Personal or Business PayPal for Dropshipping: Which One Is the Best?

Personal or Business PayPal for dropshipping: which one should you use to accept payments? 

The truth is, that can be a tricky question to answer. Personal and Business PayPal accounts are two great options for accepting payments from customers. They both have their pros and cons, and it is important to know them so as to make the best decision. 

In this post, we will be closely looking at Personal and Business PayPal accounts to help you better understand their strengths and weaknesses. In the end, you will have enough information to determine which is best for your dropshipping business. 

Let’s get into it!

What Is PayPal and Is It Okay for Dropshipping?

With over 340 million active users spread across 200 countries, PayPal is undoubtedly one of the largest payment solutions on the market. 

PayPal can be used for personal and business purposes, including dropshipping. 

With PayPal, you can receive payments from your customers, pay your suppliers, and do much more. 

PayPal is great for dropshipping for a number of reasons. They are as follows:

• Seller protection: This means that you don’t have to worry about fraudulent payments, reversals, or unauthorized payments. 
• Return on shipping cost: Handling returns can be difficult. To make things easier, PayPal can refund up to $15 to your customers anytime they return an item. 
• Seamless dispute resolution: PayPal can act as a mediator between you and your should a dispute ever arise. 
• Support for several currencies: PayPal currently supports over 100 currencies. This means you can readily sell to customers in foreign countries without having much to worry about. 
• Security: Security should be your top priority for choosing any payment processing solution. Lucky for you, PayPal is one of the most secure payment solutions on the internet. 

PayPal has 2 different types of accounts you can choose from: Personal and Business. Let’s see how they differ. 

What’s the Difference Between Personal and Business PayPal Accounts? 

Depending on your country of location, you can make and receive payments via PayPal regardless of the account type you chose. But Personal and Business PayPal accounts are not exactly the same. 

The Personal account, as you might have guessed, is for individuals looking to send or receive personal payments, pay for purchases, or send money to friends and family. 

This is not to say that the PayPal personal account can’t be used for business purposes. However, PayPal only allows a limited business activity on the personal account. For example, casual sellers with low sales volume can accept payment using their personal account. 

For eCommerce and dropshipping businesses, PayPal recommends going for a business account. The reason is that a business account makes your store come off as professional and trustworthy. 

Additionally, a business account comes with lots of features and tools that make it easy for you to accept payment from your customers, regardless of where they are located. 

On top of that, you are allowed to add as many as 200 employees to your business account. 

The coolest part is that opening a business account with PayPal gives you access to PayPal’s credit and loan facilities. 

Personal vs Business PayPal Accounts for Dropshipping

So, a personal or a business account, which should you use to accept and process payment for your dropshipping business? The long and short answer is, go for a business account. 

Don’t believe us? 

Let’s compare the two accounts to see the pros and cons. 

PayPal Personal Account Pros: 

If you are looking to get up and running fast on PayPal, a personal account is your best bet. It’s easy to set up, and the approval process is quite short. 

Other benefits of using a personal PayPal account include:

• Zero/minimal incurring fees and charges
• Allows you to receive payments with ease
• Allows you to send money to your bank account without stress

PayPal Personal Account Cons:

• When someone sends money to your account, they will see your name. As such, if you use it for dropshipping, it will make your business look unprofessional.
• You are limited to a certain amount of transactions
• You won’t access some PayPal features, such as invoicing. 
• PayPal charges a fee each time you receive payments from customers via credit or debit cards

PayPal Business Account Pros:

PayPal business account is a great solution for dropshippers that want to add a payment portal to their website without hassles. 

It comes with lots of features that make it ideal for small business owners and dropshippers looking to collect payments from their customers and also pay their suppliers. 

Additionally, a PayPal business account allows you to set up recurring payments, allowing customers to pay for their purchases in installments. 

Other pros of PayPal business account are as follows: 

• Allows you to track your payments 
• Gives you access to round-the-clock customer service
• Allows you to add as many as 200 employees to your account, while still ensuring your account stays safe
• Costs nothing to set up, there are no termination or monthly maintenance fees
• Gives you access to business financing solutions from PayPal
• Makes it easy for you to collect payments from customers who would rather use their credit or debit card for payments. 
• You don’t have to worry about customers seeing your name – what they will see is your business name instead. 

PayPal Business Account Cons:

Despite these benefits, a PayPal business account has its own share of drawbacks. Here are some of them:

• You’d be charged a fee each time your successfully process payments from a customer
• PayPal charges a fee for currency conversion on business accounts
• You can’t downgrade your business account to a personal account by yourself; you would have to contact PayPal’s customer service to do that. 

Personal or Business PayPal for Dropshipping: Which One Is Best for You?

With all that we’ve said, which one should you go for: a personal or a business account?

Even though a business account is an obvious pick, it might not be ideal for your business. 

That being said, here are factors to consider when deciding whether a personal or business account is okay for your dropshipping business:

1. Sales Volume

More sales mean more profits, isn’t it? As such, you will naturally want to sell a lot so as to maximize your revenue. 

If that’s the case, a business account is your best bet. It allows you to sell to customers around the world without limitations. 

However, if you plan to sell infrequently, maybe to your friends and family occasionally, a personal account is a much better option. 

2. Business Size

On the one hand, if you run a one-man dropshipping business, a personal PayPal account might work even though we don’t recommend it. 

On the other hand, if you have a team that helps manage your dropshipping business, a business account is definitely what you should go for. The reason is that on the business account, you are allowed to add as many as 200 employees without any issue. 

3. Getting Banned

Your dropshipping business can easily get banned on PayPal if you are not careful. What would make PayPal want to ban a dropshipping store? A lot!

Firstly, dropshippers who are in the habit of selling defective products can run into serious problems with PayPal. 

Secondly, running your business without any legal documentation can make PayPal ban your store. 

And third, using a personal account can get you into trouble, too. As such, it’s best to use a business account. 

Now, a business account doesn’t guarantee your account will not be banned – it only lessens the chances. 

4. Customer Support

When disputes occur, as they often do in dropshipping, you will want a way to amicably resolve them with customers. This is where customer service comes into play. 

To this end, you are better off choosing a business PayPal account because it gives you access to round-the-clock support for your business. 

Conclusion

PayPal is a great payment solution for entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses. It offers personal and business accounts, which are both easy to set up. 

Personal or Business PayPal for dropshipping: which should you choose? We recommend a business account as it comes with lots of tools and features designed to make it easy for you to collect payments from your customers, and also pay your suppliers. 

To make the most out of your dropshipping business, it’s important to use the right tools. 

This is why you need Sell The Trend. 

Sell The Trend is an all-in-one dropshipping platform that allows you to automate your dropshipping product research and other repetitive tasks, connect with suppliers within and outside the US, and lots more. 

Also, Sell The Trend allows you to automate order fulfillment with ease. 

Ready to try out Sell The Trend to see how it will help your business? 

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