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Finding Your Way Around Paypal

December 16, 2007 by debbie T | Internet

Using Paypal is a great way to receive money online. I have been trying to push my Dad into using it for his Craig’s List sales, and he finally gave it a shot. He loves it, but he is now wondering how to get the money from Paypal into his banking account.

So, this tutorial is for him, and for any others that want to learn a little bit about their Paypal business account.

Log Into Paypal

When you log into Paypal, there will probably be some sort of advertisement on the screen. A lot of times it will be for a credit card. To skip over the ad and go to your account, click the “Go to My Account” link found at the bottom-right of the ad image.

Welcome to Paypal

Paypal Account Overview

You should now be viewing the page called “My Account Overview” which will list your balance and recent activity.

At the top will be your current Account Balance. This “net” balance reflects the Paypal fee deductions. Remember you cannot charge your customer more if they are using Paypal. Make sure to add the fee into your selling price or shipping/handling cost.

Paypal Account Summary

Toward the bottom of the page will be a list of your recent transactions. If you do not see any activity (history) then it has been over 30 days since your last transaction.

Click the “All Account Activity” link and use the advanced search tools to view your transactions for a specific time frame.

You can use the “Within” option to search for transactions up to a year ago, or the specific dates to go back even further. Use the “Show” option to narrow your search to specific types of transactions, like balance transfers, payments, receipts, etc.

Paypal Advanced Search

Transfer Money to Your Bank Account

Okay, so you have a balance in your Paypal account. How do you get your money? You can make a purchase from an online store that accepts Paypal, or you can transfer the funds directly into your banking account.

If you do not have a bank account added to your Paypal account, choose Profile>Add or Edit Bank Account. Fill in the form with your account information.

Add a bank account to paypal

NOTE TO MY DAD: You already have a banking account added, so you can skip the above step.

Click Withdraw>Transfer to Bank Account

Paypal Withdraw funds

Now, choose either the full balance or a specific amount, then choose your bank account. Click the “Continue” button.

Withdraw funds from Paypal account

It might take a few days to transfer and there is a $500 limit unless you give Paypal your social security information.

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There are 2 comments

thank you thank you thank you!!! I was feeling very stupid, well I still do because I didn’t know how easy it was, but that was very helpful!!
Comment by anne on February 13th, 2008
Awe, thank you for taking the time to comment, Anne. It was very sweet!

And it isn’t that you are stupid, it’s just that sometimes they make it so darned complicated. Regular folks just don’t understand all of it.

I am glad the tutorial was helpful, now go out and explore the other features of Paypal. And don’t be afraid!
Comment by debbieT on February 13th, 2008