Accept online transactions
PayPal Sign upOne of the best ways to build trust amongst prospective renters and increase bookings is to offer a safe and secure way for a potential renter to pay for their stay. Your ability to accept online payments – versus requiring receipt of a personal check or money order - can give your renter a feeling of protection against possible fraudulent activity. Sending a personal check or money order can seem risky from your renter’s point of view, and may leave them feeling vulnerable and thus, unsure of sending payment.
PayPal is one way that makes online transactions virtually seamless. To begin using PayPal, you will need to set up a business account, by following the online instructions at www.paypal.com. Once you have established a business account, you will be able to email invoices to renters through PayPal, which will enable them to pay by credit card, without exposing their credit card numbers to you. PayPal will process the credit card and then credit your account, minus a small transaction fee. All transactions are processed via PayPal’s secure network.
Payments are typically processed in a couple days and allow you to then transfer the money from your PayPal account to your bank account, all online.
Utilizing a PayPal business account provides an inexpensive and trusted way of accepting payments online. With PayPal, you will pay very low transaction fees. At the time of this writing, fees for domestic transactions are $0.30 per transaction with a 1.9% – 2.9% merchant fee, depending on the volume of transactions you process.
A question that may come to mind for you, the property manager, is “how do I refund a renter’s deposit and not get charged transaction fees for that portion of the renter’s payment?” PayPal now offers a feature called partial reimbursement. You control the amount a customer is refunded and PayPal will reimburse you for the associated transaction fees.
We wish you continued success in utilizing the tools that will simplify and increase your property’s bookings.
*This is simply one example of an easy way to charge guests for staying at your vacation property. You assume the right to charge for your vacation property any way that best suits you.
Payments outside of the US
XoomUnfortunately the paypal system doesn’t work seamlessly in all countries. Paypal allows people in most countries to set up an account but does not necessarily allow them to withdraw or transfer the funds into a local bank. The good news is, in most countries, there is a company called Xoom that has solved this problem. Xoom is similar to Western Union or Moneygram but with much lower fees.
The bonus is that Xoom works with paypal. Now you can transfer funds from your paypal account and into your bank account via Xoom. Xoom operates in many countries that paypal does not including most of Central and South America and fees are much lower than many of the other options out there.
Go to the xoom.com website to look up the fees for your specific transaction. Be sure to factor in the paypal fees on top of the Xoom fees so you know how much the total transaction will cost. It is a good idea to wait and transfer a larger amount into your bank account at one time, if you can, because the service fees as a percentage go down with a larger transaction. Please make sure your paypal account is verified before using xoom.
Moneybookers
Moneybookers is based out of the UK and is similar to paypal in that it allows you to send money worldwide via an email address. Free uploads from a SWIFT acct and 1.80 EUR to download to a SWIFT acct. makes moneybookers a preferred source for the European communities. The transaction fees are much lower than similar services at around 1%. Be aware however, that if money is uploaded with a credit card (likely), there is an additional 1.9% transfer fee which would bring the total transaction fee to 2.9% plus 1.80 EUR to transfer to your bank.
Moneybookers is regulated by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom (FSA). FSA regulation means that Moneybookers must comply with a whole set of regulatory requirements regarding consumer protection and risk prevention.
Visit http://www.moneybookers.com for more info.
Please note: US residents are no longer able to use this system due legal restrictions and new banking regulations.