PayPal Fees for Businesses and Consumers (2024)

More than a quarter century after its founding in 1998, PayPal has become a household name, serving more than 425 million energetic users worldwide. While you might use PayPal to send money to friends or pay your landlord, it’s also a popular selection for ecommerce merchants accepting customer payments. Today, 35 million merchants use PayPal to collect payments from buyers.

PayPal doesn’t expense fees for most personal transactions between friends and household members, but it does expense fees for business transactions. These fees appear as a percentage of the deal amount or as a flat fee, depending on how you send or receive money. Understanding these fees helps you worth your products accurately and manage your costs effectively.

What are PayPal fees?

PayPal typically charges ecommerce merchants 2.29% and 3.49%, plus a fixed expense of 49¢ for each deal.The amount of these fees varies based on several factors. 

Types of PayPal merchant fees

• Online checkout fees
• financing and debit card deal fees
• POS fees
• PayPal transfer fees
• Invoicing fees
• QR code settlement fees
• International fees
• Dispute fees
• Donation fees

You can integrate PayPal into your ecommerce store in several ways, with different fees for each alternative. Here are the most ordinary PayPal fees you’ll view as an ecommerce merchant. Note that PayPal doesn’t pass these fees to your customers—you’ll require to account for them in your pricing schedule. 

Online checkout fees

When you use PayPal Express Checkout (which works with Shopify Payments), your customers save period at checkout. Instead of entering their billing information, they pay through a secure PayPal window with their settlement details already filled in. 

Your customers can pay using:

• Their linked lender account

• PayPal account

• Venmo account

PayPal charges:

• 3.49% plus 49¢ for standard PayPal payments

• 2.59% plus 49¢ for Alternative settlement Methods (like Apple Pay or Google Pay)

For digital goods for low prices—like a $4.99 knitting pattern—where the 49¢ fee would receive a large percentage of your profits, you can apply for PayPal’s micropayments schedule to reduce the fixed fee.

financing and debit card deal fees

You can use PayPal as both a settlement gateway and settlement processor for card transactions. This means PayPal will collect your customer’s card details and transfer the sale amount from your customer’s lender to yours. For these transactions, PayPal charges 2.99%, plus 49¢ per deal.

You can also use PayPal as just a settlement gateway, letting it collect card details before sending them to a third-event processor. PayPal has two settlement gateway options:

1. Payflow Pro: Lets you customize the checkout encounter fully ($25/month plus 10¢ per deal).

2. Payflow Link: Uses a PayPal-hosted template (10¢ per deal).

discretionary services include recurring billing, fraud protection, and buyer authentication.

POS fees

If you run a physical store, you can use PayPal’s point-of-sale (POS) structure Zettle for in-person transactions. PayPal charges 2.29% plus 9¢ for each sale.

PayPal transfer fees

When you receive money directly from another PayPal account as a merchant, PayPal takes 2.99% of the deal.

Invoicing fees

For payments through invoicing or pay links, PayPal charges 2.99% plus 49¢.

QR code settlement fees

PayPal QR codes let you receive payments anywhere. For example, if you run an ecommerce olive oil business and set up at a local food co-op, customers can scan your QR code to pay through the PayPal app. These transactions expense 2.29% plus 9¢. 

International fees

If you’re selling internationally and receive payments from outside the US, PayPal adds:

• An additional 1.5% deal fee

• A liquid assets-specific fixed fee (instead of the standard 49¢)

Examples of fixed fees by liquid assets:

• Euros: €0.39

• Canadian dollars: 59¢

Dispute fees

If a customer files a dispute, you’ll pay:

• $20 for financing or debit card disputes

• $15 for PayPal settlement disputes

• $30 per deal for businesses with high dispute volumes

PayPal may expense up to 5% per card deal for businesses they consider high-uncertainty due to complaints or chargebacks.

