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Review: PayPal for ecommerce sites
A simple and convenient way for your ecommerce business to receive payments in 24 currencies.
Updated
- Good for a wide range of currencies and ease-of-use.
- Beware relatively steep currency conversion fees and a confusing fee structure.
How does PayPal work for ecommerce businesses?
PayPal is best known as a global online payments system. While you can integrate PayPal with your website to accept payment from customers, you can also use the platform to get your funds back to New Zealand when you’re selling overseas.
When you open a PayPal business account, it essentially functions as a multi-currency account. This means you can receive payment in more than 200 countries and 24 currencies, and give customers the peace of mind and security of paying in their local currency. You can then convert foreign currency back into New Zealand dollars in your PayPal account whenever you want, before withdrawing those funds to your linked business bank account.
PayPal accepts the following currencies:
- NZD New Zealand dollar
- AUD Australian dollar
- BRL Brazilian real
- CAD Canadian dollar
- CZK Czech Koruna
- DKK Danish krone
- EUR euro
- GBP UK pounds sterling
- HKD Hong Kong dollar
- HUF Hungarian forint
- ILS Israeli shekel
- JPY Japanese yen
- MXN Mexican peso
- MYR Malaysian ringgit
- NOK Norwegian krone
- PHP Philippine peso
- PLN Polish zloty
- RUB Russian ruble
- SGD Singapore dollar
- SEK Swedish krona
- CHF Swiss franc
- TWD Taiwan new dollar
- THB Thai baht
- USD US dollar
You can manage your PayPal business account online or via the PayPal Business app.
What are PayPal’s fees?
PayPal’s fee structure is quite complicated and difficult to understand. While there are no set-up fees or account fees, PayPal does charge a currency conversion fee when you receive payment in a foreign currency. When you want to withdraw funds into your linked bank account, PayPal converts those funds into New Zealand dollars at 2.5% above its base exchange rate.
It’s also worth pointing out that PayPal charges fees when you receive payment into your PayPal account for goods sold. This fee can be anywhere from 1.75% to 4.6% (plus a small fixed fee) depending on the payment method used.
Read our review of PayPal for international money transfers
How do I set up a PayPal account for my ecommerce store?
You can open a PayPal business account by completing the following steps.
In a nutshell
Pros
- Simple set-up process. It’s quick and easy to set up a PayPal account and start receiving payments.
- Convenient and easy to use. PayPal is a popular online payment method that shoppers all over the world are familiar with. It also makes it simple and straightforward to repatriate overseas sales revenue to New Zealand dollars.
- Supports a wide range of currencies. A PayPal account lets you accept payments in 24 currencies and over 200 markets around the world, and then convert funds back into NZD whenever you need.
Cons
- Currency conversion fees. PayPal’s currency conversion fee of 2.5% increases the cost of converting foreign currency back into NZD.
- Confusing fee structure. PayPal’s fee structure is quite complicated and can take a little while to wrap your head around.
How does PayPal compare to other online seller services?
Check out the table below to see how PayPal’s features compare to those offered by other online seller accounts and services.
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