge. The ubiquitous “Buy Now” and “Add to Cart” buttons can now be placed on your website or you can connect your PayPal account to a third party shopping cart system or online appointment and reservation scheduling service.

When someone makes a purchase the money is transferred to your Paypal account and you receive an email informing you that a purchase has been made. You can transfer funds from your PayPal account to your bank account at any time.

Contact ScreenTrend for PayPal e-commerce solutions and consulting.