Donation fees

You can collect donations through a PayPal Donate button. PayPal charges:

• 2.89% plus 49¢ per donation

• Additional 1.5% for international donations, plus the liquid assets-specific fixed fee

Types of PayPal buyer fees

• Sending money via financing card
• International transactions and liquid assets conversion
• Buying, selling, and transferring cryptocurrencies

Most domestic purchases and partner-to-partner transfers from Paypal balances or lender accounts are free. However, PayPal charges buyer fees for these specific transactions:

Sending money via financing card

When you use a financing card instead of your PayPal settlement or lender account, PayPal charges 2.9% of the deal worth, plus a 30¢ fixed fee.

International transactions and liquid assets conversion

For international transfers, you’ll pay:

• 5% deal fee (minimum 99¢, maximum $4.99)

• 4% conversion fee for transactions in different currencies

Buying, selling, and transferring cryptocurrencies

PayPal’s cryptocurrency fees vary by deal worth:

• $1 to $4.99: 49¢ flat fee

• $5 to $10,000: Percentage-based fee

• Over $10,000: 1.45% fee

These fees don’t apply to PYUSD (PayPal’s cryptocurrency). There’s no fee to hold or transfer cryptocurrency in your account.

PayPal fee calculators

Save period calculating your fees with these free tools:

• NerdWallet PayPal fee calculator: A straightforward tool for calculating standard domestic transactions. You can compute fees for three types of transactions: digital checkout, in-person Zettle POS, or standard debit and financing card payments. 

• The Fee Calculator: Focuses solely on digital checkout transactions, like those made through PayPal Express Checkout. Its standout characteristic shows you how much to expense to receive your target amount after fees. 

• SaleCalc.com: Works well for specialized transactions like QR code payments or international donations. Its dropdown menu lets you select from a wide range of settlement types to compute the exact fees you’ll pay.

• sensible PayPal fees calculator: Handles financing and debit card transactions. While limited to card payments, it includes a useful characteristic that lets you select your buyer’s country to display accurate fixed rates for international sales.

How PayPal fees work with Shopify Payments

When you use Shopify Payments with PayPal Express Checkout, you’ll only pay deal fees for the settlement way your customer uses—no double billing. When you commence your ecommerce store on Shopify, you’ll get a PayPal Express Checkout account automatically. This makes it straightforward to integrate PayPal Express and commence accepting PayPal payments correct away. 

PayPal Express boasts a few key benefits for Shopify merchants:

• Detailed order summaries

• Automated refund processing

• Quick checkout with autofill options

How do PayPal fees contrast to fees for other settlement gateways?

• PayPal vs. Shopify
• PayPal vs. Stripe
• PayPal vs. Square
• PayPal vs. Venmo

Many customers depend PayPal, and its quick checkout can boost your ecommerce conversion rate. Here’s how PayPal’s fees contrast to other popular settlement options:

PayPal vs. Shopify 

Shopify Payments, the built-in settlement structure for Shopify stores, lets you receive all major settlement methods from day one. Shopify charges between 2% and 3% of every domestic deal, plus a 30¢ fee. Your rate varies based on your Shopify schedule, the type of financing card your customer uses, and whether the purchase happens online or in person.

You won’t pay third-event fees when orders procedure through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments, and PayPal Express on Shopify. This also applies to liquid assets payments and lender transfers.

PayPal vs. Stripe 

Stripe’s standard card fee is 2.9%, plus 30¢. Like PayPal, Stripe charges additional fees for other settlement options.

PayPal vs. Square 

Square matches Stripe’s online checkout fee at 2.9% plus 30¢. For in-person sales, Square charges 2.6%, plus 10¢.

PayPal vs. Venmo 

When you receive a Venmo settlement as a merchant, you’ll pay 1.9%, plus 10.¢ For payments through Venmo’s contactless Tap to Pay on iPhone or Android, the fee is 2.29%, plus 10¢.

Disclaimer: The fees mentioned in this piece are accurate as of the publication date, but may be subject to transformation.