PayPal Consumer Fees (2024)

FAQs

Can I pass on PayPal fees to customer? ›

If you choose to, you can surcharge up to the amount you pay PayPal to receive a transaction as a percentage of your total price. However, we don't recommend you do surcharge your customers.

It's free to use PayPal to pay for a purchase or any other type of commercial transaction unless it involves a currency conversion.

Personal payments aren't covered by PayPal Purchase Protection. You can make a personal payment to anyone in the US for free if you use your bank account or PayPal Balance. If you use a debit or credit card, there will be a small charge for your payment.

PayPal fees are typically paid by the seller or the recipient of the payment, depending on the type of transaction. However, if a consumer is sending money internationally or using a currency other than their primary currency, PayPal may charge a small currency conversion fee.

Can the buyers pay the fees? No. We always charge Seller Profile transactions to the seller. For additional information on fees, refer to our site for more information.

PayPal fee structure

To stay in business, the company needs to make some form of income off of its services. To do this, PayPal charges a fee for most transactions that go through its system. And in most cases, these fees are charged to the person or company receiving the money.

How much is the PayPal fee for $100? For the most common PayPal fee of 3.49% + $0.49, the fee for a $100 transaction will be $3.98, making the total money received after fees $96.02. Example 1: You send an invoice to a client for $500 to be paid via PayPal Checkout or Guest Checkout.

If you're using PayPal Friends and Family to send money within the US, you should have fees only when you pay with your card (or if you send in different currencies)¹: Paying with PayPal balance or a bank account: no fee.

Request “friends and family” Payments

PayPal fees will always apply to invoice-based payments. However, if clients send funds via the “friends and family” method, the recipient won't pay to receive the money. Clients who send the money via their bank account and/or PayPal balance won't pay any fees.

How to send money via PayPal to friends and family with no fees? ›

If you send money using your PayPal balance or bank account, or Amex send^TM account, there is no fee. If you send money using a credit or debit card, there is a 2.9% + fixed fee. Fees are subject to change.

If the amount you're sending is up to $3000, you will be charged with 4.4% of the amount plus a fixed fee. The percentage level decreases as the transaction amount goes above $3000.

Stripe: Best for payment customization options

Its application programming interface, or API, allows companies to customize their payment solutions to fit their requirements, making it a good option for large online-based businesses. Other features include advanced reporting, billing and invoicing tools.

With PayPal there are no monthly fees or set-up costs. You pay only when you complete a sale and can apply for discounted rates based on your sales volume.

For example, if you are receiving a domestic invoice payment of $1,000, the PayPal fee would be ($1,000 x (3.49 ÷ 100)) + $0.49, or $35.39. Continuing with the previous example, if you want to receive a total amount of $1,000, you should charge ($1,000 + $0.49) ÷ (1 - (3.49 ÷ 100)), or $1,036.67.