Good Afternoon Colleagues,

I am a new VA business and the few clients that I have pay by check. However, on my website, I have a PayPal button on my rates page. I ran across the following quote from a blogger about PayPal...

"Fees are a bit expensive. Person receiving payment is charged 2.9% of his/her earnings plus $.30 on each transaction."

Now I am wondering if PayPal is the best option. What payment options do you use.

Thanks,

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Laraine Montgomery
Expert Virtual Office Services

I just ran up against the same problem. Can someone offer a suggestion?

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Jan Udlock
Freelance writer, Virtual Assistant,

I have to admit that I wish there was an alternative. Recently, I was charged $25.00 for a $700.00 withdrawal. It's steep for sure.

If you bill through Freshbooks (they do have a free account), you can choose an option to only be charged $0.50. However, I'm not sure if you both need to have a Freshbooks account.

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Janet | JG Assistance
www.JGAssistance.net

I use business checks and PayPal. Many of my clients are now choosing the PayPal option since it is the easiest for them. I look at it this way...for the fee that is charged it saves time and gas money for my trip to the bank. Also I receive my payments much quicker then them mailing a check to me. Since PayPal is most recognized I chalk it up to the cost of doing business and write off the fees on my end of year taxes.

You could add a surcharge on those clients wishing to pay via PayPal as an alternative to eating the fees.

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Lee Drozak

Lee said exactly what I was going to say. Paypal fees are the cost of doing business. Nothing is free and it's just one of those things that you need to suck up and move on from. I hate having to pay paypal fees but I dont really have an alternative.

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Paulette R.
Rhythm Virtual Solutions | Alpha & Beta Translations

I totally agree with Lee and Paulette, you should surcharge for payment through paypal. But I have to admit, paypay is one of the easiest ways to get paid.

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Karla Amaya, Your Practical Admin
http://www.yourpracticaladmin.com

Paypal would be the way to go, since it does save on time and gas.

Some people may not have a bank near them (like ones they're actually with). I lived in Baltimore and there was Bank of Americas everywhere. Now, the nearest one is 45 minutes away. And paying by check is not secure because of the stuff with the post offices. The nearest sorting office once the one in my town closes is Wilimington, and I live 2 1/2 hours from there, if not more. So mail will take longer.

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Elizabeth Whittaker
Renegade Virtual Services

Just to put my 2 cents in here:

See this article regarding the topic of whether to pass on paypal fees to your client.

http://justcreative.com/2008/11/13/d...s-paypal-fees/

It is actually against the Paypal terms of service to charge someone a fee to pay you with paypal.

On another note, it is against the Visa and Mastercard terms of service to charge a fee to pay by debit/credit or to say something like "Credit Cards, $10 minimum." Stores do it all the time, but it IS against their merchant agreement for the same reason.

Just something to be careful of.

Everyone,
Thank you for your input. I knew I would get great feedback here

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Laraine Montgomery
Expert Virtual Office Services

Intuit Payment Network has an option that's $0.50 to receive a payment regardless of size and goes directly to your bank account. It recently went up--it was $0.30 late last year. For credit cards, the fee is only 3.25%. Sending any type of payment is free.

It's a pretty good alternative to PayPal, and you do have to pass a credit check.

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Lisa M. Bryant | www.jirehvirtualsolutions.com