How to Set Up a PayPal Business Account

First, let's assume you don't yet have a PayPal account. Browse to the PayPal page and click on the "Sign Up" link.

At the window asking if you want to set up a personal or business account, click on the option for "Business Account." Click Next.

At the page to "Sign up for a business account to get paid," PayPal offers you three types of business accounts: Payments Pro for $30 a month, Payments Standard for free, and Express Checkout for free. You can see the basic features offered by each type of account and click on the link to "Show additional features" to get the full scoop. You can always start with one of the free accounts and then upgrade to the Payments Pro option if you need more features. So, let's pick the Payments Standard account. Click on the "Select Standard" button.

Enter your email address at the "Sign up for a Business account" page. Click Continue.

Then enter a password for your account. Click Continue.

At the "Tell us about your business" page, enter your name, business name, and contact information. Click Continue.

At the next "Tell us about your business" page, enter the various details about your business. Click Continue.

At the "Personal Information" page, enter the details requested. Click Continue.

PayPal then asks how you want to start getting paid. The selections differ based on the type of account you chose. Let's assume you selected the Payments Standard account. If you have or are setting up a dedicated e-commerce website, you can choose to accept payments on your website. If you sell items in person, you can opt to take credit cards with a card reader. If you send invoices, you can select the option for online invoices. And if you want to open an eBay store, you can choose the eBay option. You can select any or all of the options.

Let's say you want to have both your own e-commerce site and an eBay store. Click on the options for "On your website" and "On eBay." Click Continue.

Hang on though. Before we set up the payment options, we're first going to set up the actual account. Click on the link for "Account setup."

Follow the steps on your Account setup page. First, click on the link to confirm your email.

Open your email and click on the confirmation link sent by PayPal. Then return to the Account setup page and click on the link to "Link your bank account." Follow the pages and steps to link your bank account to your PayPal account.

When done, return to the Account setup page and click on the link to "Make your business name clear for customers."

Confirm your business name. Then if you wish to have a PayPal MasterCard debit card, click on the link to "Get the PayPal Business Debit MasterCard" and follow the steps to obtain the card.

When done, click on the link for "Payment setup" to return to that page.

PayPal asks how you want to process card payments on your website. You can choose the first option for PayPal and all the major credit cards or the second option for just PayPal. Choose the option most appropriate for your business.

PayPal then asks how you want to set up PayPal on your website, offering two options. Option A lets you work with an e-commerce solution that's already integrated with PayPal. Option B requires you to add HTML buttons to your website. Click on the link to "Compare options."

A window displays the differences between the two options.

Close the window and then select the option most suitable for you. Then follow the steps to implement the option you chose.

After you've set up your website with the PayPal payment method, you can return to your Payment setup page to set up your eBay option. Click on the link to "Go to eBay setup."

At eBay, you can click on the button to "Start Selling" if you wish to test the waters by selling an item.

Alternatively, you can choose this opportunity to create an eBay store by following the steps on this eBay help page.

After you've set up your PayPal payment and account options, you can officially open for business using your new PayPal payment service. To learn more using PayPal for business and in general, check out PayPal's Help Page.