Create a PayPal account
In order to understand how PayPal works, I suggest you “take action” immediately: sign up for the service and immediately open your online account. To begin with, click here so that you can connect to the main web page of the service's website, press the button Subscribe which is located at the top right and then choose whether to open an account Staff or an account Business putting the check mark next to the appropriate item and then pressing the button Continue to go to the next step.
If you are wondering what are the differences between a personal account and a business one, I will immediately clear my mind about it: a Personal type account is intended for private users and allows you to take advantage of all the basic functions for making and requesting payments online; a Business type account is intended for companies, can be managed by a maximum number of 20 users and includes advanced functions such as cumulative payments and those via email. Having clarified this, then opt for the solution that you think may be more congenial to your real needs.
After choosing the type of account to create, fill out the form that is proposed to you indicating your country of origin, your email address and the password you want to use to access the service and then presses the blue button Continue.
Then fill out the second form that is proposed to you by entering all your personal data in it, then put the check mark next to the item I confirm that I have read and accepted the terms of use and the PayPal privacy policy and presses the button Accetta and continue.
At this point you will be asked if you want to associate a credit card (traditional or prepaid) to your PayPal account. Skip this step (we'll take care of it a few lines later) by clicking on the PayPal logo located at the top left.
Now you should finally see the main screen through which to manage your newly created PayPal account. Before you can start using the service, however, you must perform some further steps: validate your e-mail address and your mobile number that you provided during registration.
To validate the e-mail address provided during the PayPal registration process, access the previously specified e-mail address, access the section Incoming mail, presses on the subject of the message that was sent to you by PayPal and then click on Confirm e-mail address that you find inside the message.
To validate the mobile number provided during the registration process, connected instead to the main page of your PayPal account, click on the item Confirm your mobile number which is placed at the top and then click Send code to receive a verification code via SMS to be entered in the space provided on the PayPal website.
If you need more information about the procedure to be taken to register on PayPal, I suggest you take a look at my tutorial on how to create a PayPal account through which I have explained to you in an extremely detailed way how to proceed.
Associate a credit card and / or bank account
At this point you can finally say you are satisfied, you have managed to create your account on the famous service and now you certainly have a little clearer ideas on how PayPal works. However, you cannot "sing victory" yet… you must in fact associate a credit or prepaid card and / or a bank account with your PayPal account.
Keep in mind that this is a very important step as it also serves to verify your identity and remove the initial withdrawal / deposit limits on your account. To be precise, in the event of limits, it is not possible to withdraw more than € 750,00 per month or € 1.000,00 per year from your account and it is not possible to collect sums exceeding € 2.500,00.
- To associate a credit card with your PayPal account, press the item Our customers placed in the menu at the top of your Paypal account page then click on the button Link a card and fill out the form that is proposed to you by entering all the required data. Then select the circuit to which your card belongs (Visa, MasterCard etc.) from the drop-down menu Kind of paper, enter the card number, its expiry date and the CVV (the three-digit secret code found on the back of the card) and click on the button Save but I will complete the operation.
- To associate a bank account with your PayPal account, press the item Our customers placed in the menu at the top of your Paypal account page then click on the button Link a bank account, enter the IBAN code of your account and click on the button Continue.
Now go back to the main page of your account, click on the item in the box Notifications and follow the instructions on the screen to confirm your credit card or bank account.
If you have chosen to unsociate a card to your account, a small charge will be made on the card you have associated with PayPal which will provide you with a special 4-digit code that you will need to type into your online account to confirm that you are the real cardholder. You will be temporarily charged 1,50 euros and on your card statement you will find a unique 4-digit code preceded by the word PAYPAL o PP.
Then go back to the section Our customers of your PayPal account, click on the icon of your card and select the appropriate item to confirm the credit card or bank account and, finally, enter the code found in the account statement.
If, on the other hand, you have chosen to associate a bank account with your PayPal profile, two small amounts of between € 0,01 and € 0,99 will be deposited into your account.
So check the account statement of the C / C and identify the two credits and then go back to the section Our customers PayPal, click on the account icon and select the appropriate item that is shown to you to confirm the C / C. Finally, enter the amounts of the two credits received.
