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What are the differences/benefits between a Paypal Premier and Business account?

by NicheMayhem
8 replies
I was just going over some of the buttons I have out there and decided to check around on the Paypal website about added benefits, tracking information and information regarding my customers. Well, I came across the "advanced recurring payments upgrade" and wanted to inquire further. The only option was to submit my business information, mind you I have had a Premier Account with Paypal for something like 4 years now, so I went ahead and filled out the form. Upon submission I came to a page which outlined the monthly charges ($19.99per month) and I needed to agree to the TOS and submit again agreeing to the upgrade.

Well, I didn't upgrade. I went back to try and figure out what the benefits were and differences between the two. Now though, my account has been officially "upgraded" from Premier to Business even though I never agreed to the terms of the agreement and have no idea what in the world the added value is to paying that monthly fee.

Could anyone please enlighten me on what the charges are for and what the benefits are to upgrading to a business account?

Frankly, I have operated with a free premier account for years on end and never had an issue with monthly limits or sporadic account activity. What can I do with a Business account that I could not do with a Premier? Both versions of the same account are still associated with me as an individual and after the upgrade I have been poking around the merchant services area only to find that all of the options seem to be exactly the same, limits are the same, fees are the same...everything looks the SAME so why is it that I am now going to pay $19.99 per month?:confused:

I have searched around and found little to no information other then a business account is for a business and a premier account is for an individual. I operate as an individual so I am thinking I need to send them an email to get the account back to Premier status.

Edit: Just for the record upon searching around the only actually informative page I seem to find is much like this one:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc...tTypes-outside
#account #business #differences or benefits #paypal #premier
  • Profile picture of the author Big Al
    Thanks for sharing.

    In addition I believe that a Premier Account is still in your name (ie. your personal details will be shown on receipts).

    On a business account - it's the business name - so receipts use the business name. This is more relevant to ppl here if they are using Pen Names in several niches and use PayPal.

    I'll give you an example - I sold a product using a Pen Name and when my real name came up on the receipts ... a couple of weeks later the person went to PayPal and said that someone else had used their account and bought this product from me ... without their knowledge.

    I could be cynical and say it was just an attempt to get a refund (which I'd honour anyway) but I think it's because they didn't make the connection between the product they bought and my real name.

    Lesson learned.
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    • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
      Originally Posted by Big Al View Post

      Thanks for sharing.

      In addition I believe that a Premier Account is still in your name (ie. your personal details will be shown on receipts).

      On a business account - it's the business name - so receipts use the business name. This is more relevant to ppl here if they are using Pen Names in several niches and use PayPal.

      I'll give you an example - I sold a product using a Pen Name and when my real name came up on the receipts ... a couple of weeks later the person went to PayPal and said that someone else had used their account and bought this product from me ... without their knowledge.

      I could be cynical and say it was just an attempt to get a refund (which I'd honour anyway) but I think it's because they didn't make the connection between the product they bought and my real name.

      Lesson learned.
      Thanks for the reply Al. So I guess essentially that is perhaps the only benefit to paying the monthly fee?

      I have no issue with operating under my name for some of the things I do online, many of my domains are registered under a business name but that has nothing to do with my Paypal account and its purpose. I would like to keep them separate actually, just to keep better track of all the things I have going on at once, lol.

      I am really thinking this whole Business account thing has very little to absolutely no benefit to me and how I plan to use my Paypal account in the future.

      I thought maybe the limits would be higher or fees lower or something but apparently I would be paying to allow my employees to login to the account or to operate under a business name and not my personal name. Completely useless to me, but to each their own I suppose.

      To anyone who may be curious, using a personal name when selling a product of your own is no big deal but it is a good idea to register domain names as anonymously as possible as this will hide away your niches. This is something I feel is very important, especially while being an active member of this forum. Never give up your niches to your direct competition.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Big Al View Post

      In addition I believe that a Premier Account is still in your name (ie. your personal details will be shown on receipts).
      Yes, this is correct.

      Originally Posted by Big Al View Post

      On a business account - it's the business name - so receipts use the business name. This is more relevant to ppl here if they are using Pen Names in several niches and use PayPal.
      Exactly so. If you wish to make sales while concealing your personal identity, a business account is the only effective option.
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      • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
        Sam,

        I think you may have misunderstood the PayPal fee structure.

        There is currently no extra charge for upgrading to a Business account. The monthly $19.99 charge is for the advanced recurring payments feature, which, I believe, you need to have a Business account to use.

        If you don't want that facility, you can upgrade to a Business account for free.

        HTH


        Frank
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        • Profile picture of the author mcmahanusa
          Frank is correct. I upgraded to a business account some time ago, and I incurred no additional fees.
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        • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
          Ahaa! Yes, I initially was interested in finding out just what the advanced recurring payments feature was and went through the motions of upgrading to figure that out.

          Ahh thank you for actually addressing my inquiry. So, upon further inspection (and actually searching for those terms specifically) I come to realize the monthly fee is associated with those specific features only which for anyone interested can be viewed here:

          https://merchant.paypal.com/us/cgi-b...t/erp_overview

          Thank you very much, theres a nice DUH! moment for me today

          Hopefully I did not anger the Paypal gods by temporarily thinking they were trying to bend me over...
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I have a business account and don't pay any monthly fees. I've had it for years ... I don't know ... maybe at that time, there was no monthly fee.
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    • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
      Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

      I have a business account and don't pay any monthly fees. I've had it for years ... I don't know ... maybe at that time, there was no monthly fee.
      That is...disconcerting.

      Seems a little wacky to me that they would offer the same exact services to a Business account and a Premier account, even all the reporting features are the same. Well, as stated above there are two minor differences I guess.

      For tax reasons I need a record of the goings on and income based information but have never had a problem including a record of the Premier account and separate business information on a quarterly basis. Starting to think good ole Paypal is just attempting to reel me into a monthly payment I have no use for. How nice of them.
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