If you sell online and are using Paypal you need to know a few things. If for some reason Paypal places a hold on your account, you might lose the money that you have in your account. This is why it a good idea to try other payment services. There are a few trusted payment processors online and charge less then Paypal. If you do decide to try other services remember that as an eBay seller they might not allow the service you pick. If you have your own web site or sell through other auction sites then using another processor should not be a problem.

The problem with Paypal is that without notice they can freeze your account. If this happens you might not even be able to correct the problem and get back your account. If you read forums about Paypal there are a lot of horror stories. If you can not get back your account and are banned form Paypal you will not be able to sell online. This is why it’s important to have a backup payment system. If one day you can not use Paypal you just change a little code on your site and you are in business again.

There are a few things to keep in mind if you can not use Paypal. The branding of Paypal is very strong and consumers know that if there is a problem that they are protected. If you use another company consumers might be a little shy to place financial information on a site they know nothing about.

There is also the fear that if you do make sales that you can not withdraw your funds. This is why reading reviews and getting information ahead of time can lead you to the right payment processor to work with.

In part two will look at a few alternatives to Paypal.