Pay and send money
At this point you are the holder of an authenticated account that has no limits on transfers and has no “castrated” functions. So tell me: are you ready to find out how PayPal practically works?
Let's start with paying for goods and services purchased online. PayPal is officially supported by a wide range of online shops and websites, most notably eBay which acquired ownership of the service in 2002 and made it the default payment method for its auctions.
On sites that directly support PayPal it is possible to complete the payments by simply clicking on the button with the service logo and typing the password of your account, that's all!
If, on the other hand, you have to pay money to a person, you need to connect to the PayPal home page, select the item Send and request which is located at the top of the main web page of the service, specify whether the payment is made to family and friends or to pay for goods or services by clicking, respectively, on the buttons Send money to family and friends or Pay for goods or services, and type the email address of the payment recipient
It should be emphasized that in the absence of funds on the PayPal account, the service automatically withdraws the money from the card or current account associated with the account.
As for payment fees, sending money to the euro zone is free if you transfer funds between two PayPal accounts. If, on the other hand, you send money with a card connected to the service, you will be charged € 0,35 plus a commission of up to 3,4% of the transaction value. For money transfers outside the euro zone, a fee of 0,4–1,8% is applied if using the PayPal account or up to 5,2% plus 0,35 euros if using a credit card.
Of course, you can also transfer the money in your PayPal account to yourself, by paying it to the current account or credit card associated with the account. Just select the item Transfer money che trovi in corrispondenza della voce PayPal balance of the section Riepilogo account.
Receive money and request payments
As I have already mentioned, in addition to paying and sending money, PayPal is a service that can also be used to receive money and request payments. Now I'll explain everything.
To receive money on PayPal, you just need to communicate the e-mail address associated with your account to whoever owes it. Once you have received the money in your account, you will receive an e-mail notification of the transaction and you will find the money immediately available in your PayPal account. Simple right?
To request the execution of a payment, it is necessary to select the item It's too late available on the web page displayed by clicking on the item Send and request placed at the top. Then you will have to type in the e-mail address of the user from whom you intend to receive money that will be immediately requested to carry out the operation. Find more information on what to do in my guide on how to get paid on PayPal.
The commissions applied for the sale of goods or services via PayPal amount to a maximum of 3,4% + 0,35 euros for the euro zone and the value of the rate for currency conversions and international payments provided by PayPal for the rest of the world. For further details you can click here and consult the web page dedicated to the topic attached to the official PayPal website.
Another great way to get money on your PayPal account is to take advantage of PayPal.Me. This is the new system designed by PayPal consisting in the creation of a personalized link for each account that can be shared via email, social network, chat and so on and so forth with the person from whom you want to receive money. Whoever receives the link can send a sum of money at will by simply clicking on it and following the quick and easy wizard proposed in the browser window. I told you in depth about the aforementioned functionality in my tutorial on how to recharge PayPal.
If you want to pay money to your PayPal account, you have to select the item Reload account and make a transfer to PayPal using the instructions provided by the service.
Protection systems
Have you seen? After all, understanding how PayPal works wasn't complicated at all. Before leaving you free to use your account as you see fit, however, I would like to talk to you about the protection systems provided by PayPal for buyers and sellers. These are protective measures that allow you to receive refunds in the event of default on the part of those who sell or buy a tangible asset (intangible assets are not covered).
You can request a refund in the event that an item purchased through PayPal does not match the description provided by the seller or does not arrive at its destination. The claim through which the refund can be obtained must be made within 45 days of making the payment.
PayPal also protects sellers from complaints, chargebacks, and reversals in the event of unauthorized payments and non-delivery of items. If you want to know more about it, click here to consult the appropriate section on the PayPal website.
Using PayPal from a smartphone
Like most of the online services currently present on the market, PayPal can also be exploited not only from your computer, by connecting to the official website, but also from mobile, using the appropriate app.
The official PayPal application is available for devices Android e iOS. You can download it by tapping directly from your smartphone on the links I just provided you.
As for how it works, the app has the same characteristics as PayPal in the Web version for better or worse. Clearly, in order to take advantage of all the features offered, it is essential to log in to your account by typing your e-mail address and password.
How does PayPal
